My Educational Philosophy : My Philosophy 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.

To be an effective educator, I believe one must have a foundation of moral and ethical principles. An educator should support the learning environment, while being flexible and teachable. He or she must also lay a foundation of beliefs on how individuals learn, seeking to enable individuals to reach their optimal potential. My personal educational philosophy begins with believing all children are unique individuals, with different emotions and different styles of learning. An educator has the incredible challenge of attempting to meet those needs. As an educator, I believe all children deserve the opportunity and resources that would better enable them to reach their maximum potential.

Successful teaching occurs when the teacher is able to select the most efficient method for reaching out to each student’s individual style of learning and inspire students to rise to their highest potential. While the responsibilities of a teacher are extensive (as one can serve as a teacher, a friend, a counselor, a disciplinarian, an entertainer, a facilitator), I believe that students should play a big part in shaping own education as well.

My Educational philosophy is defined in becoming a teacher as a set of ideas and beliefs about education that guide the professional behavior of educators. Also included in educational philosophy are one’s beliefs about teaching and learning, students, knowledge and what is worth knowing. My five general purposes for philosophy of education are: to set goals of plan, to teach useful and relevant information, be aware of students learning styles, modeling positive cooperative behavior, to look for solutions and to make sure those solutions are working.

Every school teacher has their own set of related beliefs--a philosophy of education--that influences what and how students are taught. A philosophy of education represents answers to questions about the purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, and what should be taught and by what methods. I truly believe that every student can learn when given the right tools to do so. There is much more to it than just giving them the opportunity. Students need to be given an environment where they are free to express themselves and be themselves. Nowadays the diversity in our schools are drastically changing and we need to be able to teach in a way that addresses all students. My personal philosophy of education is that we need to provide students with

Children are the future and their education is the key to our society’s success. When considering this, I realize I have an immense responsibility as an educator. The main focuses of my teaching are active learning, building character within students, and providing meaningful curriculum. I want to create a comfortable setting where every student feels safe to learn. In many ways, my philosophy agrees with the holistic approach to education. I feel this challenges the student to not only learn the academic curriculum, but also provides them with opportunities to learn about themselves and the world we live in. I also admire this approach in that it provides students with challenges they must solve themselves. I believe this is extremely important in teaching the 21st century skills they will use their entire life. I believe we must look at the larger picture of what skills and knowledge we are giving our students so they may find success in their future.

A person's philosophy on education covers many different aspects. Such things that ones personal philosophy can contain are the purpose of education, methods one may use in education, and even the curriculum which may be taught. I feel that these three things are the most important for my personal philosophy and goals of education.

A personal philosophy of education serves to unify the experience of teaching for the individual. It provides our students with a professional that understands the context of learning from which their classroom stems. It also ensures a personal sense of growth: a lifelong process valued by the profession as a whole. I have combined beliefs from pedagogical, ethical and personally developed ideas I intend to use as a foundation in creating a nurturing classroom environment.

My teaching style can be best described as one that is student centered. My teaching style incorporates hands on learning and students actively participating in lessons. I believe that students should be able to discover lessons on their own through hands on activity. Also, my teaching style focuses on the idea of enhancing individual development. I believe that students should be actively involved with their education on all levels. My students will be able to make choices about the content they will be learning and how to present their knowledge of the content. It is my belief that evaluation of student learning should varied. While many teachers rely on tests, I believe that students should be given options to give presentations, create posters, and other creative methods that also allow the teacher to gauge their understanding.

According to Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (2008, pp. 1) “all human societies, past and present, have had a vested interest in education; and some wits have claimed that teaching is the second oldest profession.” No one comes into the world with knowledge, all knowledge is learned. Education can be learned from experience to being taught. This explains why educators are considered a big contribution to many successful people in today's society. Without education, the world would not have access to being literate.

In my classroom, the purposes and goals of education are to develop a student's knowledge and skills for life. Also, to create well-rounded students, and to raise the bar of student understanding. The role of a student in education is to be involved in their own learning, to ask questions when there is a lack of understanding, and to work to the best of their ability in school. The role of the teacher is to be someone the students can trust and feel like they can talk to. But can engage students in learning, and be understanding of the student's different circumstances. I believe that students learn with experience and repetition. By trial and error, with guidance from the teacher. As well as, making their own decisions in their own time about learning.

My beliefs on learning is that the teacher is the key to all children’s learning. The teacher is the one who interacts with the children and gives them the tools they need to continue their schooling. The teacher is also the one that communicates with the parents about the development of their children. The teacher also has to learn how to give the child the best learning opportunity they can. No two children are exactly alike so it is the teacher’s job to make sure each child gets the most they can out of the class. A teacher can not make children enjoy learning and getting an education, but they can make it fun along the and inspire the children to want to learn more. That is really the main job of a teacher is to inspire.

It is an educator’s purpose to make a student understand the subject the educator is teaching. The classroom can be quite different when looked at from a teacher's perspective compared to a student’s. For the student, he or she must focus on what the teacher is doing, and grasp what concepts they are bringing forth. Whether that information comes from the teacher speaking, writing on the board, or has some other sort of visual aid. The student must use and apply that information from the educator to the best of their ability to pass the educator’s curriculum. While at the same time, the teacher is doing their best to convey knowledge to the students, in an easily comprehensible way. The teacher must also maintain the classroom behavior, and give the students the curriculum within the schools time

The learning experience should be that of a collective nature where students are able to indiscriminately relate to the information, re-teach the information and have a balanced incorporation of all the learning centers in society; including the home and the church. The goal of this incorporation is to create a balanced learning environment that facilitates holistic development in the young mind. As professionals entrusted with the shaping of young minds, teachers must facilitate learning and personal, spiritual, ethical and academic development. My philosophy for education is a multi-part philosophy that encapsulates the idea of holistic and inclusive learning. The philosophy caters for the overall shaping and development of the young mind and includes aspects of balanced training, incorporated teachings and it generally focuses on training students to become teachers.

When understanding education there are many different ways which the purpose of education may be applied and defined. My personal philosophy of education is, 'educators must nurture/guide students within the academic field, to that the aims, goals and results during this task of educating or being educated are achieved '. This philosophy is used to understand that both teachers and students play an integral role in education. Academic performance, classroom methods/practices and also meeting the requirements of both the senior secondary Australian Curriculum Framework and the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers Framework are examples of these roles. This essay will discuss in detail how my personal philosophy of education, reflects on the role of teachers and learners, the aim of education and the methods and practices used in the classroom. Jean Jacques Rousseau, Paulo Freire, Locke, and Plato/Socrates are the four theorists that shall be used within this essay, to support claims and justify statements regarding this philosophy. John Dewey and A.S Neil are two non-supporting theorists that shall be used in contrast to justify this philosophy.