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Philosophy of Education
When were children, we are exposed to the world without being tainted. We can enjoy
the soft summer breeze as it grazes our cheeks. We can appreciate the soft touch of velvet as we
run our fingers over the tailored dresses at the store. We love the smell of fresh cookies baking in
the kitchen, and we enjoy the rich taste of melting chocolate as it touches our tongues. Were
intrigued by the soft humming of birds in the distance and the soft rolling of water at the beach
as it graces our ears. The beautiful hues as the sun descends from the sky leaves a child in awe as
cerulean changes to oranges, reds, and pinks. As we grow, we become desensitized from the
wondrous senses around us. People become too engrossed in technology and the busy lives they
are leading. We forget to be passionate about the most simplistic things. I want to reestablish this
passion within my students. I want them to treasure every small thing in life and make them
compassionate about what they strive for. To be in love with what you do yet hold an
appreciation for everything else greatly increases the potential of every person. I want my
students to thrive with success. I believe that with proper education, passion can be instilled
within students, and they can remember what it is like to be in such a wondrous world as they did
when they were two years old.
The Compulsory Attendance Act was established in 1852, and it stated that all children
had to attend school. The government conveyed how important getting an education in that time
period was. If you look at education now, it has changed so much from that day when we set that
law in action. We have technology to use at our fingertips and new standards to follow, but we
still base this off of the previous theorists and idealists. One of my favorite idealists is Friedrich
Froebel. He believed that in order to have success in education, students need to have personal
curiosity and a pleasant environment. Every student should learn the rough journey on how our
education became what it is today.
John Dewey based curriculum on pragmatism; he taught his students how his lessons
were related to the real world. He showed them how important they would be to them. Since he
did not just giving his students classes they were interested in, he was preparing them for the real
world and their future careers. This is what Brown versus the Board of Education was expressing,
that color of the skin should not matter. The only important aspect is that everyone has access to
a good education no matter his or her race, ethnicity, or religion.
Herbert Spencer once said, The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.
His purpose of education was to teach his students that, one day, they would also be contributing
to successful living. He strongly believed that teachers should give students the opportunities to
interact with the environment in their everyday life. Students should be given the opportunity to
explore and discover because this would allow for them to obtain their own knowledge. Like
Froebels beliefs, this allows for a positive collaboration, which makes the students curious to
learn and want to get involved more. Positive collaboration allows for students to be less
distracted in the classroom, and will cause students to want to learn more in the class. Also
Deweys view about teaching students off of real life situations is a major factor too. Each
theorist/idealist was not exactly correct about all his or her theories. Each one did do one thing,
which was shape the field of education to become what we all know it to be today.
For the past three years, I have been taking a child development class, I was exposed to
Spencer and Piagets ways. The goal of a teacher is to adjust their lessons to fit every students
needs. This provides an equal education for all, and favoritism of students does not exist. Also,
he or she should understand their teaching style whether its a hands-on method or individual
work. I will give my students an assessment at the beginning of the year; this way, I know what
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each one of their levels are. Secondly, this information would be incorporated into my lessons. I
would make sure that my teaching style is effective, and if it needed to be accommodated I
would change it so that it is just as efficient. Each student is different and they have diverse
styles of learning.
Everyone is focusing on 21st century learning in our society. This means latest technology
and an assortment environment. This will allow for students to stay lively. There are so many
applications out there supplied by Internet databases, and the App store. Using Animoto in my
class, I would have them make a Pi day project; this would allow them to use their creativity and
put it into Math. Using IMovie, Id enter my lesson plans into it and put it up so that my students
could not only see the lesson but also hear me teaching the lesson. They will be gaining their
Framework for 21st learning of getting their technology skills from this lesson. This will provide
for more students to enrich their knowledge about technology. This will change and make people
want to pay attention. Employers today will seek out students with experience in technology and
they will receive a job faster. The new technology will allow for students to change their
atmosphere, and socialize and collaborate with others. Will allow our society to be more
technology confident, and therefore, more capable to expand as a country. Also this will allow
for our teachers to be up to date, and not have to rely on students to help them understand.
Most teachers today just teach from their books, and dont use the actual knowledge from
their own brain. Some teachers feel rushed to teach their children for standardized tests. So they
just teach from the book in order to get everything in. In my classroom I will teach from what I
know, and use my book as a resource instead of the curriculum. I will incorporate many different
technologies into my class, so my students will grow. I will have them do an activity that has
them up and moving to wake them up. People only pay attention for a short period of time before
our minds start to drift. I got this from John Medias book Brains Rule, in his attention chapter.
In my class, I want to start with an open discussion on sports, or just how they are doing on that
day. Then I would start teaching, but take a short break in the middle and tell appropriate jokes to
regain their attention and wake them up. Then I would continue on with the lesson but pause
again in the middle to allow for them to regain focus. Having the children moving around in the
class allows for them to wake up and regain attention so this should also be included in the
routine of my classroom. In my classroom I will incorporate both constructivism and a hands on
feel.
I would incorporate classroom management in many different ways. First, I would greet
them at the door, they would have to give me a fist bump, and answer the question I asked. If
they knew the answer they could go into the room, but if they did not they had to stay outside the
room until they got an answer. Another technique I would use, even though the students will be
older, is the quiet voice method to get them to be quiet. If any of my kids are upset about
something home related or other wise I will use the Redirect method. I will have a nice
conversation about a favorite sport with them, or something that sparks their interest. I will
maintain a nice clean and safe environment for my students.
Math classrooms are normally large in size; the classroom capacity can reach up to thirty
students. In math rooms most ways to create change is by moving their seats. If you move
students that are struggling near by students who understand the material, this allows the
struggling students to learn something new. This also allows them to work with new students and
will help them see the problem in a different way. This makes the classroom setting a more
collaborative environment, because with large amount of students in class I cant give that one
on one teacher experience. This also allows for the students to learn social skills, and this also
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shows them how to instruct others in math. I would also put the desks in a group support setting.
This way the students can collaborate with each other and learn what they cannot from the
teacher. This could lead them to want to join mathletes and grow to love math so much more.
No student would have made it to school if they did not have their parents helping them.
It is very important to keep the parents informed on their childs progress. To get them involved I,
would tell them to ask everyday what their children learned in my class. I would encourage the
parents to assist in their childs homework and to get involved. If they had any personal
questions they could send me an email, or give me a call when I am available. I could make a
twitter account just to be in contact with parents. Also I could use Facebook since it has a spot
where you can make your own group. I would make a group that was my last name as the title
and make it secret so only the parents can join. If the parent could not contact me I would offer
to have a conference.
We need to stop overthinking everything in the world and go back to being five. When
you have a question about what button does what on the iPad what do you do? Students here say
they either go to the Technology Department, or ask a friend when in reality they are
overthinking. All you need to do is become five again, this may sound outrageous since that is
not possible, but all you have to do is stop thinking. Just start pushing buttons on your
technology and go back to the way you use to learn. When you were younger you thought
everything was a new experience; that is how you should look at learning now. Learning should
be like when you were five; it should open your eyes to new things, and new experiences.