Educational Philosophy

Educational Philosophy

In today's society education is a valuable commodity that is sometimes taken for granted. Schools focus their attention on students for the purpose of preparing them for what lies ahead. This, however, is not always an easy task because everyone learns differently and views about education vary. Michael de Montaigne, one of the great philosophers, stated, "that the greatest and most important difficulty known to human learning seems to lie in that area which treats how to bring up children and how to educate them." (Haselhusrt, 2007) Learning is an on-going process that takes time.

The task of teaching children can be daunting even for someone with years of education and experience. (Montell, 2003) Each school year brings forth new challenges. With that in mind teachers have to find ways to apply textbook information to experiences the students have had. When students are able to make the connection between a lesson in the classroom and real life situations, they become better learners and are more comfortable with the learning process.

Teachers should establish standards for quality work including what's acceptable and what is not. They should demand excellence and create a list of expectations for students to follow. It is a known fact that whatever level of expectation is set by teachers is the level students strive for. The higher the level, the harder students have to work to achieve them. Goals should not be unrealistic, however, because if students feel they are unattainable they won't make an effort.

The role of a teacher should be that of instructor, mentor, coach, nurturer and leader. Teachers should be observers and learners. They should continually be striving to learn and develop their own skills in order to bring quality education into the classroom. Teachers should always be looking out for new and challenging ways to grow and improve their teaching skills. This will help them deal with the challenges and changes that take place in education from time to time by applying their new knowledge to their teaching style.

Teachers should not be judges of students based on identity or background, but should be accepting of each student's individuality. Every student comes to the classroom with a variety of experiences and opinions. These experiences can lead to new insights into cultural perspectives. (Kauchak, 2007) A teacher should be willing to work with and give every student the opportunity to prove they can do the work and meet the standards.