Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Philosophy of Education

Kim Poulsen

My philosophies of education formulate from the philosophies of Progressivism and

Perennialism. I believe that education has a huge impact on a student’s life and how they will be

able to fit into the real world. I feel the role of an educator is to be a guide and compass to

students needs and educational learning success.

My teaching style best fits into the Progressivism philosophy. I believe the purpose of

schooling is to develop my students physically, intellectually, socially, and emotionally.

(Kauchak&Eggen, 2017) I will focus on teaching my students how to be physically active by

having them participating in individual and team sports in my classroom. I will help them learn

how to work together and solve problems. By playing and participating in team sports my

students will be able to work together and communicate socially. I believe that as a teacher I

should be kind, caring, and knowledgeable for my students. I know from my own experience in

my education career that this was always beneficial for me.

Instead of relying primarily on lectures as a teaching method I will use questioning and

discussion to guide my students as they might search for meaning in the world and their lives

(Kauchak&Eggen, 2017). I plan to start my class off with a discussion of a topic so that my

students can feel more involved in my classroom. I really am opposed to solely lecture style

classes because they do not engage students enough and they will quickly lose interest. As a

teacher I feel like I need to have a discussion to get my students involved, and prepared to think

outside the box. I believe that my students will learn better if I have an object lesson and relate it

to the topic or subject I am teaching. I know that a classroom needs to be clean and organized. I

believe a cluttered classroom is setting up for utter chaos. As a student I have had many tests
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over the years. I don’t believe that having a lot of tests is necessary for a student to be able to

retain the curriculum you have taught them. I will have a skills test at the end of every quarter to

know my students have understood the rules and concepts of these individual and team sports.

My method of teaching would be constructivism because I would have collaborative group work,

scaffolding by teaching my students a sport and then letting them show me how to play the sport,

self-guided learning based on personal experience with my discussions.

My other Philosophy of Education is Perennialism. This is that the study of great

literature is important and consistent. Perennialism also means that nature including human

nature is constant and schools should teach content and topics that have withstood the test of

time. (Kauchak&Eggen, 2017, Pg. 158) The goal of education for perennialists is for students to

understand the ideas of Western Civilization. It will help students solve problems in different

areas.

Some subjects such as algebra, sciences, and classic literature have been taught since the

sixteenth century. I believe these subjects are still valuable for students today. My method of

teaching for perrenialism would be behaviorism which means I would have a mini lecture about

the curriculum, practice the concepts of math, and have multiple choice tests.

Technology and Diversity in the classroom is a very big aspect of our classrooms today. I

feel that the best way for me to implement technology is the use of internet for research and

power point for presentations. Teaching students how to use these tools will help them in careers

later in life. Diversity is growing in the classroom I will make a conscious effort to make all my

students feel equal and welcomed in my classroom at all times. I will also be willing to work

with those diverse students who might be struggling with understanding the material. I love

education and I will help my future students to learn to love it as well.

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Works Cited

Kauchak, D & Eggen, P. (2017) Introduction to Teaaching Becoming a Professional (Sixth

Edition). New Jersey: Pearson.