Rose Moore

Sellers
Ed 224
Philosophy of Education

Philosophy of Education

Education in the United States has gone through many phases, and the teachers

committed to educating the youth of our nation have done so with many different approaches,

perspectives and philosophies. Throughout this course we have studied the history, purposes,

conditions, and legality of education, among many other important aspects. I have gained a broad

perspective of how to approach education through studying these topics and feel grateful to have

been able to define my educational philosophy through my studies.

Learning about the goals and purposes of education, I have concluded that the ultimate

goal is to produce well rounded individuals ready to contribute to society and with a healthy

desire to live a successful and fulfilled adult life. In my educational philosophy, this should be

achieved through teaching a student cultural awareness, career preparation and prosocial

behaviors, as well as implementing the whole child concept. Looking at students in terms of their

personal growth and development instead of just academic and cognitive skills gives us better

opportunities at assessing their likelihood of succeeding academically. It then helps us to give

them the individual support they will need. Applying this, as well as giving students many

opportunities to interact socially; fostering community relationships through group projects and

volunteering opportunities as well as monitoring student interactions and regularly providing

feedback on things done right or wrong, intervening when certain behavior may need

modification, can put teachers and students on the perfect path to accomplishing these goals.

These goals should also be accomplished by giving all children a shared knowledge of basic
subjects and every opportunity to immerse themselves in subjects that specifically interest them.

I believe to create well rounded individuals with a healthy desire to succeed academically there

needs to be an effort made in creating a curriculum that is somewhat the same across the board,

so students progressing through their educational careers have the proper basic knowledge to

work effectively and on the same level as their peers.

This leads me to the content of education, the content of education directly relates to the

ultimate goals in the way that what a student is taught and type of opportunities they are given to

immerse themselves in their education affects how they become a contributing member to

society. My educational philosophy includes a national or core curriculum, one that provides all

students with the same baseline of knowledge to be further expanded on based on the interests

and needs of the students or classroom. In this course we studied the aspect of a progressive

approach versus the aspects of an essential approach to education (Chapter 6). My philosophy

parallels more with a progressive approach but agrees with the need for a core curriculum like

the essential approach. I believe the information being applied to students in all subjects, be it

math, history or psychology, should have an effort being made to apply it to the lives of the

students learning it. The information should be seen as tools, instead of just facts to be

regurgitated on a standardized test. All students develop at different rates and take in information

differently, the content of education should be the same for all students but should be able to be

adapted to different needs and learning styles.

This leads me to the what conditions should be in place to promote learning. As I stated

above, all students develop at different paces and take in information differently. Schools and

classrooms must have a secure and supportive atmosphere before it can promote learning.

According to my philosophy, no matter what the curriculum is, a school with a high standard for
their teachers and classroom environments are more likely to have an academically successful

student body. Fostering positive student-teacher relationships as well as family-school

relationships, cultural awareness and an understanding of legal aspects among teachers promotes

a positive learning environment. According to the essential approach to education, there should

be a sense of healthy competition between schools. This is not included in my educational

philosophy because I believe it takes away from a sense of community as well as following the

overall objective of producing like minded students with a desire to be successful. The aspects of

a healthy learning environment should be specific to a classroom and school, but the same

conditions of such aspects should be consistent across districts and states! Positive conditions for

learning in the classroom translate to positive conditions for functioning in society, therefore

having consistency is key.

Though consistency is key in my educational philosophy, adjustments and

accommodations are necessary and can change the outcome of a student's education in extremely

positive ways! First of all, something that I stress in all categories of my philosophy of

education, raising cultural awareness regarding students from different cultural backgrounds,

students from low income households and students with disabilities is necessary in creating a

positive learning environment and promoting positive relationships between students and their

peers, as well as students and their staff. Implementing the whole child concept here is important

as well, looking at students in terms of their individual assets and abilities instead of just their

academic skills. I believe that an equal education for all does not mean the same standards

for all. Things like IEPs, 504 plans and assistive technology for students with learning

disabilities give accommodations to students that help them perform at the same level as other

students who do not need these accommodations. Other accommodations ranging from
something as personal as one on one time with a bilingual resource teacher for a student learning

english as a second language or as simple as free/reduced lunch for a student from a low income

household can completely change how a student performs academically and socially, as well as

how they feel encouraged and accepted in their school and life. Since my philosophy stresses a

baseline of knowledge to be given to all students so they are basically all on the same playing

field, accommodations to achieve this baseline are completely acceptable and at most times

necessary.

Since accommodations are usually very specific to a student and must be applied

strategically, the role of an educator becomes important. Methods to be used to make sure the

curriculum is being applied and understood by all students as well as reaching out to students

who are struggling, require one to be confident in their role as an educator and be aware of all

resources they can provide to their students. This requires teachers to be committed to the

profession and be up to date on the latest resources, educational studies and technologies out

there to better their classrooms and in turn, the learning experience of their students. I enjoyed

learning in module 9 about the importance of professional development. In my educational

philosophy, teachers are a workforce that is always evolving and looking to improve themselves.

I believe professional development heavily involves working internally but also promotes

positive relationships between colleagues.

Positive relationships between colleagues, administrators and students are important to

set good examples for everyone involved. In my philosophy, a classroom should be a community

with an understanding of each other and how eachothers actions affect the group as a whole. Use

of manipulatives is important to execute cautiously but can have incredible results for the overall
attitude and individual behavior tendencies of a classroom. Positive reinforcement and positive

behavior strategies are extremely important and should be implemented as early as possible.

I was most able to define my educational philosophy to myself when we completed the

module on the teaching profession; we were taught that teaching is seen as a prestigious line of

work but does not apply to all characteristics deemed to a “profession”. In my philosophy, the

teaching profession is one that a person commits to for life, physically and mentally! This

commitment gives us teaching moments in all areas of our lives, to ourselves and others. After

defining how my educational philosophy applies to the categories of purpose, content,

conditions, accommodations and last but definitely not least, the role of an educator, I have

further reminded myself what an important role educators play in our society. It is a fact that

everyone will come at this profession with a different perspective but collectively seeing the

ultimate goal as producing well rounded individuals ready to contribute to society and how to

approach our students with this goal in mind, will help us all as educators work collectively and

effectively.

Thank you for all your contributions to this course! I had a wonderful and rich learning

experience with each module.

 Works Cited

Ornstein, Allan C., Daniel U. Levine, Gerald Lee Gutek, and David E. Vocke.

Foundations of education. Boston, MA: Cengage Learning, 2017. Print.