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My educational philosophy can be phrased as " the broader your perspective, the broader
the horizon; the sky is the limit." Living in New York one is exposed to many beliefs, religions,
languages and opinions. Having the opportunity to live in such a diverse city, it is important to
gain knowledge from several cultures so that one can have a broader perspective, get the whole
picture and the countless ways the world is viewed. Every language, culture and being is of equal
value and deserves the same respect. The more we know, the more we understand, the more we
grow and develop. It will only equate to an enriched, prosperous world.
One of the issues in education, as mentioned above, is the school funding inequality
which widens the learning gap. This is one my largest concerns. As a teacher I want my students,
their communities and myself to grow, to continuously learn and broaden our perspectives.
Through education we can all create stronger bonds, better understanding and develop deep
respect for one another. I value the community as an essential part of childhood education.
Together more can be achieved. There is a focus on the childs wellbeing. I would start with
social emotional learning and once that is implemented, slowly include academic learning. Social
emotional learning is the foundation to guarantee the childs success as they are confident to try
everything, to learn, to grow and to try again.
I am a strong believer of Jean's Piaget's theory of cognitive development, in that children
are active and motivated learners. Play is cognitive development. It is the teachers role to know
their students, their interest, their health, their family life and as much as they can about each
child. It is the teachers role to guide and work alongside children throughout their development.
Children learn through assimilation and accommodation as they learn and further develop their
way of thinking as the tasks given become more challenging and require a new perspective

and/or growth in ideas, or as Russian-born psychologist Lev Vygotsky would describescaffolding: a teaching technique that involves giving verbal cues, prompts and suggestions on
challenging activities while meeting the childrens learning needs as they reach higher levels of
independence. In addition, we must take into consideration not only the children's interest but
what influences them, as described in Urie Bronfenbrenner's ecological system theory, the
children's interrelationships from family, friends, school and community to a larger system such
as government, media, policy makers, and larger social and cultural beliefs. It is important to
observe the children without bias and take into consideration the many factors that affect their
education and overall lives in order for them to learn and develop healthfully and to their fullest
ability.
According to Bronfenbrenner, there are two influences: direct and indirect influences.
The direct influence is called the microsystem (consisting of family, school peers, religion
affiliation and anything directly influencing the child) and the mesosystem, which is the
interaction of two or more microsystems; indirect influences are the exosystem that is the
government, education and political system and also the macrosystem, which are the overarching beliefs and system. Although influences play a major role in childs development, it is
important to help build childrens self-esteem and help them become self-efficient, self-reliant,
independent thinks that will continue to grow and prosper. More importantly, my role as a
teacher is to recognize that I am also a student; I can learn from my students, their families, the
community, my peers and others to grow and prosper alongside the children in my class.