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EDU 203
May 8, 2016
Philosophy Part II
Introduction
The purpose of this paper is to define my educational philosophy and express how this approach
understanding of their educational philosophy, as it will be the guiding factor in their daily
Theoretical Framework
The educational philosophy which dictates my current beliefs about special education is
progressivism. I believe education should focus on the whole child. Children have an innate
curiosity for life and naturally ask questions as their view of the world unfolds before them. I
believe that an educator can give children a love for learning when they capitalize on a child’s
innate curiosity. The knowledge I have gained in this course reinforces my progressivist
philosophy of teaching. I learned that all children, no matter with what disability, have the
ability to learn. Children are not robots and one cannot program each child to learn in the exact
same way or at the same pace. I loved the words of Richard M. Gargiulo in the textbook, Special
Education in Contemporary Society, 5e, “It is often said that we need to see that all children
achieve at the same high levels. The same comment would never be made about athletics” (p.
580). It is that way of thinking that takes the joy out of learning for many children.
philosophy. On one occasion, a student wanted to know if the teeth were bones. We made time
to explore the answer to that question and because it was asked by the student, the class was
engrossed in what we learned. Another time, a student had a question about ants. Again, we
capitalized on this innate curiosity to learn about ants. Both of these students were students with
exceptionalities. I was able to work with children with many different exceptionalities and each
one, without exception, was curious and asked many questions during the course of my time with
them.
Practice
Federal law has given children with exceptionalities a right to be educated in a formal setting, by
licensed educators, in a least restrictive environment. Further, they have provided the means for
families of children with exceptionalities to get the assistance they need. No longer do families
feel they need to hide their children’s differences. There is no more segregation just because one
does not fit societies “norm.” Federal law makes children with exceptionalities apart of the
“norm.” I have a love for Special Education, regardless of the disability. However, I would like
to work with individuals with Autism spectrum disorders. Some associated characteristics that
are important to know when working with individuals with Autism Spectrum are: hyperactivity,
name to the aforementioned characteristics, “autistic,” meaning “to escape from reality,” in 1943
one of the categories defined under IDEA (Individuals with Disabilities Education Act).
I would like to focus my studies on the core subjects of education, Reading, Math, and Science.
According to Gargiulo, effective programs “build on the child’s strengths while also focusing on
the child’s areas of interest” (p. 343). This just happens to fall right into my progressivist
philosophy. Teaching strategies I would include are: discussion, active learning, cooperative
learning, and integrating technology. I would monitor their progress by giving informal
curricular based assessments. The goals/benchmarks would depend on each individual child, set
forth in their IEP. Ultimately, progress on mastery of learning objectives on the IEP would be the
goal.
Human Diversity
Student success (mankind’s success), depends on the recognition that humans are diverse. To see
progress, to find world peace, the recognition and acceptance of a diverse humanity is an
essential trait. I do not recall taking the “Multicultural Self-Report Inventory” in this class,
however, I have taken a Educational Diversity class at CSN. I have always seen myself as open
and sensitive to all individuals, regardless of our differences. However, through that class, I
learned that I stereotype a lot more than I ever thought I did. Those stereotypes came from my
ignorance of cultural philosophies and traditions. As a future educator, I hope to continue