The purpose and focus of education should be on the child as a whole. With the ever-changing society and culture that our present students face they should have educational content that is derived from student's interests rather than set scholastic principles. Allowing the student to have a choice in what he/she wants to learn gives the student a feeling that their choices are important. Of course, by allowing the freedom of choice to students on subject matter means finding subjects that are comparable, appropriate, and sufficient to stimulate their minds. Finding the subjects appropriate for students in your class could partially be done by the students themselves. Allowing the student's to “design” the curriculum by using education on the fly techniques keeps the students interested and allows you to incorporate many subjects into the exciting activity (ex. Finding a frog and using it as a educational tool). This allows students to be active learners that solve problems by reflecting on past experiences. Being active problem solvers also allows students to prepare for an unknown future, which is based on the relativism approach, where present knowledge may be true today but may not be true in the future. Reflection of past experiences is not only valuable in problem solving but also in the retention of new information.
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According to the Levels of Processing model of Human Cognition learning through past experiences is vital in the successful retention of new information in school. Previous experiences that students have help associate new information with past schemes enabling them to retain information better. Learning is essentially active rather than passive. Desirability goes a long way with the learning of a student, and through progressivism a teacher structurally begins where students are and carefully leads them to the lesson that will enhance their lives. I believe that the progressivist approach is best for a child's learning, but there are many other factors that are needed for a healthy development.
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The internal building blocks that I see are essential to the healthy development of a student are school engagement, cultural competence, personal power, and a high self esteem. Through the progressivist approach a child has a better chance to be engaged and to be an active learner in the classroom because they have the “power” to choose what they would like to learn. Helping students become active learners and problem solvers will enable them to discover meaningful experiences at many stages of their lives. This may spawn high self-esteem, personal power, and the feeling that they have control over things that happen to them. In our society today being culturally competent is a necessity to a child's development. Having a multicultural classroom that values diversity by integrating content, reducing prejudice, and using teaching methods that reach all students is a must in our society.
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External building blocks that I believe are critical to the development of a student are adult role models, safety, and youth programs. Role models are important because they demonstrate responsibility, morals, and values, which are essential in the social development of a student. Safety is a big issue in the healthy development of a student. If a student does not feel safe in an environment they will not be successful due to the fact that their attention and focus will not be on school related activities. Lastly I believe that youth programs are important because this is where students can meet peers with similar interests as well as a mentor and role model in a coach or leader. This allows a student to use after school activities as cultural tools, which Vygotsky believes to play very important roles in cognitive development.
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The curriculum in the classroom should cater to the social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development of every student in the class. I believe a successful curriculum in a classroom would be centered on integration and focus on group work. While the students learn essential knowledge they also have the freedom of choice learning activities. Students will be engaged in activities related to their natural interests and may be moved to higher levels of understanding. An example of this used in the classroom would be activity centers. These centers would be set up around the classroom. The activity centers could consist of a mini library, media center, project area, and science center. In these centers you will find books related to topics that are currently being studied, various art supplies, CD players, tape recorders, a computer, and class animals to name a few. The curriculum should be surrounded by live examples such as field trips, models/manipulatives, role-playing, and group projects. Live examples provide a wide range of experiences that help build a foundation for concept learning and language.
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The role of the teacher in a classroom that fits my philosophy of learning is necessary in a student's overall success. The teacher's role is more of a mediator rather than a taskmaster. As a future educator I would make it a point to facilitate learning and help students figure out what is important to them rather than teaching them cold-hard facts. The teacher is a source of knowledge that moves from group to group and immerses himself as an equal participant in each group's tasks. The goal that I have as a future educator would be to capitalize on their interests and keep their curiosity alive.
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A successful learning process hinders on the role of a teacher as well as the role of the student. The role of a student is to be an active co-constructor with others and the teacher. The students (with the help of the teacher) should be active thinkers, explainers, interpreters, and questioners. Active construction cognitively and socially causes the student to solve problems on their own and allows them to learn more about who they are. __________________________________________________________________________________________________

My philosophy of education uses the educator's life as a point of departure for learning about the subject. The teacher must be willing to set up in the classroom along the lines of a democracy, a close community of learners whose major purpose for being there is to learn.