Pedro Sosa

LBS 400
Philosophy of Education Paper

Purpose of Education
The purpose of education is not just to teach a student about a particular subject. Many
times, people think students go to school to only learn academics. The purpose of education is
not only to educate the students in a particular academic area, but also prepare them for life.
Oakes and Lipton (2003) stated schools need to teach the knowledge and habits, as well as the
basic literacy, that citizens needed to function in a democracy (p. 69). Schools are more than
academic structures. Schools help build knowledgeable adults that can run the society in the
future. With education, we can teach the children at a young age not just what 3+3 is, but we can
also provide a blueprint for them to be able to thrive in the society they will live in soon after.
Without educating the children, future societies will not be successful. In order to have a thriving
country and society children must be educated. The days of seeing schools as just a learning
institution and in some cases, a day care, should be forgotten. I have heard parents say that when
the school year is over, it is tough on them because they have to deal with their kids. These
parents dont realize that teachers and school staff do more than just academically educate their
children. Teachers inform the students of events happening around them and the world. I have
seen students unaware of social issues and it was not until someone from school showed them
that they got informed. Schools are the building block for the future. Education is the key for
development and is much more than just an academic tool.
Learning Environment
The learning environment is essential to the students learning. A student that does not
have to worry about being bullied or having a threat outside of the school is able to focus as
opposed to one that does not. Wolfe (1998) stated that anything threating can slow the creative
and rational processing of the brain (p.139). So if the student is bullied or being threaten in any

form, his or her ability to learn would be compromised. The student is no longer thinking about
the material in class. The student is more concerned for his safety as opposed to learning the
different forms of solving a math question or writing a complex essay. In addition, the
appearance of the actual school or educational building has a lot to do as well. The classroom
and school must be well kept. When a classroom and school are well kept, they are more
welcoming and students actually want to attend. I have seen this in person with my niece. Her
prior school was in shambles and she hated it. In her new school, the campus is clean and the
organization of it is spectacular. In saying that, the optimal environment for a student to learn is
one that is clean, organized, maintained, and one where the only problem a student should face is
classroom material and not bullying or social issue. I plan on doing this by first starting having a
well organized and respectful classroom. In order to tackle the rest, I must first do what is in my
capacity and afterwards tackle the bigger issue like the campus and community. It is not an easy
task, but the environment children learn in is as important as what they learn.
Commitment to Social Justice
In order to provide equal access to learning, the school and teachers must provide
alternatives and secondary resources for the students. Schools are diverse and have students that
come from all races/ethnicities and social class. It is the job of the teacher to ensure that if a
student is not able to attend a certain function or buy a certain device that an alternative is
available and that it provides the same education. Not only materialistic resources, but also
information that relates to the diversity of the students. Elde (2003) stated that a teacher must
commit to multiculturalism and culturally relevant pedagogy that affirms and legitimizes the
culture and language of the diverse students (p.24). With so much diversity in the classroom,
many times students feel that their race/ethnicity is not valued because it is not being taught.

Many times, I have heard students say why they cannot learn about their culture and their
customs. I plan on adding students culture and ethnicity by asking the students to relate certain
events to their lives and digging in deep in the material to find different cultures in particular
events. If that is not possible, I will dedicate sometime for the students to share about their
heritage and not just a few weeks or months like it is commonly done now. Diversity must be
taken into account in order to provide equal learning. School material should relate to the
childrens lives and experiences.
Curriculum
What a teacher teaches is given to them, but how they teach it is totally up to them. A
teacher can be one who writes on the board and the students copy or they can be one that asks
questions and dialogues with the students. The way I would teach is having interactions and
questions. Students get bored when information is thrown at them. Students like to dialogue and
see how things are derived. Beyer (1997) stated that task and questions should require higher
levels of cognition instead of memorization in order to increase the ability to retain and
understand the material (p. 145). Math and English can become dull after a while. I believe that
if possible subjects should be blended. For example, why teach only math? Instead, the word
problems can be combined with English and vice versa. Subjects dont have to be taught on their
own. They can be combined and make the experience more interesting for students. Another
example would be for P.E. Throw in some science and human anatomy by giving the students
the scientific terms for body parts and telling them the different bone names. In history and
science, blend it with math and English by having the students calculating inflation in history and
looking at grammar structure in science. Going the traditional way of teaching is long gone.
Students want something fresh that they havent seen in their previous classrooms.

Teacher
A teacher must be one that is willing to listen and doesnt get offended when questioned.
An effective teacher is one that knows his or her students and how they learn. It is one that is
willing to put in that extra time and effort in order to help the students. The teacher is there
devoted to her classroom and doesnt storm off after the bell has rung or is not there ten minutes
before class starts. A teacher is one that takes classes or seminars during the summer when
school is not in session. An effective teacher is one that looks for workshops in order to improve
or gain new skills. Darling-Hammon (1997) stated that a good teacher is one who is able to
function as a member of the community and who works with the students and other faculty to
create a coherent curriculum and system that supports students and helps them understand and
develop their skills (p.241). A good teacher is one who will go the extra distance. It is not easy
being a teacher, a teacher must be there for more than a paycheck. An effective teacher goes
beyond the standard.

References
Darling-Hammond, L., &, LePage, P. (1997). What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do.
Wolfe, P. (1998). Revisiting Effective Teachers. 56 (3)
Lipton, M.., & Okaes, J. (2003). Wrestling with History and Tradition in Teaching to Change the
world.