My Philosophy of Education

By: Erin Postma

            Throughout this summer we’ve talked about many philosophers and how their theories apply the education system in the United States. There’s one philosopher we haven’t talked about, but we’ve used his key word several times. He’s one I know through my undergraduate work and the one that’s stuck with me the most because of his philosophy on how one should live life. Friedrich Nietzsche talked about passion, finding it early in life and maintaining it. I’ve had a motto for the past few years, “If you’re not happy doing what you’re doing, then why are you doing it?” Now I change the word happy to passionate. I’ve always wanted to find my passion in life and I’ve always wanted other people to find theirs.

Over the years of my life I’ve come to realize that I’m truly passionate about teaching young children. Other passions have come and gone, but one mainstay has been the feeling I get when a child I’m working with fully grasps the concept they’ve been struggling to figure out. Nothing can replace that feeling for me when the light bulb finally goes on. When I lose that feeling I’ll know it’s time for me to retire. Until then I hope to inspire my students to find their passion in life, and a passion for learning.

I believe that the most influential time for a child is during their primary years in education. During this period their brains are still extremely pliable. This is the time when students learn best, are most eager to learn and need to have the passion for learning that’s inside fed so that it burns bright. Most schools are so much more than just places to learn reading, writing and mathematics. Now students sometimes see their teachers more during the week than they see their own parents. This means that schools are not only responsible for just a student’s growth of knowledge, but for his/her socialization.

            I feel that students learn best with a hands-on approach to learning, similar to John Dewey’s philosophy known as progressivism. The aim of this approach is to help children deal with changes, contribute to society, and prepare students to think rationally. According to progressivism, education should be child-centered with curriculum derived from students’ interests. The key word in progressivism is “active,” this is because learning is supposed to be hands-on, where students learn by doing. Learning is also cooperative, and based around the scientific method. Children learn by trying and solving everyday problems on their own. They learn through experiences that they build off of their previous experiences.

            Unfortunately, this is a hard approach to implement in schools with the current schooling system. In public schools, teachers often have a preset curriculum program that they are expected to use in their classrooms. These programs often include specific lessons for the teachers to follow step by step along with the allocated time for each step.  Schools also usually have a preset time for each subject per day that teachers are expected to adhere to. Due to this teachers don’t have as much freedom as they used to. They’re often hemmed into schedules that don’t allow time for non-standard activities, and because of the emphasis on standardized tests they’re made to focus on reading, writing, math and science.

            The “No Child Left Behind Act” helped to increase the pressure placed on teachers to make sure that their students excel on state tests. Since schools are now graded and funded based on how well their students do on their state’s standardized tests, teachers are expected to have their students prepared to take the tests. This means that most teachers lose months of lesson time in order to directly prepare their students to take a series of tests that they’ll have to repeat every few years.

            All this leads to an impossibility of being able to implement a curriculum based solely on progressivism. Even if it were possible to teach from a strictly progressive perspective, I would still blend in aspects of essentialism. I do this because I believe that students need the basic curriculum in order to make it through high school and onto college. An essentialist approach requires teachers to give students the knowledge and skills deemed essential to be productive members of society.

            Since there is such a focus on testing, students need to be ready to take the standardized tests. A college degree is needed in order to get a professional career that pays above minimum wage. In order to get a college degree a student has to be good at passing standardized tests. I’d feel as though I was letting my students down if I didn’t begin to prepare them to take these tests by including some basic, “these are the facts” lessons in my curriculum. I want to teach according to my philosophy, and I want my philosophy to be parallel with what students need.

            Besides incorporating the essential knowledge into hands-on activities, having my students work in jigsaw groups, and using a variety of other teaching techniques I plan on incorporating physical activities into my regular schedule. Elementary students are still children and have relatively short attention spans. I want to have them out of their seats and moving around as much as possible, while still focusing on the curriculum. I’ll do this by either creating lesson plans that incorporate movement or by taking quick breaks to allow the children to move around before resuming their work. Hopefully, this will ensure that their attention is focused on the material when it needs to be and will create a more comfortable environment.

            I know my teaching philosophy will change as I continue my own education, both formal and informal. I also know that it will change after I get into a classroom and figure out what actually works in the room I have, the school I’m in and with the students I have. Right now my philosophy of education is a mix of several different philosophies and I doubt that will ever change. Each year the students in my classroom are going to be different and after I fully get to know all my students I’ll see what methods work best with them. The worst thing I could do as a teacher would be to not try to get to know my students. So, until I get into a classroom and change my philosophy, I believe that students should be taught some of the basic facts that society deems to be truth, and that students learn best through a hands-on approach. This way they know that they can work through any problem they come across; it just may take time.