Philosophy of Education

“The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards.”  Anatole France

As a future educator, I want to have an impact not only on the information that children retain from their years in school, but also I want to influence how one will develop into a young adult.  Classifying all my ideas together, I have reached an eclectic point of view. To successfully reach a particular audience, one should be aware of the audience he or she is teaching, aware of possible problem areas which have or will arise, and aware of what is expected to be taught.  Through the knowledge of these issues, a teacher can benefit in teaching his or her students efficiently.

I feel that for a child to benefit from all aspects of education he or she has to be put at the focal point of learning.  John Dewey’s philosophy of Progressivism as well as the teachings of Patty Smith Hill best represents this approach.  If a child is wanting or has a slight interest in learning, he or she should be the center of the attention.  By being in the center attention, he or she can grasp the fullness of what I want to get across in my lesson—my passion for the student and his or her learning.  Also through teaching by progressivism, I am able to allow my students to take part in an active learning environment.  Not only can they learn through hands on experience in my classroom, but they gain knowledge of other’s culture by doing group activities—dividing students into groups with a goal for each group to show a different country’s style of clothing, style of music, unique hobbies, and way of life.

With writing being a way for one to express himself or herself and being important in any student’s life, utilizing the Behaviorism philosophy in the classroom, like that of B.F. Skinner, is an important role for me as a future teacher.  I will be able to allow students to see how, through emotions and life experiences, some of the best writers were influenced not only in their style and technique of writing but also by their choice of words and pictures similar to the works of A.S. Neill’s Summerhill .  I can only hope that they too will choose to express themselves one day by writing down their feelings over a physical act of cruelty to another, and that through my teaching they will grasp a positive outlook on life. 

Teaching is done differently in many areas.  As a future teacher, I want my children to experience all styles of learning not only ones that are used frequently in the United States.  Through teaching by Essentialism, I will be able to instill in the children education from around the world.  They are not only able to grasp America’s portrayal of how one should learn, but they are also able to see how techniques from different countries are put together and develop into a new type of learning.  By researching other countries and staying up to date on technology and unique style of education, I am able to promote a solid foundation of learning to my students through diverse plans.

I understand that on days not all these philosophies will be used in my teaching, but I think that displaying each of these techniques, at some point in my teaching career, will help me get information across to the students that I have the privilege to teach.  However, though Progressivism, Behaviorism, and Essentialism are valuable in my career, my main philosophy is one of my own—to learn from the students as much as I expect them to learn from me.  If I am not continually gaining knowledge on new things in teaching, then I will never be an effective teacher to anyone.  I wish to have an open mind willing to learn for years and years to come in my teaching profession.