My Personal Philosophy of Education

My Personal Philosophy of Education

For as long as I can remember I have wanted to be a teacher. As a child I taught countless spelling lessons and math problems to classes of stuffed animals and Barbie dolls. Now I am all grown up and I want some real children in those seats not teddy bears and dolls. I can’t wait to begin teaching and working with the students. Until then I am working on honing my skills, developing a suitable philosophy, and planning how I will become the best teacher that I can be.

I think all students yearn to learn. Students gobble up knowledge if it is presented to them in an appetizing manner. Students need to be ready to learn something before they will. They can’t really be force-fed knowledge. They have to be willing to take it in and digest it. Only then can something be truly learned.

Many time students are taught something just so they can spit it back out on a test. Students need to be able to use what they have learned in a practical way. Lots of times something is learned, tested on, and then the student forgets it. If you can’t remember or use what you have learned then what is the point in learning it at all? Real knowledge comes with applying subject matter to real life and using what you have learned.

The overall purpose of education is teaching a student how to think. I want my students to learn how to think critically. To think is to comprehend what has been learned and be able to use it in a real situation. Thinking isn’t promoted when children are trained to be like parrots and repeat what they know without ever using that knowledge. Thinking also includes making thoughtful decisions. I want my students to realize how their actions and decisions affect themselves and others. This would be thinking about the moral value of their thoughts and actions.