Jaiden G. Campbell
Spring 2017
EDUC 2002 Orientation to Teaching
Beginning Educational Philosophy Paper The last, and I’ll admit first, twenty years of my life have given me at least a handful of experiences and reflection in developing the begining of my educational philosophy. For the last seventeen years I have been a student and as I observed my teachers and classmates I often thought to myself, “ What would Ms. Campbell do?”
When I think of “education” it reminds me building a home. When you build a home you have to start with a solid foundation–without it your home would seep into the ground I suppose. From this foundation all other building is cumulative. I believe education, and therefor curriculum, should be extremely
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Effective teaching simply can not be achieved solely by being a passionate, organized, and professional teacher because teaching to the whole student is a team job.
While effective teaching is a team effort the individual effective teacher must have a profound understanding of their students and how they learn. This understanding gives them the insight they need to effectively and efficiently: facilitate learning, spark motivation, brighten the classroom climate, and when needed discipline. When a new group of students arrives to their class each student has formed their own unique foundation off which they can begin to build. However, because no two students will have had the exact same educational background it is highly unlikely that they will have identical fundamental proficiencies. I believe that the teacher’s duty is to evaluate and work from where they are rather than continue forward abruptly. To do this well they need to understand not only that students learn in different ways ( auditory, kinesthetic, visual, etc.), but how to facilitate learning in as many of these as needed.
When it comes to motivating these students I believe it comes hand-in-hand with managing classroom climate. Maintaining a good humored persona and making an effort to smile will positively affect the classroom climate. If the teacher is prepared, passionate, and interested it will not make every student become more involved in class discussion, however, if
As postmodern educators feel their way through an ever changing multicultural classroom environment, it is imperative that each hold firmly to their philosophical positions and do not let society influence them in a negative way. At the same time all teachers should be continually reflecting inwardly to make oneself accountable to their profession.
Educational research contributes many factors to effective teaching and the effective teacher. Beliefs and values that guide the research change by the decade, however, most of the research agrees that the highest impact on achievement is the teacher. The writer feels that the three factors Marzano pinpoints are ones truly necessary to guide effective teachers. He states “the act of teaching is a holistic endeavor. Effective teachers employ effective instructional strategies, classroom management techniques, and classroom curricular design in a fluent, seamless fashion”. (Marzano, p.77) By combining these three key components, the teacher will do what is necessary to foster student achievement.
I believe that every teacher should have well-strucuted lessons. The teacher should be able to adjust to practice while the lesson is being implemented. The teacher should be able to recognize if she students may be struggling and how to adapt the lesson to the needs of those students. The teacher should be able to reflect on the lesson after the lesson and learn how to change the lesson if needed.
In the practice of teaching, it is the responsibility of a teacher not only to teach students subject matter, but to teach students in order to enable them to grow and develop as a person. While it is essential for students to have an understanding of academic material, it is also equally as important that when students finish their education they have skills to use in
Understand How the Students Learn: All students do not learn the same way. There are a few theorist who decided that there were certain ways students learned. Some are teacher centered and others students centered. I myself believe heavily in the behaviorist theory, because I feel that the classroom is a more controlled environment. That theory was the way that worked for me best as a student, however; I understand that times are changing, more classes are student centered. The way that I have decided to combine the two to first figure out what will best work for my students. They may learn better by constructing their own knowledge through research or working together with others to build onto what they already know. I will be sure to expose
Knowledge of their subject, pedagogical theory, ability to organise and create learning environment, assess and engage students, and continual learning are all vital to teaching. Without exception, outstanding teachers know their subjects extremely well (Bain, 2004, pp 15). In order to navigate the complexity of teaching a teacher needs to know the underlying science and have the skills to affect the strategies. Skills pertaining to motivation for student engagement and teaching for understanding, communication skills for simplifying or scaffolding instruction, organisational skills to manage the physical environment, resources and teaching for learner differences, collaboration skills to facilitate group activities and conflict resolution to manage difference in goals, all play a part. Additionally, they require skills within the present technological context such as in creating media and using ICT in order to deliver instruction in a diverse and authentic manner.
My whole childhood I always dreamed about being a teacher. During school breaks, weekends, and summers, I would set up a “classroom” in my basement and my friends and I would play school. I would be the teacher most of the time. It takes a very special person to be a teacher, not everyone is teacher material. You have to be very patient, kind, and caring of all students you work with and encounter through your day and year.
There is so much preparation, forward-looking, and contingency that takes place before the teaching even begins. It takes a special person to be able to manage all of those things at once. I also learned about the control that the teacher has over the success over the students. It sounds obvious, but it is up to that individual that all of the students are met with the resources and attention needed to be prosperous. As we covered in the lecture portion of this course, one year with a poor teacher requires multiple years with excellent teachers to be repair that experience. Last, I grasped the benefits of different teaching styles by being able to see different classrooms operate. I was very fond of the project based format seen in Mrs.Farr’s classroom and the students liked it very much as well. I saw the contrast of the atmosphere in the classrooms when comparing a very strict teacher versus one a little more easygoing, noting the need to balance
This article allowed me to reevaluate my practices as a teacher. It is important to teach children the curriculum but it is also important to teach the child as a whole. Finding the philosophy of education cannot only be viewed through data but through real life experiences and learning. Children enjoy learning through drawing pictures, dramatic play, conversations and dilemmas with friends. Not all learning has to be structured. Working towards this balance of teaching will allow educators to create a higher educational experience for the teacher and
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
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.
I believe that education extends far beyond the classroom walls, and involves many more people than students and teachers. People should be learning wherever they go, and should continue learning long after they’ve graduated from high school or college. Education isn’t something that can be quantified with tests or report cards, but is instead something that people carry with them. It’s a survival pack for life, and some people are better equipped in certain areas than in others. People with a solid education are prepared for nearly anything, as they will be able to provide for their own physical, emotional, and aesthetic needs.
The chance to draw parallels, between philosophers such as John Locke with educational writers such as Howard Gardner, is important in our ever-evolving educational landscape. This program allows educators the opportunity to consider multiple perspectives in education. Exposing teachers to a variety of high quality writings creates dynamic and dimensional professionals. This type of study reduces the likelihood that a static style of teaching will be perpetuated. It provides an alterative to
According to this theory, critical awareness requires recognition that the social status of an individual, including educational and economic prospects and opportunities, is largely result from its race, gender, and class so the critical theorists want to raise the consciousness of these people dealing with education, knowledge, the school, and teaching and learning. Furthermore, they see the curriculum into 2 parts: the official curriculum which requires teaching subjects and specific skills, and the Hidden curriculum which imposes approved behaviors and attitudes on students through the school environment. They believe that teachers should empower themselves, because they can transform schools into democratic public spheres.
We watched a video about the effective teacher for 45 minutes. I have written notes about the important areas and points for the presentation. Fortunately, the presentation comprises of the important aspects of being a successful teacher. I learned why every student can learn. It is because the problem is not the student; the problem is the teacher who may fail to make a connection. If teachers believe in the law of No Child Left Behind, then they will have to work hard to find the appropriate method to improve the student’s skills and knowledge individually. So, teachers have to figure out ways of helping all the students to be successful because not all the best strategies work to the advantage of all students individually. All students must learn better from the high expectations they have from their teachers and having the opportunity to feel they are the fraction of the educational process.