Philosophy of Education

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Philosophy of Education

Education is inevitable. It is all around us because we can learn from virtually anything. When you are cooking, dancing, talking or any other activity you have actually had to learn several things to be able to do them. In the educational perspective, I am a pragmatist and I tend to follow after Dewey's footsteps. The concept of Pragmatism is one that developed in the 20th century. My philosophy is based on the idea that learning should involve real-life situations. Learning becomes more concrete to a student when they apply it to real-life situations, as where learning things that do not connect to them has more of an abstract sense. Personally, I would have to agree with Dewey when he said, "I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living." (Dewey 22) Education is a process of living. I want children to learn to be able to think for themselves and be problem solvers that will be able to use these skills in real life situations. My philosophy can be explained throughout the definition of a pragmatist, how I would relate it into practice in the curriculum and ……

A Pragmatist is one of the four philosophies of education. In this situation, a teacher would be considered a facilitator; one who guides the students into their curriculum. The teacher in this philosophy must use all of their skills and introduce subjects to the children in ways that are intriguing to the students. The reason being is because in a Pragmatist model the curriculum is child-centered; it revolves around the child's interest. Therefore, the teacher's role is to bring that child into a certain subject by arousing their interest. The methodology a prag...

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...udents will feel. The satisfaction they get from hearing their teacher tell them they did a great job cannot be expressed on paper.

In conclusion, the philosophy that I follow revolves around the child. If we are to be educators of children, we must cater to those children's interests and needs. The Pragmatist philosophy is one that truly meets those ideas and philosophy of what education should be and how we should go about it. Closing with Dewey who exemplifies the Pragmatist view and the need to focus on the child's need, he says, "Moreover subject-matter never can be got into the child from without. Learning is active. It involves organic assimilation starting from within. Literally, we must take our stand with the child and our departure from him. It is he and not the subject-matter which determines both quality and quantity of learning." (Dewey 95)

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