My Philosophy Of Education Is Deeply Rooted With Both Idealism, Realism, And Pragmatism Philosophies Essay

Teaching is not merely about methods used and material presented in the classroom, but about shaping students’ lives to help them construct a firm foundation for a successful future. I desire to teach my students basic life skills as well as challenge them to set and reach their highest goals.

Deciding that I wanted to be a teacher didn’t take much effort; deciding what kind of teacher I want to be however, takes much more thought. There are numerous educational philosophies, most of which can be traced back to one of four major perspectives: idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism. All of these philosophical systems have an impact on educational thought; however, I find it hard to choose

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.

My philosophy of education is to ensure the dynamics of the classroom providing continued support to ensure a positive learning environment, while providing instruction for all learners and to inspire my students to be productive members of society.

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.

I remember my favorite teacher vividly even though I sat in her class many years ago. I have so many fond memories of her and took so much from her class. I can only dream of touching a child’s life in the way my favorite teacher touched mine. For just one student to think of me in the same way would make all the years of hard work worth the effort. I also want my students achieve many accomplishments. I want them to use and remember what they have learned in my class. I also want them to have a broad spectrum of knowledge. I want each student to do their best and go as far as they can. I want them to feel a sense of accomplishment and be proud of themselves. I want to be the teacher who is encouraging, supportive, and pushes her students to be their best.

For me, the decision to become a teacher is more of a way of life than a career. I have always loved school, practicing at being school marm from a young age, and voraciously devouring every shred of education offered me in my career as a student. If it were possible, I would be a student for the rest of my life. And then I still would not have learned enough. As a teacher, I hope to instill this appetite for knowledge in secondary students. They are, after all, the future leaders of the world, and what better place to expand the minds of the generations to come than here in Appalachia where education programs, especially the sciences, which I plan to teach, are poorly funded and children’s dreams

Goals for me as a teacher include being attentive to the students needs, promoting consistent structure with play, and to encourage empathetic teaching like questions such as, “ Why do you think he is sad?” Also, attending to signs of trauma and providing support to children with an excess amount of stress is

Teachers must hold high expectations for all of their students and recognize that all learners seek challenge, purpose, and affirmation. Students naturally want to learn and teachers must expect them to respond with investment, persistence, an opportunity to display their accomplishments and personal reflection. (Woolfolk, 2011). Teachers must connect new content with the knowledge scaffolding a student already possesses, in a way that encourages focused and engaged learning.

My personal objectives for teaching is to connect the dots for the students when they learn new things and find ways to integrate what they knew and continuing to learn (Moran, Burson & Conrad,

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

Being an elementary school teacher comes with a tremendous amount of responsibilities. As a teacher, it is important to know how help all children learn, and contribute to the classroom in an effective way. With students having their own unique way of learning, and contributing to the class us as teachers need help our students find out where they shine in the classroom. As a teacher helping students learn in the way that beneficial to the student is the most important part of the job. A way to help the student succeed in the classroom is to find a goal they are passionate about, find a reward that helps give the child something to work towards. Whether it is an academic goal or them having to work to be able to stay on a sports team. According to Bigpicture.org learning goals are tools used for problem solving and offer a set of boundaries to help the students look at the real world. With helping students set goals it gives them the tools

In terms of philosophy, I feel I benefit most from the pragmatic approach to teaching. This approach states that teachers feel the classroom is a community of learners, not just a teacher standing in front of a group of students. I believe this is true because it is my opinion that if the teacher is learning and exploring along with the students, the students are more likely to be involved and interested in what is being taught. I also believe the strategies of teaching by problem solving and encouraging democratic procedures are the most profitable in today’s society. My beliefs in student involved activities, emphasis of curriculum, and democratic classroom management are all part of the pragmatic approach.

After reviewing these teaching philosophies and educational theories, many of them reflect my own personal educational philosophy and my instructional practices and choice of classroom curriculum. The four that I found the most appealing are: Realism, Pragmatism, existentialism and progressivism. I find the combination of the three very complementary.

Whenever before I enter a class, my hope at the end of the day is to change all of these students for betterment. That is my goal of teaching. As