Personal Philosophy of Education

Every teacher has a personal philosophy of education. Perhaps the most important aspect of a philosophy of education is to ensure that ones teaching practices are in line with ones philosophy. By formally stating in writing my philosophy, I will be able to compare my practices with my philosophy. As a teacher, I want to engage every student into a learning process that will address his or her needs and challenge each child to improve. My mission as a teacher is to arm my students with the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in their education and career and to equally excel as parents and citizens. Behind my mission is my philosophy. I want to connect with each student, I want to provide a warm and inclusive classroom environment, and I want the classroom rules to be simple and understood. I believe that if I provide these important principles, all other aspects of my philosophy will follow. Classroom management begins with just three rules. Be safe. Be responsible. Be respectful. I want my students to understand that they have free will; they choose how to act and face logical consequences for their behavior, whether good or bad. I believe that positive reinforcement develops self-esteem and self-awareness, each of which is important to the development of children. I will lead my students in a positive way by example. I agree with the essentialist philosophy to develop good citizens (Johnson, Musial, & Gollnick, 2011). I want to develop characteristics in my students such as curiosity, perseverance, open-mindedness, and inquisitiveness (Johnson, Musial, & Gollnick, 2011), as well as kindness, fairness, and empathy. Knowledge and a positive disposition together - this is what will lead them to success. I want my students to be active learners. My learning activities will be engaging and interesting. I will arrange the desks in my room into groups of about four so the children can

discuss and work together when applicable. We will work in groups and have hands-on activities every day so my learners can discuss and experiment. Much of my educational philosophy is teacher-centered, but this is one area that is definitely student-centered. I like the idea of discovery-based learning. Students should build upon prior knowledge to discovery new knowledge. I believe this kind of learning makes the material stick. However, I am not opposed to requiring the students memorize facts. Multiplication facts as well as a handful of very important dates need to be imbedded into young minds. My learning activities closely follow the progressivism philosophy of teaching. I want to teach my students how to think (Johnson, Musial, & Gollnick, 2011), rather than telling them how to solve problems. As a teacher, I will use skilled discussion techniques to prompt the class to be involved in learning.

I will develop my lesson plans with a variety of different learning styles in mind. Each person has an individual learning style; often this is a mixture of learning styles. I want to include as many aspects of different learning styles into each lesson as possible. I want to use the visual, aural, verbal, physical, logical, social, and solitary methods and combine a few of them when I can (Advanogy, 2011). Assessment is very important in the development of lesson plans. I want to assess each lesson I teach. I will take note of how my students respond to each lesson by asking myself the following questions: Did the students understand the lesson objectives? Were they interested in the lesson? Did they ask questions and if so was it because I did not make some points clear enough? Most important, how did the students perform on the formal assessment? My philosophy primarily follows the philosophy of Idealism. I relate most closely with essentialism and progressivism. Classroom management begins with simple rules and provides

logical consequences. Learning activities in my classroom will be engaging and guided by the teacher. My lesson plans will reach students with different learning styles and at different achievement levels. My main goal is make a positive impact on every student in my classroom. I will provide to my students knowledge, skills, and the disposition necessary to be happy and successful in life.

References

Advanogy. 2011. Overview of Learning Styles. Retrieved from http://www.learningstylesonline.com/overview/ Armstrong, D. G., Henson, K. T., & Savage, T. V. (2009). Teaching today: An introduction to education (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Merrill. Johnson, J. A., Musial, D., Hall, G. E., & Gollnick, D. M. (2011). Foundations of American education: Perspectives of education in a changing world (15th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.