Content And Character : An Essential And Perennial View Of Education

As a student of education, I have been able to gather many ideas and opinions about practices and ideals I want to implement in my future classroom. My philosophies about education are still being formed and continually change with every class I visit and with every educator I encounter. My ideas, admittedly, come from random experiences and intangible texts, but as I gain more experience in the field through my courses, my philosophies about teaching will become more clearly defined. These few ideas I have now will undoubtedly be added upon as I enter student teaching and my professional career, nevertheless, they are concepts of which I hope to never lose sight.

An educational philosophy is a personal statement of a teacher’s goals or belief. A teacher comes to the classroom with a distinctive set of principles and ideals that affect how a student learns and expand the child’s potential in his or her venture into knowledge. I believe that education should be active, and focus on the whole child, rather than just the content or the teacher. The three (3) principles I believe that work harmoniously with my educational philosophy are the teacher acting as a facilitator to foster critical thinking, allowing the child’s natural curiosity to steer his or her learning for personal development, and

Any student, whether in elementary or college, learns better when the subject matter is thought-provoking and appealing. Traditional and old curriculum provides a baseline for students to meet and follow. Also, traditional curriculum is based of individualism and discourages exchanges between the student and teacher. Individual work teaches the child to develop internal critical thinking skills but it may bore the student. Teachers should continually interact with their students and challenge the student to think outside the box. Great teachers in today's system should help students develop a new way of thinking about history, math, english, and science and their education in general.

Soon after creation humankind fell into sin. Romans 3:23 tells us, “For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin is the universal condition of the human race. All people are born with a sinful nature. Sin has many serious consequences for humankind. Sin alienates humankind from God and keeps us from having a relationship with our Creator. Sin provides a sickness that keeps us from becoming the person we should be. People want to live good lives but are forced by sin to fall short. The ultimate consequence of sin can be found in Romans 6:23, “For the wages of sin is death.” Having an understanding of the extent and effect of sin is key to developing a worldview. I know I cannot escape the confines of sin. It is my nature as a human being to sin. In his divine wisdom, God also knew that his creation could not keep the original covenant of obedience so he would have to set a new covenant with creation.

“First, humans are created in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28). Second, after the fall of Adam and Eve into sin, all humans are sinful by nature (Genesis 6:5; Romans 3:9-23)”. (“Departure from Wisdom”, Diffey, n.d., para. 9). In the beginning God created humans in his image and placed them in the Garden of Eden to live and work. They had dominion over the earth. In this time there was no sin. Once Adam and Eve were tempted and ate from the tree that was forbidden this all changed. This act introduced the sin into the world. Because of this temptation could be considered of one of humanity’s

When becoming an effective intentional educator, it is very imperative that one sustains a positive educational philosophy. By withholding a great educational philosophy all educators will be able to overcome any and every conflicting issue that may arouse. Jessica SeMink-Cartgew and Penny A. Bishop asserts in their article “Passion is not enough: Preparing middle level preserve teachers to be advocates for change”, anticipating concerns and methods for ensuring that teachers are able to succeed successfully beyond their passion in education.

As for Perennialism, I agree that the learning should be structured and conservative; it should relay the eternal truths; the teacher is an authority who effectively uses class time to transmit knowledge. Elements of

Schools deliver a collective vision of education, so philosophies matter to support this vision. When we ask, “What kind of lifelong learner do we want our students to become?” it yields a different set of answers than asking, “What do we want our students to learn?” While both questions are important, have you ever heard a parent or teacher continue to celebrate a student's ability to spell or know their multiplication tables as they head off to college or to their first job? Not likely. Yes, balanced literacy and mathematical fluency are critical, but when asked what kind of adult do I want our students to be, I focus more on the dispositions of learning and the application of skills and concepts in meaningful ways. In our healthiest classrooms students see themselves as writers, mathematicians, design thinkers, artists, activists and scientists. This begins with our youngest learners, and their experience is critical; so how do we foster inquiry and healthy dispositions of learning?

In the beginning God made all of creation and looked around and saw that it was good, and this includes us, humanity. We were good in the beginning, created perfect, holy, and righteous, made in the image of God’s own self. God also gave us the freedom of choice, the free will to decide to follow our selfish desires or to follow the will of God. Back in the beginning Adam made that choice, biting into the forbidden fruit and bringing sin into the world. Humanity fallen from holiness was cast out of the garden and so we find ourselves broken and blinded to God by our own sin. Since that time humanity has been torn between the righteousness we were created for and the desires of our own flesh, each day confronted with the same choice as Adam.

There are five philosophies of education that make up my personal philosophy. I believe in certain aspects of every philosophy. Perennialism strives above all to develop our capacity to reason. The things of everlasting importance should be taught to people everywhere. I believe that there should be an authority figure to guide the students. The aspects of perennialism that I agree with are critical thinking, problem solving, coaching, discussion, prayer in the classroom, contemplation, and orderliness. I believe that the children should be led to use strategic thinking skills to solve problems. Moral development is included in the curriculum of perennialism. I believe children today need to be taught

My personal philosophy of curriculum encompasses a multitude of different curriculum beliefs and elements. My philosophy will include beliefs from both the Scholar Academic Ideology and the Social Reconstruction Ideology. My goal of education is to create students who become lifelong learners, that create the necessary changes in themselves and their communities, to better the world around them. Students should consistently develop their critical thinking skills, to promote creative solutions to intricate challenges. As can be expected, teachers and learners possess vital positions in my philosophy of curriculum.

When mankind sinned through the noncompliance, we were singled out by God. Because of this the natural world and man began to die spiritually and subsist in a condition of evil. This sin affected about every type of wickedness. Man’s human identity is known only through Christ and his precepts on the nature of humanity. It is in our nature that we are born in sin; thus it is our natural human drive that we explore this sin to the satisfaction of the human race.

All religions explore how good and evil impact on our lives. Christians believe that humanity was born with the inherent urge to commit bad acts and go against the will of God. The doctrine that all humans are sinful is called ‘Original Sin’, which comes from the bible story of Adam and Eve. Originally, God had created the perfect ideal world. But as a result of Adam and Eve’s disobedience to God, they ‘fell’ from

Aristotle once said, “The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.” Teaching enables students to gain the intelligence needed to excel in life. I believe that a teacher’s philosophy of education is a crucial role in his or her approach to leading students on their educated path. A philosophy of education is the set of beliefs that every school and every teacher stand behind. The certain philosophy that one chooses provides the answers to many vital questions, such as the purpose of schooling, a teacher’s role, and what should be taught in the classroom.

As a future teacher in today’s society and generation, I believe the educational system must accommodate the individual and the diverse needs of each child. Many factors should be thought about when forming a philosophy on education. Factors as far as the increase of single parent families and dual careers, the family structure is changing and this may play a significant part in our students. Furthermore, the issues such as teen pregnancy and drugs and much more, children are facing more complicated issues than they ever had before. A sound philosophy on education must be developed within the framework of social value systems. Our children are our future resources. All children can be guided to become well adjusted, functional and intelligent adults for their own benefit and the benefit for others in society. An educator should motivate and stimulate each child to perform to the best of their ability. Regardless of the various experiences, abilities and needs of the child. Therefore, all children must be well educated and given the opportunity