The Power of Teaching
“To furnish the means of acquiring knowledge is...the greatest benefit that can be conferred upon mankind.”--(John Quincy Adams)
I have never questioned what I wanted to be when I grow up. From the time as a small child I knew that I wanted to teach. Even at the end of many long school days, I would come home and play school with the neighborhood children. I had such a desire to help others learn and took pleasure in doing so. Still, to this present day I am teaching and helping others. Presently, I coach seventh and eighth grade girls’ basketball. I am constantly teaching different methods and strategies to help enhance each individual’s game. From my previous experiences I know education is the
…show more content…
I will stand in front of my class as a teacher, but also as a counselor and role model. Teaching is one profession in which many professions are combined in the classroom environment. When I become a teacher I hope that I can motivate all students to strive for excellence. After all, helping a child realize his or her potential is the main priority of education. Subsequent to each child leaving my class at the end of the year, I hope that he or she will embark on many rewarding endeavors. For me, nothing will compare to seeing one of my previous students attaining their dreams, while knowing I had the power to influence he or she on the journey.
In my classroom I hope that my students will learn from not only myself, but from the other students in the classroom. It is my desire to create a democratic classroom environment. Each student will have freedom of expression. I am a firm believer in making learning fun and interesting, while sustaining discipline. A disciplined, well-behaved classroom is the key to accomplishing tasks and goals. I represent the Pragmatism/Progressivism philosophical approach. I believe students should learn from not only books, but from hands on experiences with the interaction of others. The approach maintains motivation and learning progresses as each experience is mastered. The progressivist encourages others to cooperate and understand different
A large part of my educational philosophy is based on the fundamentals of Progressivism. This philosophy, founded by John Dewey, organizes schools around the concerns, curiosity, and real world experiences of students. I agree with these ideas because people must continually learn to keep up with today’s fast paced world. I believe that when learning is relevant and enjoyable students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning. Progressivism has respect for individuality, a high regard for science, and a receptivity to change that I feel is critical to successful education. As a Progressive teacher I will facilitate learning by helping students formulate meaningful questions and devise strategies to answer those questions. In my opinion, answers are best discovered through real world experience, especially hands on learning or pragmatism. I believe that there is a time and place for book-learning; however, there is no substitute for actually doing things. I
I hope that when I am a teacher that the kids will learn from me that learning can be fun and not a task. That there is so much to learn about that you should never be bored with learning. If they leave my class room knowing about that and the curriculum needed to succeed in my particular grade and subject. Than I accomplished everything that I wanted to.
Teachers have the power to change the world and to make a difference in the student's life. Teacher is a facilitator of knowledge, motivator, advisor and a positive person that can improve the student's education. I decided to pursue the career of education because I have the desire to help others. I also have the ambition to provide encouragement and support to the people that need it. Becoming a teacher means more than sharing my knowledge to the students. It is a commitment with society to shape the performance and learning of future generations.
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 always thought I would be a teacher and I would make differences in lives and it would be the greatest experience in the world for me, yet being a teacher wasn’t enough, I had a need to expand my education. I decided that perhaps I needed a new career, however, I felt certain education remained my passion. I began to explore new areas of education and I realized I still want to be a member of a classroom, a school and curriculum. I aspire to guide those leading our classrooms.
In elementary school, we were all asked a question. “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I have always known my answer to that question. I want to be a teacher. The question in the back of my mind, was what kind of teacher. Through my life I’ve met many different teachers, and have had many different experiences, that have helped me find an answer to that question. If not for all of these people and experiences, I don’t know where I would be.
An inevitable part of being a senior is the question “ What do you want to be when you grow up?”. Luckily for me, i’ve been sure of what i wanted to do since I was 6 years old. I’ve never doubted for a second that teaching is my future. I picture myself ten years from now, and I see myself standing in front of my class, a presentation queued up, and a steely look of determination in my eye.
I know that children learn in many different ways. Observing, experimenting, reading, and listening are a few of those many ways. I have learned that people learn best when the information is something that they are interested in. I am going to strive to make every lesson fun, and applicable to my students. I favor using many methods to teach, including lecturing, cooperative learning, project based instruction, and “hands-on” activities. I want the classroom to be a place that the students enjoy, not a boring place. I believe that every child has an innate hunger for learning and becoming successful. If I can harness their craving and aim it in the right direction, I believe I will be successful in helping these students achieve what they are looking for in life.
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 future of the world is in the hands of the children. Whether the future be a positive or negative one depends on the children and the education they receive. The education of a child is so valuable that one needs to consider the importance of the child's education. Also, one needs to consider how to go about nurturing those bright minds so one day they can become independent individuals. As Educators, one needs to be aware of the short-term effects as well as the long-term effects in which education may play on the child's views of the world.
The big question teachers ask me throughout my life is “what do you want to be when you grow up?” I never had an answer to that. Going into college I didn’t have a set plan as to what career I would like to pursue. However, I knew that I wanted to work with kids; I originally wanted to be a pediatrician. That career choice was based on my family wanting me to be successful, so I put my passion for working with kids and their passion together. As I began to focus on what I want instead of what others want, I changed my major to Early Childhood Education and chose the path of teaching as my career choice. I have high hopes for this career because teachers are always needed. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics(BLS), the employment rate for my career choice will increase by six percent from 2014 to 2024. In this world, education is valued and will help put people many steps ahead. The reason why I chose to be an elementary teacher is because I want to be able to motivate and inspire my younger generations.
Every teacher has a different method of teaching. The teachers that I have had in my school career have been no exception. In this way, each teacher has set an example for me, as a future teacher, to follow or not to follow as I see fit. With the examples from my teachers and in continuing my education, I am developing my own method of teaching. I plan to use a combination of teaching methods in my own classroom. My method will be an eclectic approach because I will be using components of more than one philosophy. I will be using essentialism, behaviorism, progressivism, and existentialism.
I think that teaching requires both art and science. They both play a role on each other, because if a teacher only demonstrates one of these types of teaching, their classroom will most likely be very boring.
“To stimulate life, – leaving it then free to develop, to unfold, - herein lies the first task of the educator. In such a delicate task, a great art must suggest the moment, and limit the intervention in order that we shall arouse no perturbation, cause no deviation, but rather that we shall help the soul which is coming into the fullness of life, and which shall live from its own forces. This art must accompany the scientific method.”
In the field of education there could arise many philosophical ideas of each individual teacher. Many of the past philosophies have been and still are used in today’s education programs, such as the Socratic method. My philosophy will also contain some of the many philosophies of the past and possibly the future. I will state the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purpose of public education, method, and curriculum according to my own philosophies, which also may be based the philosophical ideas of previous individuals.