Education has many controversial political and cultural implications.  If educators focus on compassion, consider what is in the best interest of the student, and teach nothing that is wrong, then we can promote a progressive form of education that will change the way students view the world. To accomplish this, we must consider four elements of education: the purpose of education, qualities of an effective teacher, environment to promote learning, and the curriculum to be taught. The underlying theme of these four critical approaches to education integrates a social and cognitive view of constructivism and its correlating pedagogical approaches.

My philosophy hinges on three specific purposes of education: (1) to make the world a better place, (2) facilitate the development of student self-esteem and self-concept, and (3) to promote life-long learners.  Students should be encouraged to develop the intellectual tools to be able to think critically about their environment and be empowered to make changes. Therefore, one purpose of education is to create responsible citizens who are able to think critically about their world and be inspired to make positive changes for themselves and others.  Education should promote the highest levels of moral development by encouraging students to do not harm to self or others; and to ask of every situation: Is this right, moral, or ethical? In order to foster development into postconventional moral reasoning stage, the teacher should ask developmentally appropriate morality questions of all students in order to encourage critical thinking.  These discussions of morality will promote and encourage moral development in students; as well as foster a moral community within the classroom. To create responsible citizens, teachers should not only promote moral development, but should also focus on teaching respect for self, respect for others, and respect for the environment.
Education should also facilitate the development of a positive self-concept and focus on the quality of student life.  Students should be celebrated for their differences, in addition to learning to embrace their similarities.  This process will involve students, families, and the community at large.  In order to develop positive self-concepts, teachers will work with parents to facilitate a healthy balance between academic, social, and physical self-esteem.
The third purpose of education that forms an important pillar of my philosophy involves inspiring students to be life-long learners.  Curriculum should connect personally to students’ lives.  This personal connection should lead to passion about specific subjects, as well as a general passion about learning.  Education should inspire students to continue learning, and to seek out knowledge.  Additionally, education should prepare students for the technology-driven world (website, podcasts, blogs, etc), and teach them how to continue learning and to consider where all information comes from (i.e. operationalizing definitions and considering the sources of all materials). 

The concept of a compassionate classroom notion also impacts the characteristics of a teacher.  A teacher should express compassion for all her students in a variety of ways.  If a problem ensues, a compassionate teacher should consider why a student behaves a certain way to fully understand the problem (as opposed to simply reacting to the problem).  This will also encourage the compassionate teacher to be proactive in anticipating issues with specific students.  Teachers should also be a “guide on the side” and focus on promoting the individual and collaborative construction of understanding via interactive learning. In order to achieve the goals implied by the purpose of education, teachers must also exhibit the abilities they intend to inspire in their students.  Teachers should model the emotional development they desire for each student.  Students should be able to relate directly to the teacher.  Therefore, teachers should not be afraid to make mistakes in front of their students; and students should witness teachers reading, writing and questioning the world.  This will model the notion of being a life-long learner.  Finally, a teacher should have a positive sense of personal identity and integrity as well as a solid understanding of their philosophy of education.

Children learn best in a compassionate environment.  One of the underlying principles of my philosophy of education includes the notion that “compassion is key.” Compassion in this context is the ability to identify the feelings of others and the desire to consider the perspective of each student.  Teachers should be innately compassionate, and lead by example in order to foster compassion within students.  This is done through an emphasis on developing a learning community.  Therefore, I believe children learn best when they are able to create their own understandings of their world with the help of their peers.  My philosophy of education is rooted in a student-centered dynamic for both classroom guidance as well as the construction of knowledge.  I believe students learn best when they are presented with an essential question that inspires and challenges them.  Teachers should create environments for students to answer these essential questions; yet, also they should be allowed to comfortably fail.  This method is dependent upon understanding the particular developmental needs and interests of each student.  

When designing lesson plans the most important aspect is to know your students.  Curriculum should personally connect with students and their life-experiences. The individual needs of each student and the needs of the learning community should balance one another.  A focus on guided discovery whenever possible, will allow each student to construct a personal understanding of the material.  Because students come from a variety of experiences, those experiences directly impact their cognitive and social development. Teachers should consider each individual child’s process in constructing a cognitive understanding of material, as well as support construction based on social interactions.  These social interactions will assist the cognitive process by connecting new concepts to both personal and group experiences that will result in a depth of understanding. 
            In addition to implementing a constructivist theory, education should also teach the basics.  “The Basics” refers to teaching a solid foundation in all academic subjects.  This foundation is not limited to the traditional reading, writing, and arithmetic.  Instead, the basics in my philosophy of education includes curriculum that integrates all subject matters: math, reading, writing, science, foreign language, world history, art, art history, music, and community development. In teaching the basics, it is also critical to avoid teaching anything that is wrong. Part of a critical thinking development will include questioning the misinformation promoted in many modern textbooks.  In order to create citizens who think critically, to promote high levels of self-concept, and teach compassion, education should be experienced from many different perspectives and include a cross-curricular approach to a wide-range of subjects.