Running head: FROM THE GROUND UP

FROM THE GROUND UP

Realistic and Approachable Education
My Teaching Philosophy

Daniel Heikkila
EDCI 201-01 Contexts of Education
University of Idaho

Many parents see the me generation as the bright future. However, there are many
individuals like myself on the other hand being a member of this generation who see the
potential start of what could be a huge downward collapse among society. Its like going back to
your high school senior Ag class and glancing around the last week of school, a question pops
into your mind. What are they all going to be or doing in ten years? As you ponder this thought
you began to notice the empty desks that were filled first semester. You notice the few kids with
their heads on the desk fast asleep. You notice the couple stragglers come walking in fifteen
minutes after the tardy bell. You notice the groups of girls with their phones out scrolling
through Facebook and Instagram. You notice the rest of the class attempting to be engaged with
the teacher but are losing interest. You notice yourself losing that positive outlook for your
generations future.
No longer are you thinking you and your classmates will be the leaders to guide society
into the future. As you glance down the rows of graduates you wonder what has happened to
Americans youth. This isnt something that has been brewing over the years like some think.
Change took place as the sun had fallen and rose the next morning. It was as if a flash grenade
went off one morning in America. And now social media has exploded with the latest and
greatest technology knocking at every front door step. The me generation has been very lucky
in that none of them truly had to be drafted for a war. None of them had to struggle through
anything near the Great Depression. No, they were born in the technology age where
advancements and discovers seem to be a daily occurrence. Not only is the society as a whole
becoming more intelligent but liberal as well. There is more freedom to voice their opinion than
even what their parents foresaw when they were children. So, why would anyone want to
consider teaching in modern society?

Many parents see the me generation as the bright future. However, there are many
individuals like myself on the other hand being a member of this generation who see the
potential start of what could be a huge downward collapse among society. Its like going back to
your high school senior Ag class and glancing around the last week of school, a question pops
into your mind. What are they all going to be or doing in ten years? As you ponder this thought
you began to notice the empty desks that were filled first semester. You notice the few kids with
their heads on the desk fast asleep. You notice the couple stragglers come walking in fifteen
minutes after the tardy bell. You notice the groups of girls with their phones out scrolling
through Facebook and Instagram. You notice the rest of the class attempting to be engaged with
the teacher but are losing interest. You notice yourself losing that positive outlook for your
generations future.
No longer are you thinking you and your classmates will be the leaders to guide society
into the future. As you glance down the rows of graduates you wonder what has happened to
Americans youth. This isnt something that has been brewing over the years like some think.
Change took place as the sun had fallen and rose the next morning. It was as if a flash grenade
went off one morning in America. And now social media has exploded with the latest and
greatest technology knocking at every front door step. The me generation has been very lucky
in that none of them truly had to be drafted for a war. None of them had to struggle through
anything near the Great Depression. No, they were born in the technology age where
advancements and discovers seem to be a daily occurrence. Not only is the society as a whole
becoming more intelligent but liberal as well. There is more freedom to voice their opinion than
even what their parents foresaw when they were children. So, why would anyone want to
consider teaching in modern society?

Truth be told, I pondered this question a very long time. Never did I think growing up
that I would actually consider being a teacher for my future career. The idea of teaching sounded
like a disease. All of those long hours and having to put up with high school students day in, day
out for low wages, who would want to do that? It sure wasnt me a year and a half ago. Even
though I was the son of a current and well respected agricultural educational instructor and high
school registrar, I didnt think that was my calling. Therefore, my first year of college was spent
at ISU studying Exercise Science.
Shortly after the start of my second semester, I felt lonely. None of the people that I was
associating with had an agricultural background, nor had they been involved in FFA during high
school. Then with Idaho State FFA Officer Applications almost being due, it was as if someone
had cleared the trail for me. Later on in April, I was elected the 2013-2014 Idaho State FFA
Vice-President, and for the first time since graduation I felt comfortable in the direction I was
heading. But, I still wasnt sure if I would teach and decided to take the year off of school to
pursue my full duties as an officer.
Time passed and this new Ag Ed Initiative begins to pick up momentum and all of a
sudden my intentions toward teaching start to change. With every round table discussion I attend,
the more obligated I began to feel to teach. I knew there was a shortage of instructors across the
state, in fact the nation, but that never persuaded me before. I knew there were programs that
were looking to expanded their size and numbers. I knew there were thoughts of new programs
being built. I was aware of the fact that high school dropout rates across America today remained
high if not higher than ever. And across all of the United States its estimated that one out of
three students never finishes high school (Horyna, 2012). Followed up by the 66% of students
who graduated high school those students that enter college with a GPA of 3.5-4.0 were seven

times more likely to complete or graduate within 4 years of college over a student with a GPA of
1.5-2.5 in the year 2000 (Brown, 2012). But, for some reason, my mind finally clicked and said I
could do this and enjoy it too. So here I am at the University of Idaho pursuing a degree in
Agricultural Education with the intentions to teach post-graduation in spring of 2015. However,
what type of teacher will I be?
As I glance over and take a couple of philosophy surveys in my EDCI 201 class I
come to the conclusion that I best relate with the philosophy of essentialism. Essentialism is
where the emphasis within the classroom should be made on the intellectual and moral standards.
Essential knowledge and skills are what make up the core of curriculum. In a teachers view, the
world is as it is, and the job of schools is to teach students about the world and what actually
occurs. The reason I believe I relate with essentialism the most, is that throughout my life I
have learned to take things or people for what they are; and not what they could be. I dont
believe that we should always get worked up about the potential someone has; but more for who
they are today.
In addition, by taking circumstances and people for what they are, we dont struggle with
breaking habits that may or may not be out of our control. Also, within my personal beliefs, my
family will always be my first priority and then my friends. I care for those who support me and
block those who wish me harm. Throughout my experiences in life, I have learned the
importance of living in the present and not in the past. Many times life goes either
underappreciated or gets blown out of portion. People simply dont like to face reality and try to
live a fantasy life instead.
Now with my philosophy, as a future professional I believe that personally I will assess
each student on an individual status; however, I will inform them on where they compare to the

general population; and will be as straight forward as possible with answers to questions and
leave optimistic thoughts at home. With my philosophy, my hope is that Ill truly pin point the
issues that need to be addressed and always keep in mind what is the most likely the outcome to
occur. Truly with me being a realism kind of person, the end result is that Ill become a
dependent and efficient professional in my field.
Therefore, as a future educator, if I am wanting to change the attitudes of the Me
generation and not lead them down a road of failure, I am going to have to create motivation for
students to appreciate education and what it has to offer. Primarily because a child doesnt
consider attending college without some motivation to go back to school. Many of the
motivation factors towards attending college include: family (26%), career (21%), selfsatisfaction (11%), acceptance to college (10%), teachers (8%), friends (6%), grades (5%), love
of learning (4%), winning a scholarship (3%), and sports (3%)(Horyna, 2012). Ironically, many
of these same motivators for attending college accounted for their stress within high school. The
top ten stress factors are: sports (15%), homework (13%), boyfriend/girlfriend (12%),
extracurricular activity other than sports (11%), personal/family problems (10%), teachers (9%),
disruptive peers (8%), part-time job (7%), not enough sleep (6%), and school is boring in general
(5%) (Horyna, 2012) The overall motivation to pursue a secondary education is slowly slipping
away from society and becoming more of a fantasy with focus being pushed elsewhere.
Besides educational drive being on the downward slope for the Me Generation, their
morality and ability to make what I consider the right or lawful decision is being thrown away.
Franco (2011) argued that those individuals that never obtain a high school diploma have a much
higher chance to going to jail as 75% of state prisoners and 59% of federal prisoners dont have
their high school diploma. Or how about the number of times college students regularly cheat

during their exams. In 2006, 18% of undergraduate students admit to engaging in cheating on
exams alone (Alkandari, 2011). In addition, 75% of faculty plus 80% of TAs suspects their
students cheating but 95% of the time no measurement is taken (Alkandari, 2011). It doesnt help
with nearly 50% of all marriages not lasting and splitting families apart. Without proper
nurturing and sound disciple from parents, the Me Generation doesnt accept reality and will pay
for it in the long run.
The me generation doesnt look as bright as individuals like myself may wish. As I
listen in on many college student conversations with peers, too much of it is on last weeks or
upcoming parties. Only a small portion of my fellow classmates are discussing what they have
learned from their classes. If their future is to change they are in need of a wakeup call, a wakeup
call now. It is going to take more than a change in attitude but some hard work from future
educators like myself to set their motives straight as a society. I feel as if society will need to
resort to some more traditional methods as outside distractions like social media appears to be
making rather the wrong impact on their daily behaviors. This method and approach would
probably not be accepted by most but is something that I believe needs to happen to change the
direction of the future.

Works Cited
Alkandari, N. (2011, June). The Level of Student Incivility: The Need fo a Policy to Regulate College
Student Civility. College Student Journal, 45(2), 257-268. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1Pd64Ba
Brown, J. L. (2012, December). Developing a Freshman Orientation Survey to Improve Student Retention
with a College. College Student Journal, 46(4), 834-851. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1IvNxKZ
Franco, S. M., & Patel, N. H. (2011). An Interm Report on a Pilot Credit Recovery Program in a Large
Suburdan Midwestern High School. Education, 132(1), 15-27. Retrieved from
http://bit.ly/1F8k2xL
Horyna, B., & Bonds-Raacke, J. M. (2012). Differences in Students Motivation to Attend College: Large
versus Small High Schools. Education, 132(4), 708-724. Retrieved from http://bit.ly/1FYZRDb