“My Philosophy of Education”
(Subject to change)

~Josef Albers

Education is incredibly important and holds many purposes. Children need to go to school so that they may gain the knowledge needed to be successful in this world. Knowledge gives us the capacity to get and keep the things we want out of life; a place in society, jobs, love, friends, etc. Also, education is a tool that can help all students learn and succeed in a way that is important to them. Each child is different and has different needs. Schools should provide a safe, fun learning environment for students of all levels and backgrounds to be educated. The purpose of education is to create a knowledgeable society that will be able to function successfully as a whole. This means as educators we should be responsible for helping socialize students so that they can act sensibly in our society. Not only should the purpose of education be to teach the appropriate academic content but to also help teach prosocial values, for example, honesty, fairness, and civility. This is important because we are a country with such diverse backgrounds that this knowledge is essential to survive in a diplomatic world. Education is an on going process. Even as adults we are learning everyday. Education provides an opportunity for learning to the student as well as the teacher.

            It is important that teachers continue to learn so they better understand the changing educational processes and apply the most successful theories to their classrooms. As teachers we should strive to be masters of our domain. First and foremost I want to be a great role model for my students. I want to be able to teach to the individual needs of my students while still maintaining an atmosphere where my students can enjoy the process of learning. Since there are many different learning styles, I will try to reach them all by providing a few different types of learning options. If I can be successful at this then I will have a successful classroom. I think that it is important for teachers to understand their students and their needs. If they can do this they will be able to use that power to manage the classroom. A teacher should take time at the beginning of the year to get to know their students, including where they come from and what is important to them. As a teacher I want to know what my students are interested in and what their goals are for the school year; what do they want to learn? I think that if I can discover what is high on their priority list and what they want to get out of the school year, I can gear my lessons around these ideas and the students will want to learn and, hopefully, have fun while doing it!

As a teacher I want to have an open line of communication with the parents of my students. I think this is essential because parents have a lot of say in how they want their children to learn and they want their students to be successful; after all they were the child’s first teacher. I want to be able to keep them informed on my ideas of learning and why they work. This will help parents feel comfortable about their child’s education.

            As a teacher I would like to create a community in my classroom that allows my students to have ownership of the room. I like the idea of students having jobs or roles to help keep the community on task. A teacher should be the facilitator who provides an environment for child centered learning. I believe in educating the whole child and making sure that my lessons will help my students develop intellectually, physically, emotionally, and socially. As a teacher I will act as a guide through out the year, allowing my students to decide what they want to learn about. For example, if we are required to teach the life cycle of an animal, I will let my students decide as a whole what animal they would like to study and I would support their choice by providing as many resources I can to help them through this assignment. I will provide a variety of learning opportunities such as cooperative learning, small and large group projects, as well as individual lessons. Through this I will help my students understand that the subjects they are learning will help better their lives.

I feel that children learn best when they are in an environment where they feel comfortable. I hope to create an environment like this by supporting my students in successes and failures. I think it is important for children to understand how it feels to be successful, but I also feel that it is important for them to feel failure and be all right with it. By showing them that it is ok to make mistakes and that you can ask for help and try again I think I will reach more students and have a successful classroom. I will keep saying this, but I really feel it is important for teachers to get to know their students and what kinds of things they want to achieve so that they can set the classroom up for the students to succeed.

The curriculum should contain the basic concepts; math, science, language, reading, writing, and history. However, I think that these ideas can be conveyed without using the traditional teaching style. I will provide a child centered curriculum where the content is created on the basis of the students interests.  For example, if I was teaching a lesson in writing, I would first ask my students what types of things were important to them. Some students might say sports, playing games with their family or eating out. Instead of having my students sit at their tables and write I might let them write their own rules to a game or making a menu to share with the class. I really think it is important to relate the lessons in the classroom to what is important to my students, and to help students make a connection with the material and something that already exists in their own world. This allows students to better understand and retain the ideas and concepts they learn in class. This means that I will need to provides activities that will best help the current students in my classroom, which may be different from the students that I had the year before.   

Another thing that I feel is important throughout all curriculums is that children of the same grade should be learning the same concepts and ideas at some point through the school year. For example, all second graders should be learning the same ideas in the second grade. This way no matter what teacher they had in the second grade they will be equally prepared for the third grade. However, I do feel that each teacher should have the freedom to teach the material in their own creative ways and in a style that is best for their students. I think teachers have the ability to do this while still making sure they are preparing their students for the next grade.

I want to become a teacher is because I want to make a difference in the life of a child. One of the most amazing experiences is watching a child master something new. Seeing his or her excitement and confidence level go up is so great. I think that when I was younger everyone involved with education had their own ideas of how things should be done and what the goals of education were. Now, we all have our own ideas, but we are better at working toward one common goal. We want to see all students succeed and we understand that children find success in different ways and we are willing to provide many opportunities in order to make that happen. Teaching involves the teacher and the student working together in a common place working toward common ideas.