My Personal Philosophy : My Philosophy Of Education

Although the IOM (2011) report contains a multitude of recommendations and potential solutions, the call for action is truly urgent for all key stakeholders including nurses, physicians, hospitals, universities, and so forth. As the healthcare field continues to evolve so must the nursing education system.

Education is one of the most important things we learn in our lives. As a future educator my personal philosophy is to instill the values of cooperation, fairness and justice into the hearts of our students. Students need guidance and support in many areas of their life. A teacher can make a drastic difference in a child’s life. It is important to teach our future innovators to think critically, help them to see their worth, help the student to engage in the classroom and outside of the classroom. Letting a student have a voice in what they enjoy and what class rules should be can result in a positive learning experience. Creating teacher-student relationships and supporting them in play, passion, and helping them find their purpose will help support them through their failures which are positive learning experiences. Progressivism is a philosophy that supports this type of learning. Teaching academics with a progressivism outlook, it can help students with their outlook on the democratic society. Students can learn how to create their voice, what they believe, and increase their knowledge to achieve their goal along with teacher support.

Currently, I am responsible for managing the science instructional programs and personnel in a chartered middle school. As a supervisor for the department, I develop/source curriculum materials for teachers and collaborate with them to plan and implement instructional lessons daily. I manage the financial resources for the department and constantly monitor the teaching practices that will impact our organizational goal and vision.

While attending North Carolina Central University, I have taken classes that helped me develop the teaching philosophy I want for my future classroom. My philosophy is that no matter their background, all children have the opportunity or learning. Personally, I would love to see students reaching their fullest potential while in my class. It would be my dream to allow children with different learning levels, to be able to work in the same classroom together. This will require heavy amounts of group work, something kids need to learn for the real world. My classroom environment will be a judgment free zone. This will allow for students to freely express themselves and learn at their own pace. When teaching young children one must be prepared for all the frustrations, responsibilities, and challenges. Personally, I believe that all children are capable of learning anything, if they have the appropriate materials and motivation and direction from their teachers. It is up to me to ensure that my students are motivated and excited about learning new things.

It is true that many educators do not know what their educational philosophy is. However it is imperative for educators and future educators to know their personal educational philosophies so that they can be accountable, explain how they teach, what they are doing and why. My personal Educational philosophy is made up of four components; metaphysics, epistemology, axiology, and logic.

My personal philosophy of education as a teacher is to have the kind of elementary classroom in which students feel safe, welcome, curious, and happy. This can be done by implementing some of the techniques found in Teach Like A Champion by Doug Lemov. Some of the techniques that I plan on implementing are the techniques of: stretch it, format matters, and warm/strict. One way in which I would make my students feel safe is by implementing some of the ideas found in Is everyone really equal? by Ӧzlem Sensoy and Robin DiAngelo. As a teacher, it’s important to help a student understand where they are in relation to others while not placing judgment. Above all, it is important for the student to learn respect for self and others.

The definition of curriculum can be as mysterious as the curriculum itself. Oliva (2013) described the hunt for the curriculum as being similar to “efforts to track down Bigfoot, the Bear Lake Monster, [and] the Florida Everglades Skunk Ape …” (pg. 2). All of these elusive beings have left tracks, yet there isn’t a single photograph to prove their existence—just like there isn’t one tangible definition for curriculum. Sure, there’s a binder labeled “curriculum,” but that doesn’t mean it’s merely a set of plans. Initially, I believed the curriculum to be something elusive; I loosely interpreted it as the information that should be taught in a given subject and the corresponding objectives or learning intentions. I believed that the “curriculum [could] be conceived in a narrow way as subjects taught (Oliva, 2013, pg. 3). What I was unaware of was the interdependency of curriculum and instruction. I learned that the curriculum is just as reliant on instruction as instruction is on the curriculum. One is “the what” while the other is “the how.” Now, I view the curriculum as more than just a framework of content and standards. It includes “all the experiences that the learner encounters under the direction of the school” (Oliva, 2013, pg. 7). The curriculum is transient. It can be molded, shaped, and restructured to meet the needs of the children

My philosophy of education is that every student gets an equal opportunity to learn in a safe, comfortable and fostering environment. As I reflect on my teaching and learning principles, I realize that my mission as a teacher is based on the following thoughts: to enhance positive learning, provide equal opportunity to learning to assist closing the education gap and to use evidence based teaching strategies to present concepts in various modalities.

Individuals who guide others in learning essential information concepts needed to sustain a daily living are known as teachers or educators. Becoming an educator and teaching future generations is more than a career choice, it is a calling that requires an immense amount of passion, preparedness and keeping an open mind. In this statement, I will explain the influence that immediately sparked my interest in becoming an educator and share my personal beliefs on the important aspects of education. In addition to this, I will present various traits I believe are essential and critical for teachers to successfully fulfill their role as an educator.

The purpose of education is to support our students in developing the skills, the knowledge, and the qualities that will allow them to be responsible, contributing members to society, as well as being contributing members to the well-being of their community.

It is my belief that, through education, an individual will receive the skills and tools that are necessary to build a life that is successful and prosperous. I believe that, as teachers, it is our responsibility to ensure that learning takes place in a safe, open, and supportive environment. This will assist students to learn the important aspects of developing and fostering positive relationships with others. It is my desire, as a educator, to help students meet their fullest potential by providing an environment that is secure, supports risk-taking, and stimulates students to share ideas.

Education is defined as the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university (Education, n.d.). My philosophy of education is inspired by my mother’s experience as an educator. My mother used to give attention to each student and treated each student with love and care. Students used to share their personal and professional problems with her because she used to understand her students. Students used to love my mother’s method of teaching, and my mother respected every student and peers, because she believes that to be respected by everyone, you must give them respect too.

As I continue to progress through my teaching journey, I have had the opportunity to do a lot of self-evaluation and dig deeper into what makes a great teacher. Since then there has always been a quote that has stuck with me, stated by Seymour Simon, an award winning children’s science author. “I'm more interested in arousing enthusiasm in kids than in teaching the facts. The facts may change, but that enthusiasm for exploring the world will remain with them the rest of their lives.” I truly believe that as an educator it is more important to teach them how learning can change your life as compared to drilling facts that can possible change. The student’s love for learning will last a lifetime. With that being said, over the past years I

Art is something I have always admired but it has been just that, an admiration. I have been drawing since my earliest memory, and taught myself to draw from what I saw. While I have developed my skills over the years, I have never formally taken an art class or even learned about different varieties of art form. Now that I have the opportunity to pursue a degree in a creative field, I have realized there is such a vast majority of art, artists, and that we have to look deeper into art and the meaning behind it. Looking at art in terms of its contribution to society has been an even bigger challenge, because it is something that I personally have never thought to consider.

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.