My Teaching Philosophy Essay

A large part of my educational philosophy is based on the fundamentals of Progressivism. This philosophy, founded by John Dewey, organizes schools around the concerns, curiosity, and real world experiences of students. I agree with these ideas because people must continually learn to keep up with today’s fast paced world. I believe that when learning is relevant and enjoyable students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. Progressivism has respect for individuality, a high regard for science, and a receptivity to change that I feel is critical to successful education. As a Progressive teacher I will facilitate learning by helping students formulate meaningful questions and devise strategies to answer those questions. In my opinion, answers are best discovered through real world experience, especially hands on learning or pragmatism. I believe that there is a time and place for book-learning; however, there is no substitute for actually doing things. I

Educational philosophies influence curriculum from the establishment of the American school systems. The five major philosophies that have influence American education are: 1) Idealism, 2) Essentialism, 3) Perennialism, 4) Progressivism, and 5) Experimentalism. Idealism, Essentialism, and Perennialism are all teacher-based philosophies putting the teacher at the core of the educational experience, with students being passive members of the classroom. In contrast, Progressivism and Experimentalism are student-centered philosophies that focus on the child and their contribution and participation in the formation of classroom experiences, using teachers as guides to help students in their educational development. Although the philosophies differ, many of them define curriculum as a encompassing unit of goals, methods, materials and assessment.

Throughout education there are six main philosophies to take into consideration, and they are as followed. From a teacher centered classroom approach they include Essentialism, Behaviorism, and lastly Positivism. In a student centered classroom approach they are Progressivism, Humanism, and Constructivism. What do these terms mean? Essentialism is and educational philosophy that there is a common core of information and skills that an educated person must have. Behaviorism is a psychological theory and educational philosophy that asserts that behaviors represent the essence of a person and that all behaviors can be explained. A person acts the way they do for a reason. Finally positivism is a social theory and educational philosophy that limits truth and knowledge to what is observed and measured. These are all important for a teacher to take into consideration. Progressivism is an educational philosophy that emphasizes that ideas should be tested by experiments and that learning is better developed in questions developed by the learner. Humanism is an

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.

My particular content area requires me to challenge the student. I must require the student to think critically, imaginatively, and theoretically. I plan on using a variety of educational philosophies in my classroom including: behaviorism and progressivism.

I believe that teaching is one of the most important professions in the world today. From the very beginning, until present time, teaching has been around. The book of Genesis speaks of God walking and talking with Adam in The Garden of Eden, God was teaching Adam. I will be proud to, one day, be a part of this great calling.

I see students as the next generations’ heroes in so many fields. In my vision, I have to inspire students and prepare them with confidence, knowledge, experience and skills. Which means I encourage, communicate, guide, teach, and assess students in order to enrich their infrastructures.

Every teacher has a different method of teaching. The teachers that I have had in my school career have been no exception. In this way, each teacher has set an example for me, as a future teacher, to follow or not to follow as I see fit. With the examples from my teachers and in continuing my education, I am developing my own method of teaching. I plan to use a combination of teaching methods in my own classroom. My method will be an eclectic approach because I will be using components of more than one philosophy. I will be using essentialism, behaviorism, progressivism, and existentialism.

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.

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.

In terms of philosophy, I feel I benefit most from the pragmatic approach to teaching. This approach states that teachers feel the classroom is a community of learners, not just a teacher standing in front of a group of students. I believe this is true because it is my opinion that if the teacher is learning and exploring along with the students, the students are more likely to be involved and interested in what is being taught. I also believe the strategies of teaching by problem solving and encouraging democratic procedures are the most profitable in today’s society. My beliefs in student involved activities, emphasis of curriculum, and democratic classroom management are all part of the pragmatic approach.

As an educator I need to be flexible in my teaching styles, what works one year, may not work the next, and even day to day can change. I believe that it is important that I reflect daily on what was successful and what could have gone better. I then make the adjustments to my teaching. As a whole though, my teaching approach I believe is very similar the the progressivism theory of education. “Progressivists believe that education should focus on the whole child, rather than on the content or the teacher. This educational philosophy stresses that students should test ideas by active experimentation. Learning is rooted in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the world” (Cohen, 1999). In Knight (2008) he states that “Children have a natural desire to learn and discover things about the world around them.” (p. 104).   This couldn’t be more true in my opinion, my preschoolers are constantly asking questions about the world around them, I have had some pretty interesting meal time conversations at school based on the questions and conversations about life these littles bring up! “Children’s interest, therefore, are the natural starting point for their learning experience.” (p. 104). This past school year in my morning class are students were really into bugs-so we did a whole unit on bugs, this

Education to me is should be enjoyable, but most students today feel as though they are just being taught so that they can take a test. I am strictly against this method of teaching because even though the teaching is straight forward and getting across what the student needs to know, they aren’t truly learning. Before coming to this class, I truly didn’t know there where really other types of learning for the everyday student than what I was going through. It opened my eyes to two types of philosophies that work well together when they are blended: progressivism and social reconstructivism.

My philosophy on education falls under progressivism. The theory of progressivism suggests the nature of the learner refers to how each learner learns. I believe that learners are in part unique, free choosing and responsible people whom are made up of intellect and emotion. A learner is anyone whom is open to learning or obtaining knowledge. A learner is one who can obtain and process information which can be used in life currently or can be later applied. Everyone has held the position of a learner even in the simplest form of the term. Learning happens at the very first stages of life; learning to eat, cry, walk, talk, and even learning to exist.

A teacher plays a very important role in a child’s life, and that is the main reason I want to be a teacher. I want to be able to inspire, empower and help children to discover their unique learning ability, special interests and qualities. As a teacher I will be able to give students the gift of an education, which will help them advance as adults. I feel that there are many ways to go about teaching and managing a positive learning environment. I want to have a classroom in which students feel personally altered by their experience in my classroom. Progressivism is one major philosophical approach that I plan to use in my classroom, along with an assertive discipline approach.