Philosophy of Education For me, the decision to become a teacher is more of a way of life than a career. I have always loved school, practicing at being school marm from a young age, and voraciously devouring every shred of education offered me in my career as a student. If it were possible, I would be a student for the rest of my life. And then I still would not have learned enough. As a teacher, I hope to instill this appetite for knowledge in secondary students. They are, after all, the future leaders of the world, and what better place to expand the minds of the generations to come than here in Appalachia where education programs, especially the sciences, which I plan to teach, are poorly funded and children’s dreams …show more content…
I want to know my students. This way I can tailor my teaching methods to the specific needs of my students and class. This is also helpful in resolving discipline problems, which I anticipate to be few and far between. I will do everything in my power to resolve problems within my classroom, using the principal’s office and the administration as a last resort. Students respect a teacher who respects them in return. This approach allows a teacher to get to the heart of a student’s problems without involving outside forces that may alienate the child. As a science, and more specifically biology, teacher, pragmatism also appeals to me for its emphasis on the scientific method, search for truth, and integrated approach toward curriculum. More importantly however, pragmatism launched the educational theories of experimentalism and progressivism, both of which I subscribe to. Experimentalism is a movement that emphasizes first-hand experience over purely textbook learning. As a biology teacher, this is something I feel is integral to the success of my class’s education. Lessons should explore the connections between natural phenomena, prompting a larger point of view. The lessons should also be relevant to the students and promote both cooperation and competition. Progressivism is very similar to experimentalism in that it too stresses cooperative learning. This theory also emphasizes minimal classroom rules and liberal
“Wake up! It’s time to get ready for school.” I loved those words as a child but grew to hate them as a teen. As a child, school consisted of hands-on activities, mingling with others, and enticing lessons. As a teen, school consisted of being forced to remain seated, reading a chapter, answering the questions at the end of the chapter, and completing a worksheet. I found school to be boring and excessively routine. Therefore, I never aspired to be a teacher. I cringed at the thought of that routine! After graduating from college with a degree in recreation and spending ten years in wonderful jobs that always led me back to children, like working at a child-care center for the abused, a children's
My philosophy of education would include a classroom that supports creativity and gives students an opportunity to explore the world in the confines of four walls. Knowledge results from countless experiences and interactions throughout an individual’s lifetime. I believe the purpose of education is to allow students to discover who they are through exploring who has come before them, and what is possible for them in the future. Formal education should provide students with more than a foundation in basic disciplines. It should develop skills that will facilitate living and working in an ever-changing world; one filled with diversity. As a teacher, I would hope to illustrate to my students how vital each
Ever since I was a little girl I had this dream of being a teacher. Whether it was making up “pretend” tests or having my younger brother sit through my instruction, I knew that I was a born teacher. And now that I have grown and matured into a responsible young woman, I feel that my place in this world is in the classroom. I feel that the children are our future and we should teach them everything we know to the best of our abilities. Every summer since the age of 13, I have been babysitting for local families in my small hometown of Pineville. In fact, 2 years ago I had been babysitting for a Optometrist and his wife and they were expecting their second child. As an honor, they asked if they
If I had to pick one view that is most compatible with my own view and learning and teaching it would have to be Constructivism. If I got to choose another one I would go with Cognitive. Constructivism is a view that focuses on the active role of the learner and a Cognitive view sees learning as an active mental process of receiving, remembering, and using knowledge. Both of these views see the role of students as an active role; an involved role. I believe that we learn knowledge and change our behavior based upon this knowledge; instead of the other way around. I used to be somewhat of a behaviorist in that I put too much of the teachers focus on the behavior of the students. I have began to stray away
My personal philosophy of education is that children learn from different ways. Children learn by watching, listening, and hands-on activities. Different learning styles are implied in an inclusive classroom. For example, children best learn by doing and experiencing things on their own. Therefore, as an educator we accommodate the children’s needs by creating an active teaching environment. Inclusive education system enhances those different learning styles that match the child's learning needs and helped them adapt to the environment. It also has students with and without disabilities that are being educated together, giving them an opportunity to socialize with other students with different learning preferences. Gardner’s theory of multiple
“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Angelou, 2009) This is a truth that I have witnessed firsthand. As a child, at the tender age of seven years, I was blessed with an educator, Mrs. Cager, whose commitment to her students was so profound until I have never forgotten her. She made me feel like I was the most important person in her classroom. Her encouraging words instilled a level of confidence within me that I still cling to and apply more than 40 years later. Her commitment is directly responsible for my personal philosophy of education also being commitment.
Education entails individual human development in the cognitive, emotional, creative and social areas. All children are entitled to a free education regardless of race, cultural background or handicaps. For education to be an effective part of the students life, the student and teacher must be actively and enthusiastically involved in learning. A teacher needs to be well prepared and organized. They need to know the perspective goals for each student and ways to achieve these goals. Teachers need to work with students to help them grow and develop ways to use their knowledge.
My philosophy of education is almost wholly derived from my own experiences as a student. I have always had a love of learning, but have not exactly felt the same way about school, in part because I was bored with the classes and material. My teaching methods and views of learning reflect the idea I have of how I would have liked my teachers to teach.
"Some people make things happen, some watch while things happen, and some wonder ‘what happened?’ Which type of person are you?" author unknown.
When I was a little girl all I ever wanted to do was be a teacher. My neighbors and I would get out our little chalkboards and take turns teaching each other things that we had learned in school that day. We would spend hours in the basement grading "tests" or "quizzes" that we had made up ourselves. We had so much fun pretending to be teachers.
Relating my reasons for becoming a teacher was not a very difficult task for me; to accomplish this task I simply needed to reflect upon and describe some of my own personal experiences. I relied basically upon my memories and thoughts about my own educational experiences. However, describing my philosophy of education was much more difficult task for me to accomplish. First of all, before I could properly describe my philosophy, I realized I needed a working definition of the concept of philosophy. My search for this working definition of the term philosophy led to further research which provided further insight into viewpoints of various well-known philosophers; some of whom we discussed in
I have come to believe over the past year as a Professional Development School intern that one method or one teaching style limits the ability of the teacher and the students to learn effectively in the classroom. I believe that learning is a fluid activity and therefore changes constantly within the classroom community. I believe that we all are constructs of our past experiences and that these experiences influence the way we perform in our lives. The education of students cannot be dependent on a particular style of teaching or learning because we are all different. Students are diverse learners and process learning in a variety of different ways. Reaching these students with one learning style, I
John Dewy once said that “education is a social preparation . . .education is growth . . . education is not a preparation for life, education is life itself.” Dewey’s statement represents the roots of my educational philosophy. I believe that school is a place where students develop social skills that will equip them for the rest of their lives. I believe that school is a place where students grow mentally, physically, and emotionally. I believe that school is not only a major tool in the real world battle against ignorance and poverty, but it is also place where dreams come true. I hope to instill creativity, imagination, and fundamental morals that will follow a child throughout his or
Choosing a major is a very difficult decision to make for everyone. It has to be something that you can spend the rest of your life doing and should enjoy. When I think back to my elementary years through my senior year of high school, all I ever wanted to be was a dentist. I took the classes that would better prepare me in the dentistry field. There at the last second, I switched my major. It was first semester of my senior year of high school when my favorite teacher, Mrs. Fowler, asked me to teach Spanish to the kindergarten class at Piney View Elementary School. As soon as I walked into the classroom and saw the sixteen pairs of eyes gleaming at me, I realized that this is what I want to
A child’s education is one of the most important, if not the most important, aspects of his or her life. With this in mind, teachers are very influential characters. Therefore it is essential that teachers develop their educational philosophy and their educational goals before making the big step from being a student to being a teacher. I would now like to present my educational philosophy and goals. I will do this by combining the thoughts of Rousseau, Plato/Socrates, Sophistry/Foucault, Pragmatism/Progressivism and interpreting and creating it into my own.