Philosophy of Teaching
As I think back to teachers in my past, many images come to mind. I remember teachers that were kind, patient and understanding. I also have memories of teachers that were short tempered, angry or just plain lazy. Some were eccentric, while others taught with a relaxed teaching style. So I ask myself, what separates the good from the bad? Why are some teachers so effective while others fall short? What in fact makes a good teacher? Obviously these are not easy questions to answer. All I can do is share my own opinions and beliefs on qualities that I feel make a great teacher.
As teachers we have an overwhelming responsibility to prepare students for the rest of their lives. When they leave high school or college they should be trained to meet the challenges, and be prepared to handle any number of new and unusual situations. I feel that school puts too much emphasis on what some may consider to be core subjects. The essentialism approach to teaching is the most common, however I feel it is not the most effective way to prepare students for the real world. Essentialism does have its place in education, however I feel students are forced to learn too many useless facts and skills that they will probably never use. In the long run do all those algebraic equations really help when you are entertaining clients or planning a business trip? These are good skills to have, and it is important to know facts about the world we live in, but we must also include real world problems and situations.
In my opinion the best approach to teaching is progressivism. I feel that the best way to prepare students for the real world is to put them in real world situation...
... middle of paper ...
...porate other subjects into the learning process. If they are drawing the human form I will suggest the research of human anatomy. I will encourage my students to learn about the history of art and in doing so they will learn valuable lessons on the history of the world. My students will learn math skills as they take a photograph and double or triple its size to recreate it on paper. In my classroom I want to not only help children develop their art talent but encourage them to explore and investigate the world around them. Learning can and should be fun. If students can draw on their interest then there is no limit to what they can learn. We all have a natural instinct to crave knowledge. I hope as a teacher I can stir that instinct and help my students learn a variety of valuable skills that will stick with them for the rest of their lives.
Slack, Paul. “Responses to Plague in Early Modern Europe: The Implications of Public Health.” Social Research 55.3 (1988):433-453. Academic Journal. Web. 2 Dec. 2013.
In the 1300’s, there was an outbreak of a disease known as the Black Death that engulfed all of Europe. This sickness, also know as the Bubonic Plague, rampaged throughout Europe killing over a third of the population. A bacteria known as Yersinia pestis caused the disease. The bacteria, originating in fleas, spread to rats and then to people. Black Death was spread from trade throughout Europe. The large cities were affected first, and then it spread to the less dense and populated surrounding areas. The mortality rate in large cities was near fifty percent of the population, while in more rural areas the rate was lower. This lasting effects of this disease changed Europe both socially and economically. The bubonic plague triggered a loss of faith and generated negative feelings towards the church, but positively affected the masses by creating opportunities that they didn’t have in the past.
As the reader, I was deeply overwhelmed with many mixed emotions such as compassion, sadness, happiness, disgust, remorse, and fear. I have pity for the characters in the book The Road, because “the man” and “the boy” have to pass day to day struggling to survive in a frigid bleak world where food is scarce “They squatted in the road and ate rice and cold beans they’d cooked days ago.” “Already beginning to ferment.”(McCarthy 29). The landscape is blackened, and mankind is almost extinct “The mummied dead everywhere.”(McCarthy 24). As I read on I noticed myself connecting more deeply with the characters. When the boy’s mother takes her own life, I was deeply saddened and my heart broke for “the boy” simply because his mom, someone he cherished and loved so much, had given up on hope and faith and deserted him. I just wan...
"Plague." Renaissance: An Encyclopedia for Students. Ed. Paul F. Grendler. Vol. 3. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004. 172-174. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 25 Feb. 2014.
The definition of conformity is the compliance with social standards and laws in a particular culture, environment, society and time. If this occurs the individual changes their attitudes, beliefs or actions to align more holistically with those in the surrounding groups and environment, as a result of real or perceived group pressure. This is ultimately a direct result of the power which a group has over the individual. There are two types of conformity, normative conformity, and informational conformity. The motivation behind normative conformity is the desire to be liked and accepted in society. This is most widely known as peer pressure. For example, a student begins smoking because their peers
When the black death mysteriously and suddenly hit Europe, it spread at an unbelievable speed leaving almost no city untouched. The citizens of fourteenth century Europe were unsure of how to cope with half the population being wiped out in such a short time span. What had caused this “great mortality”? Who was really to blame for their suffering? How were they to overcome it? While being overwhelmed with sickness and a number of dilemmas stemming from it, many societies became weak and eventually fell apart.
Scoliosis is a progressive disease. In its early stages a mild rotation and rib deformity is detected. As it progresses more vertebrae rotate, causing the ribs to crowd together on one side of the chest and to spread apart on the opposite side. The disease is usually first identified in persons 10 to 17 years old. Most cases occur in girls and become apparent during the rapid growth phase of puberty. Conditions also include shoulder unleveling, waistline discrepancies, acute headaches, shortness of breath, rib hump, chronic fatigue, and mood swings.
Conformity, compliance and obedience are behavioural consequences of social influence (real or imagined social pressure) that occur in the presence of a group or other individuals (Elsenbroich & Xenitidou, 2012). Often these concepts are misinterpreted as being the same or even synonymous and while they do have similarities they are also very dissimilar. In social psychology conformity, compliance and obedience are distinct concepts that coincide due to their effect on behaviour in the presence of others. Pascual, Line Felonneau, Guéguen & Lafaille (2013) define conformity as an altering of behaviour and beliefs in an individual in order to reflect the behaviour and beliefs of the group that holds influence, though Myers (2014) emphasises that
The philosophy of essentialism is important to me, although I feel students can still relate to school in a positive way. Students can learn the core subjects—reading, writ...
I also favor the Essentialist’s philosophy because it has a strong curriculum based around the traditional subjects of reading, math, and science. I think core curriculum furnishes students with a strong foundation, which they can build upon as they continue to learn.
Conformity is defined as the compliance with social standards and laws in a particular culture, environment, society and time. If this occurs the individual changes their attitudes, beliefs or actions to align more holistically with those in the surrounding groups and environment, as a result of real or perceived group pressure. This is ultimately a direct result of the power which a group has over the individual. There are two types of conformity, normative conformity, and informational conformity. Normative conformity is motivated by the desire to be liked and accepted in society. This is most widely known as peer pressure. For example, a student begins smoking because their peers are smoking,
334). It also focuses on key subject areas in the class that are crucial when running a classroom based on this teacher-centered philosophy. These core subjects, based on Roberson (2014), involve: math, social studies, and science (p. 344). It is clear that Essentialism reminds whoever the source of information which is given to the students is directly from the teacher. A teacher, who is following this philosophy, knows that the information the teacher provides to the students is, “based on knowledge and evidence-based experience” (Elgstrom & Hellstenius, 2011, p. 721-722). Essentialism, according to Elgstrom & Hellstenius (2011) also plays an effective part in teaching when key elements of discipline and hierarchy are in play (p. 721-722). Advantages in essentialism include, school work that is coordinated and prepared by the teacher for the students (Roberson, 2014, p. 345). Disadvantages for essentialism involve how well the teacher and the student process all the information. For the teacher it involves how well the teacher teaches the subjects and for the students; on how well they can score on the test remembering the information. Roberson (2014) says that when not meeting up to the standards of the testing, teachers are more likely to take the blame than students
First and foremost, I believe that the teacher should be in control of the classroom. Students are young, and they do not usually know what is best for them. Therefore, the teacher should be the one to choose the lessons and decide what is going to be taught each day. This traditional practice of orienting the class around the teacher is one of the main principles of the essentialist philosophy. To encourage this in my classes, I w...
A teacher must discover their role in every classroom. Are they a lecturer, imparting their knowledge and expertise on a subject onto new minds? Or are they a fellow learner, learning alongside their students and discovering new ideas? Teachers must also find a balance of professional and personal. Some teachers make the mistake of getting too close to students, thus being taken advantage of as the “cool teacher” which is a stigma of its own. But must a teacher completely detach themselves from their students? A teacher wants to be approachable, but be respected by their students and maintain a professional distance. Some of my favorite teachers I had were those who were serious about work, but later I would gossip with about other students and teachers. You want to be a teacher who works well with
...many others. A teacher is one who has to overcome the fear of walking into a classroom of uncontrollable students; she has to hold her head up high. Any sign of giving in to the students many destroy the teacher herself. A teacher is one who is willing to get up every morning and teach these students even when they would rather do other things with their time. An achievement in becoming a great teacher lies within the person. The decision to have a great classroom that the students look forward to or a classroom that all the students hate is left up to one person, the teacher. I hope to become the teacher that all the students look forward to having, and I will strive to make my classroom the best that it can be. Children realize that education plays a major part in their lives and I hope to make it memorable and enjoyable, as well as helpful and educational.