My Philosophy of Education

Introduction
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires.-William A. Ward
My philosophy of education is that learning requires retention of knowledge and the ability to transfer the knowledge for a meaningful purpose. Retention of knowledge requires that data being introduced by teacher conveys a value through direct meaning or through associative value by blending with previously obtained knowledge (Mayer, 2002). The most difficult job a teacher faces is determining these motivators in order to make the material desirable and obtainable. The desirable aspect is the “what is in it for me?” For knowledge of a certain topic to be deemed desirable, the student must be able to see value in it. This can be as simple as a good grade (performance) or as deep as the knowledge being central to the student’s future development or career goals (learning).
By use of all tools available to gain insight into the motivations of the students and use of these to build lessons and create opportunities will result in the desire to learn. Through intentional actions to master the subject matter and teaching skills and effectively reading the students, the material can be presented s obtainable. All of these skills are used to make the material meaningful to the students. So for learning to occur the student must have a meaningful experience and the teacher’s role is to create the environment which transforms data into knowledge. When the instruction takes on meaning in the eyes of the student the data will transform into knowledge.

Worldview & Philosophy of Life
“I can't go back to yesterday because I was a different person then.”
― Lewis Carroll, Alice in Wonderland
Many p...

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...pon two principles, knowing the student, and knowing myself. By knowing the student I can better understand the environment in which they developed and current environment in which they judge value and meaning. By knowing myself, I ensure that I am where I need to be mentally, emotionally and spiritually. These combine to create a classroom environment where learning through retention and transfer occurs. By use of cognitive and controlled freedom class settings, the student will be able to seek their respective understandings of the material. Through understanding the student will be able to assimilate the data with previously learned data. Through the value process the data will be received or rejected with what remains taking on deeper meaning for the student. When the instruction takes on meaning in the eyes of the student the data will transform into knowledge.