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Brianna Smith
Professor Monsour
ED110_01
November 18, 2014
My Philosophy of Education
Every individual human being has a significant purpose in life, a path to
follow, a role to take. Not all of us are created equally with the same interests,
abilities, or ideas. However, all of us do require guidance, care, and education in the
early stages of life in order to grow and develop with the confidence and ability to
follow our own dreams. There has to be someone there to guide us through our
youth and to nurture us. I am absolutely confident that it is my role in life to fulfill
that path, and to be there as a source of guidance. It is my passion to be able to
educate children. I will be helping to raise and nurture the future scientists,
firefighters, doctors, lawyers, and so on. There is no career that speaks more
strongly to me than the career and life of an Early Childhood teacher.
Becoming an educator in todays society encompasses so many different
aspects. One of the main tools to keep in mind is the 21st Century Framework
regarding the modern education of students. This framework is a blend of all
essential skills that students should be acquiring and building on based on the
educational studies of today. Most believe that the focus of education is on Reading,
Writing, and Mathematics. However, 21st century learning incorporates so much
more, like developing communication and co-operation skills, creating critical
thinkers, being very involved with technology, and even preparing for life and

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career skills. This framework encompasses so much, but still follows all standards
and assessments that need to be met to ensure the best education of the students. As
a teacher, my classroom could work with so many of these aspects in such a
beneficial way. Students would be doing group work, encouraged to use various
types of technology like tablets or iPads, guided to think deeper, and taught to think
outside of the box. Overall, it is a very insightful and useful visual representation
that all teachers should keep in mind when trying to better engage their children
and incorporate modern teaching into his or her classroom.
It is also essential to remember all of the historical records and studies based
around education when teaching children as well. There are countless theorists, and
philosophers that have made significant and important breakthroughs regarding
teaching and educational theories. Personally, I find Frederick Froebel, the Father of
Kindergarten, to be a very inspirational child development theorist or educational
pioneer. He was very ahead of his time based on his ideas of educating children so
early on in their developmental stages, but he in turn was just advanced beyond his
years, and science later caught up with these ideas. Frobel thought that children
should be given scenarios and environments that are set to engage the children in
playing. He saw playing as the gateway to education and learning. I could not agree
with Froebels works more. Exploration and interaction are essential, especially in
what will one day be my early childhood classroom. Based on various educational
views, I feel as though as a teacher I would have the view of a pragmatist mixed with
some idealism. Pragmatism is all about learning through experience. It allows for
the testing of individual ideas, which goes hand in hand with the Father of

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Kindergartens beliefs on education. The idealism comes into play simply because I
am a very insightful, and somewhat spiritual individual. Idealist teaching would
require a lot of in-depth thoughts and critical thinking from my students. They
would be encouraged to form individual opinions based on internal thoughts and
ideas. Overall, I feel as though the two theories or philosophies tie in well with one
another to make for a very efficient learning environment.
Tying together the past with the present in a learning environment can be
tricky on occasions however. There are various new trends in education that are
leading into the newer informative age and steering away from what is seen as the
industrial age of education. Some of these newer trends which I have already
lightly discussed would be the incorporation of technology, critical thinking skills,
viewing mistakes and experimenting as a way of learning, communication, and
encouraging risk taking. All of these trends or skills that seem to be the focus of
current education are wonderful aspects to add into an early childhood classroom.
Allowing the use of technology can encourage students to work together or
independently to become problem solvers. If I encourage them, as a teacher, to take
risks, they are going to think more critically about their outcome and realize that
making mistakes is all a part of the learning process. These current trends could
have an outstanding impact on the development of children in todays society.
Now, keeping all of this valuable background information in mind, creating
an effective and efficient lesson plan for you class may be one of the most essential
duties as a teacher. Personally, my ideal lesson plan for a kindergarten classroom
would be very informative. It would incorporate a lot of movement along with well

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thought out transitions in order to keep the young children involved but focused,
there would be ample amounts of visuals or audio opportunities, and open ended
questioning would allow for individual ideas and a way of informal assessment. Of
course, it cannot be looked over that all accommodations or modifications would
also be met for students with special needs, whether it be more visuals and various
activities for an ADHD student, or making sure that all essential points in the lesson
were also presented orally for a hearing impaired student. Generally this lesson
plan would best be seen as following Blooms stages of development. First the
students would form ideas and be able to come up with solid information as a class,
then whether it is formal or informal, there would of course be some type of
evaluation and analysis of this newly obtained information. They then of course
would be encouraged to apply the knowledge in the lesson by tying it to other
scenarios or having it make sense in a real world application and to show
understanding. By assessing them I can check to make sure that they are indeed
remembering all of this new information as well. Overall, the lesson plan for
whatever particular subject it may be would be structured and tailored to meet the
needs of every single student in the classroom in the best way possible.
Another way to make sure that my student were getting the most out of their
class time would be to strongly take into consideration the physical classroom
setup. Given that the ideal classroom being referred to is a kindergarten classroom,
the best set up personally would be for the teachers desk to go straight in the center
of the room. This allows for me to be fully aware of all students around me at any
given time and ensures that the students all have equal access to the instructor.

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Setting the tables up in statins of four around the teacher would be very beneficial
as well. This can give the students opportunities to participate in group or individual
work, utilizing one another to build communication skills and to share ideas with
one another. It also opens up the possibilities of having various stations set up at
each group throughout the room if stations were ever necessary in a lesson. Lastly,
having some type of carpeted area or open space that could be used as a more
comfortable and inviting area for the children to come together for classroom
instruction or even a story time would be phenomenal as a way of getting them up
and out of their seats to keep them interested and to make them feel more welcome
and at home in the classroom. Keeping the classroom visually appealing, inviting,
and spatially efficient is extremely important.
Aside from keeping the classroom as an inviting space for students, it is also
necessary to make sure that the parents of your students also see how inviting you
are. Communication with the parents is one of the most efficient and important
ways to make sure that your students are understanding material, getting work
done, finding lessons effective, and so on. Creating a clear line of communication
from parent to teacher is beneficial for both parties. It allows both to interact and
apply their knowledge in order to see that the children are receiving the best
educational experience both in school and at home. One way to encourage parent
involvement or communication is through the children. They should be encouraged
to go home and talk to mom, dad, grandma, or whoever their guardian about their
day at school. They should be encouraged to ask questions in school and at home.
Other ways could be as simple as sending grades home to get signed by the parents

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to verify that they saw the work, or even as in depth as giving take-home work that
requires parents and their children to work together. I would also make it known to
the parents that as their childs teacher, I would always be available through some
professional type of communication whether it is through e-mail or through calling
my classroom extension while I am at work. I would always be more than willing to
keep the parents just as involved in the educational process as I do he students.
Generally speaking, as a teacher I would just like to have a positive impact on
each and every student. I may not always be the favorite teacher, but if I can be a
teacher that they are happy to see every morning, or go to for future advice, I feel as
though I am fulfilling my aspirations and my career. Based on my knowledge of the
educational process and my passion alone, I can only hope to someday be
remembered by that future scientist, or that doctor, or that firefighter as their
caring, passionate, and loving kindergarten teacher that started them and
encouraged them to continue onto their path to success.