Essay on My Philosophy of Education

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.

TEACHER ROLES: I believe that the teacher of elementary students has many roles. I will sometimes be a facilitator-guide, sometimes a supportive, nurturing mother-like figure, and sometimes a sage who imparts knowledge. I will encourage my students to become more self-aware and self-managing. I believe that elementary school teachers must focus significant classroom time on the acquisition of social and community skills such as mutual respect, cooperation, friendship-building skills, and kindness.

If I had to pick one view that is most compatible with my own view and learning and teaching it would have to be Constructivism. If I got to choose another one I would go with Cognitive. Constructivism is a view that focuses on the active role of the learner and a Cognitive view sees learning as an active mental process of receiving, remembering, and using knowledge. Both of these views see the role of students as an active role; an involved role. I believe that we learn knowledge and change our behavior based upon this knowledge; instead of the other way around. I used to be somewhat of a behaviorist in that I put too much of the teachers focus on the behavior of the students. I have began to stray away

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

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” (Angelou, 2009) This is a truth that I have witnessed firsthand. As a child, at the tender age of seven years, I was blessed with an educator, Mrs. Cager, whose commitment to her students was so profound until I have never forgotten her. She made me feel like I was the most important person in her classroom. Her encouraging words instilled a level of confidence within me that I still cling to and apply more than 40 years later. Her commitment is directly responsible for my personal philosophy of education also being commitment.

The tightness of a parents’ grip upon their children can reflect the way we function for the rest of our lives. Too tight, and we desire freedom and indulge in rebellion. Too loose, we become lost souls, hopelessly searching for that one constant comfort in a sea of dissatisfaction and loneliness. Lev Vygotsky theorized that a person 's psychological development is formed by his/her past and social environment. Vygotsky focused on the social interactions during the learning process and claimed there is a deep interrelationship between social and cognitive development. He believed that children are curious and actively involved in their own learning. They discover and development new understandings about the world by observing those who are in their immediate surroundings.

Education entails individual human development in the cognitive, emotional, creative and social areas. All children are entitled to a free education regardless of race, cultural background or handicaps. For education to be an effective part of the students life, the student and teacher must be actively and enthusiastically involved in learning. A teacher needs to be well prepared and organized. They need to know the perspective goals for each student and ways to achieve these goals. Teachers need to work with students to help them grow and develop ways to use their knowledge.

"Some people make things happen, some watch while things happen, and some wonder ‘what happened?’ Which type of person are you?" author unknown.

Education is inevitable. It is all around us because we can learn from virtually anything. When you are cooking, dancing, talking or any other activity you have actually had to learn several things to be able to do them. In the educational perspective, I am a pragmatist and I tend to follow after Dewey's footsteps. The concept of Pragmatism is one that developed in the 20th century. My philosophy is based on the idea that learning should involve real-life situations. Learning becomes more concrete to a student when they apply it to real-life situations, as where learning things that do not connect to them has more of an abstract sense. Personally, I would have to agree with Dewey when he said, "I

My personal philosophy of education encompasses the rights and responsibilities of the student, the parents, the teacher and the community. Each of these entities are directly responsible for the successful education of the student.

In order for a society to function, individuals must be productive members of that society. This is accomplished through education. The philosophy of education is determined by society. As society changes so does the concept of education.

Lev Vygotsky believed that children learn from their own experience. As a teacher I have grown to learn that Vygotsky’s findings are true in so many ways. Just from watching the children in my classroom I see that the Zone of Proximal Development and Scaffolding play a huge part in the development of a child.

Education is the process of learning that can take place anywhere and at any time. I believe that creativity and activity as well as books and lessons are essential to the learning process. As a teacher, I hope to instill in the children a sense of knowledge and self-worth that will remain with them throughout their lives.

I believe that teachers have one of the most important and rewarding jobs in this country. Their primary job is to prepare young people for the future. This is why I want to become a teacher. I want to help young people grow and learn, while having fun in the process. In this paper, I am going to share my philosophy and the goals that I hope to achieve and use in my career. I am going to give my beliefs and thoughts on knowledge, the purpose of education, why my chosen field (science) is important and the best methods to use to teach this field, my principles, and the steps and processes I will take in order to become the best teacher I can for my students.

Lev Vygotsky believed that we base our knowledge on social interaction and this is called social constructivism. Vygotsky believed that when a student is in the “Zone of Proximal Development”, providing assistance and encouragement from a knowledgeable person; parent, teacher, peers, will give the student enough support to better achieve the task at hand. The presence of a support group