Philosophy of Education
Education is something that every person should be given the chance to attain. It is vital for all people young, old, mentally impaired, ADHD, or whatever characteristic they may encompass. I believe everyone has the right to learn and be taught in an school environment. The law passed in 1975, P.L. 94-142, made numerous changes in the way certain children with special needs was being treated in the public school system. With the update in 1991, IDEA (Individuals With Disabilities act) added to the progress to end discrimination towards all exceptionalities. I hope in the future more changes will be accomplished to fully benefit those with exceptionalities. Education is a gift that needs to be
…show more content…
Each child’s attitude towards learning and the way they perceive and comprehend information will be on separate levels from one another some higher, some lower, and some in between. Therefore, to me it is very important to consider each child’s unique individuality when planning a lesson. This way I can be sure that I am accommodating the needs of every child. Furthermore, today’s highly diverse classrooms require a more multicultural approach that doesn’t discriminate against any child.
In addition, every child needs to be placed in the least restrictive environment from gifted to special needs children. It is my opinion that children best learn in an environment that will meet all of their needs to obtain an adequate education. Sometimes this means the general classroom and in other cases children need to be placed in a special education class on a full time basis. Full inclusion versus inclusion has been a debate amongst many teachers. For me the decision depends highly on the child and what fits his or her learning style. I’m going to teach eclectically borrowing from aspects of each philosophy. However, there are only two or three philosophical approaches that best fit my personal philosophy towards education including progressivism, existentialism, and a direct teaching method.
First of all, my classroom is going to be based primarily on the proposal from John Dewey known as progressivism. This allows for a more democratic classroom,
Education is defined as the lifelong process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and values through either formal means, such as schooling, or informal means, such as firsthand experiences or vicarious experiences gained through reading books or discussions. Every person that is or wants to be a teacher has his or her own educational philosophy. We all have our own views, methods, and curriculum that we were taught when growing up. A lot of people may have the same teachers in school, but all of them learn different things from that teacher.
I know that children learn in many different ways. Observing, experimenting, reading, and listening are a few of those many ways. I have learned that people learn best when the information is something that they are interested in. I am going to strive to make every lesson fun, and applicable to my students. I favor using many methods to teach, including lecturing, cooperative learning, project based instruction, and “hands-on” activities. I want the classroom to be a place that the students enjoy, not a boring place. I believe that every child has an innate hunger for learning and becoming successful. If I can harness their craving and aim it in the right direction, I believe I will be successful in helping these students achieve what they are looking for in life.
My own personal journey through my education and reflection as a student studying, teaching, and learning has shaped by beliefs in the way I learn and the way I want to teach. My personal teaching philosophy consists of several teaching philosophies. It is a mix of progressivism and existentialism. I believe in progressivism, I believe the concept that students should be provided with learning experiences that are dynamic and teach using hands-on approach. I think when a student is learning about a subject that interests them and is relevant to them, learning is improved. Lessons should boost curiosity and be thought provoking. Although, funding in some school makes this difficult due to lack of materials, teachers should attempt to improvise
Becoming a teacher is going to be one of the greatest accomplishments of my life. Teaching was never a childhood dream for me like it was with others. Some people have always known that they wanted to become some type of teacher, but I never decided to until I entered college. I’ve always loved being around children and it makes me feel great to be able to help someone, so becoming a teacher is the perfect career choice for me.
My philosophy of teaching is rather simple- teach how to multiply. But I do not only mean how to multiply numbers in mathematics. My philosophy of multiplication looks like teaching others to teach others how to teach others. As the saying goes, we are life-long learners. For this to be true, we must also mean that we are life-long teachers. To learn, we must be taught. We are all teachers and we are all learners, the only differing variable in this equation are the passions that guide our teaching and learning. We need one another to teach and learn effectively because we all have unique passions and abilities. This simple fact is what inspires me to teach. We are all in this together. I want to teach in a way that encourages life-long learning. I want to teach in a way that inspires others to teach. I want to teach with humility and with an understanding that my students will teach me far more than I could ever wish to teach them.
I believe that education extends far beyond the classroom walls, and involves many more people than students and teachers. People should be learning wherever they go, and should continue learning long after they’ve graduated from high school or college. Education isn’t something that can be quantified with tests or report cards, but is instead something that people carry with them. It’s a survival pack for life, and some people are better equipped in certain areas than in others. People with a solid education are prepared for nearly anything, as they will be able to provide for their own physical, emotional, and aesthetic needs.
Norms and values are a reflection of society’s standards of behavior. Since society evolves from each generational perspective, the “norm” is continuously changing. As a result, the rising adults have a grave influence on how the world will evolve into the next generation. What we teach our students today will reflect the success of our future. How we, as teachers, get our messages across will definitely influence the student’s ability to apply that knowledge. From my experiences and what I have encountered I intend to incorporate the Pragmatic and Idealistic philosophies into my classroom, based on my predictions on how to be a successful teacher.
In the field of education there could arise many philosophical ideas of each individual teacher. Many of the past philosophies have been and still are used in today’s education programs, such as the Socratic method. My philosophy will also contain some of the many philosophies of the past and possibly the future. I will state the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of public education, method, and curriculum according to my own philosophies, which also may be based the philosophical ideas of previous individuals.
The children will have the mandatory textbooks, however, other books will be made available to them to use as references. I will also give my class an array of novels to read and discuss with each other, which will help them establish better comprehension and cooperation skills. The projects in my class will be centered on a mixture of "hands on" and cooperative learning because I believe that you learn something by actually doing it and being helped or encouraged by your peers. There will also be board games and video games that the children can play that will help them learn many different skill, thus the classroom seating will be arranged according to the activity at hand.
Teaching is a profession with many rewards within itself. As a teacher, not only do I get the opportunity to teach my students new content material, but I also get to bond with them and teach them valuable life lessons. Being a teacher is more than just giving the students some information and quizzing them over it. I believe it is about making a difference in their lives. Many teachers have different teaching philosophies, but my teaching philosophy is centered on valuing my students culture and language, insisting on high quality work from all students, and caring for all of my students as well as building a strong relationship with them.
There are all different kinds of students and each of them deserve the chance at a fulfilling education that improves their self - esteem and self - efficiency in the world. Every child deserves a teacher that is fair and understanding of the different ability levels of each student in their classroom. This is my philosophy of education. In preparing to become a teacher who truly tries to understand the vast differences between children, I want to address the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purposes of public education, the methods of teaching, and the curriculum area that I am studying.
Each of the major philosophical approaches to education has merit. However, to strictly employ only one philosophy is limiting and hampers all possibility for improvement. Essentialism, progressivism, perennialism, and existentialism all contribute valid ideas to the teaching profession. I will choose to use aspects of each in varying degrees as is appropriate to different
At the beginning of my teaching career I had a great deal of knowledge. I knew the educational jargon and the favored teaching strategies, but what I lacked was the wisdom to effectively utilize my knowledge. For me, teaching is a continuous quest to obtain the wisdom necessary to help my students learn. Sometimes this wisdom is obvious as I work with the “golden children,” the children destined for success. But more often than not, it has come from the “problem children,” those unmotivated, hostile and obstinate children who dare me to teach them. It is the “problem students” that get the credit for making me a better teacher. They are the ones that force me to seek the wisdom necessary for success. They are the ones that challenge
Being an idealist, as I truly believe that I am, my hope is that I will have a non-authoritarian classroom. I hope that I may gain the respect of my students, who will be older, and in return, I can respect them and their individual views. My goal is that we will get along and do our best to achieve objectives that are not only set forth my the schools, but by the students themselves. I am a strong believer in the self-fulfilling prophecy. I believe that if you believe in a student enough, then they will believe in themselves. I believe that students need to believe that no matter what their low point is, they can always bounce back. I want to have intelligent discussions with my class in regards to history, and if I teach seniors, I want to give them insight as to what they will facing when they enter into college the following year. I believe that this is crucial. I can
Mara Sapon-Shevin (2008) describes the vision of inclusion as a world where all children are served in the “regular classroom” with children their own age. The idea is restructuring of schools so they are supportive, nurturing communities that really meet the needs of all the children within them: rich in resources and support for both students and teachers. Furthermore, advocates should not have to defend inclusion; opponents should be required to justify exclusion. There is little evidence that some children need segregated settings in which to be educated. At another level, it must be taken into consideration that the world is an inclusive community; there are many people in it who vary, not only in terms of disabilities, but in race, class, gender, and religious background. Sapon-Shevin expresses the importance of children having the opportunity to learn and grow within communities that represent the kind of world they will live in when they finish school. The essence of inclusive classrooms is how people treat one another;