My Philosophy of Education Why do I want to be a teacher? I have thought long and hard over that question, and my answer is “I don’t know.” My initial thought about going into teaching stemmed from my own experiences. When my son was in school, a teacher gave up on him and said, “he’ll be a dropout.” They will weed him out when he gets to high school. My son is now a junior at West Virginia University. I never want to see another kid be dropped through the cracks or weeded out, when he gets to high school. Children are our greatest assets. Teachers have an obligation to try every avenue with each student until they find one that works. I know that every time I walk into a classroom of students, I get a chill up my back. I feel like I am home. I am comfortable in a room full of children, waiting and wanting to learn. I feel that it is my responsibility to give them the best education I can provide. My philosophy of education is a blend of positive and negative points of Plato/Socrates, William Bagley’s essentialism, and B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism. Socrates’ ability to make students question, disprove and test the inner thoughts fascinate me. William Bagley’s essentialists give students the back to basics education program, with heavy emphasis put on writing, science, reading, math, art and music. I firmly believe students learn through reasoning out questions and problems and from meaningful life experiences and social interactions. B.F. Skinner’s behaviorism urge’s teachers to use a positive reinforcement to encourage a positive behavior. I do believe vocational school is the right direction for some students to pursue. I also think that students’ interests and activities should be taken int... ... middle of paper ... ...e children today are adults and leaders of tomorrow. Children will become what we teach them to become. A teacher who can motivate students, must have a positive attitude and outlook, search for the positive in every student and encourage students to question, search and discover. A teacher needs to be flexible, but firm, understanding, generate interest in everything they teach and never give up on any student. All children deserve the right to a meaningful and rich education. Children learn through the power of reasoning and life experiences. Teachers need to retain the belief that teaching is the most important and rewarding profession one can embark upon. Teachers who strive to teach the next millennium of students will need to have valuable assets and abilities. Anything less will be unfair to the children of the future.
My philosophy on education is that all students should receive the most uplifting educational experience. I want to change a student’s spirit towards all aspects of their school and curriculum. Creating a sense of pride in themselves and where they attend school is a crucial element in their interest in education. A student should be allowed to form their own opinions, instead of conforming to the ideas of their teacher. This will be accomplished by allowing the students to take charge of their learning so that it will hold some significance to them. I feel it is my responsibility to help shape the students’ character, as well as their minds. An educator should model the behaviors that are expected from their students. An educator should practice ideal qualities such as acceptance, empathy, and broadmindedness. A teacher is not the only model that students will be exposed to in their life. This is why it is crucial to involve parents and other members of the community to share in your vision. Students learn a variety of social skills as they embark on their education at any school district. They learn to listen, take turns, hear different points of view, negotiate, communicate, and take responsibility for their own behavior. I believe that when students have those skills and attitudes; learning will be meaningful in their lives. The vision of an educator will not hold any meaning unless it is implemented, maintained and promoted to the school and community. The goal of the school is to provide the students with a wide variety of educational experiences that will encourage self-respect, the acceptance of others, customary behavior, life-long learning, and active participation in society.
“Teaching is not a profession; it’s a passion. Without passion for your subject and a desire for your students to learn and be the best in the world, then we have failed as a teacher and failure is not an option.” –John F. Podojil. In my opinion, this quotation is very true. If you do not have the passion to teach your students what is right in the world and what makes them be the best they can be, then you are not really teaching your students or you have failed and failure is not an option. I want to not only teach my students important subject manner but be an inspiration to my students as well. I want to be the teacher that students will come back to in ten or fifteen years and say, “You have inspired me in more ways than one. Not only did you inspire me to be a better person, but you inspired me to do better academically as well.” This is when I know for sure that I have made a difference in a child’s life.
I believe that education should be looked as as a desire to acquire all possible knowledge, not as a requirement or something that can be formally examined by standardized tests. There are numerous ways that children learn and I want to be able to encourage as much learning as possible for each child. I believe that using many methods of instruction is the most effective way of teaching to these various ways of learning. These methods include group work, hands-on activities, buddy work, etc. Assessment of children should follow the same idea. When children get the chance to perform on different assessments, they can adequately show their strengths and weaknesses. I do not wish to rely on tests only to assess the students in my class. Some types of assessment that I think should be inlcuded in a classroom are journals, presentations, projects and interviews. I also think that the classroom should be run with the help of the children. By distributing jobs among the children and everyone participating in the classroom, the students will form a sense of togetherness. This will eventually create a community within the classroom. I feel that this community of learners is essential for the students to perform effectively and efficiently. They will feel comfortable in the environment and will not be afraid to take risks or ask questions. The teacher will also be a member of this community and will not be seen as unapproachable or as the only leader.
Everyone has to have some reason of why he or she decides to pursue his or her particular career choice. I want to become a teacher so that I can make a difference in a young person’s life. My high school calculus teacher, who was also my role model, made a difference in my life. It was her class that made me decide that I wanted to become a secondary mathematics teacher. I had a first hand experience at what it is like being a teacher during my senior year of high school by being my calculus teacher’s teacher assistant. While being her teacher assistant I experienced several things that a teacher does on a daily basis: making copies, grading papers, constructing lesson plans, and teaching/ tutoring students. I hope that when I become a teacher that I will be capable of inspiring a young person, just the same as my high school calculus teacher did for me.
Teachers bear the heavy responsibility of molding the minds of our nation’s most precious resource, its children. The road to becoming a teacher is a long one, involving post-high school education, people skills, and a desire to change lives. These traits, when accompanied by experience and good techniques, form the foundation for an effective, life-altering educator.
As an education major at State College, I’ve decided to become a teacher for several reasons. As I progressed through elementary, middle, and high school, many of my teachers were great role models for me. This has inspired me to become a role model for someone in the near future. My love for science and math has also influenced my desire to teach and make a difference in a child’s life. I want to teach students the subjects that I love so much. I want the feeling that I helped a child accomplish or learn something they couldn’t understand. One of the main reasons I want to become an educator is because I feel education has really lost teachers who truly love teaching and those who truly love teaching and those who have the desire to make a difference. I feel I can really help make a difference in the education world and bring back the love to teach.
“As a teacher, you have in your hands the power to influence and mould a student's mind. You have within you the capacity to instill in the child a love for learning, to keep an open mind and to keep questioning. You have the ability to promote confidence, stir thinking and awaken dreams...” (unknown). Education has been a huge part of my life, my mother started teaching when I was three years old she always said, “Justan when you grow up you should teach, your super smart and very creative.” In addition, like many other students have been in school for the majority of my life. My philosophy of education is to be a life changer. I want to touch a student’s life and leave a good positive imprint on their views of education. Teachers are more than educators they are mentors, class managers, role models, and learners. Effective teachers are learners they learn about their students, they learn how to differentiate their classrooms based on what they know about the students, and they stay up to date on the current educational technology.
Becoming a teacher was not something I always knew I wanted. As I approached an age where I really started considering what I would like to do for a career I only knew that I did not want to work in an office behind a desk all day. I wanted a job that would be interactive, challenging and exciting. I also knew I wanted a job that would be important and would somehow contribute to the world in an important way. I thought being a teacher; particularly a teacher in the primary levels would fulfill those hopes and goals assuming I dedicate myself to becoming an effective teacher who has a positive influence on the lives of my students.
At some point in their educational career, almost everyone is inspired by a teacher. Teachers not only have an effect on the present life of the child, but they also directly affect who this child will become. I want to teach children in order to better their lives. I want to give them the social skills and communication skills they need in order to be a competitive force. I want to help them grow and reach their full potential. I want them to enjoy school and have fond memories of their early education years. My goal as a teacher is to one day be able to look back and say that I was once one of those teachers who made a difference in someone’s life. I want to be a teacher who not only prepares students for life, but one who, through education, gives a child “life itself.”
My interest in teaching started at a young age. I used to watch my teachers in awe as they were able to find new ways to get their students involved and excited to learn. Their enthusiasm to teach was so inspiring. I would often find myself using that same fervor as I grasped each concept. I, then, was able to relay it to my fellow classmates as a peer tutor. To this day, becoming a teacher is a passion that flows through me. However, my enthusiasm and passion are not the only reasons I would be a good teacher. I aspire to see a student’s ability to grasp the knowledge they never before understood. I aspire to see a student succeed at something they never thought they ever could. I aspire to not only support students with academic skills, but also with life lessons about the value of community, pride in one’s own ethnicity, good citizenship, sportsmanship, and more. I aspire to play a fundamental role in ensuring that all students from all cultures and learning abilities have the opportunity to be guided in a positive learning
The field of study that I chose to go into is Elementary Education. For the past two summers, I have participated in the AmeriCorps Energy Express program and I can honestly say the experiences I have with this program are very enlightening and valuable to my ideas and conceptions about being an educator. Through Energy Express, I came up with my own theory. Any mind seeks to always place its limits and boundaries around that which they do not fully understand. It seems that all concepts and ideas must be placed in this little box for all others to comprehend and follow. The same holds true for philosophies of education. There are countless numbers of ways that educators go about teaching their students, however, six have been singled out and dissected to death. Along with most other education majors pertaining to their philosophies, I too cannot seem to find one single one to encompass all of my beliefs and desires that I hold for teaching my future students. However, holding true to my assigned task, it appears that of the six major philosophies, I more closely agree with and can relate to those of Essentialism and Social Reconstructionism.
When I enrolled into college, I realized that becoming a teacher is a very important task. Teachers are forming the mold of future doctors, lawyers, teachers, and much more. When I become a teacher I want to portray positive characteristics that will be beneficial to my students.
An effective teacher will excite, inspire and motivate students to be active in their learning, investigate new areas of knowledge and make connections to future learning (Whitton et al 2010). When a teacher is successful, their students are motivated, mutually respectful and ready to build on their knowledge and solve real-world problems. To be a teacher of value, one must have many skills and qualities to cater for a diversity of learners and their individual development; this includes many personal traits that are noticed students.
Being a teacher is not an easy task as many people could think. To be a teacher does not only imply to know the subject to be taught, it also includes being willing to constantly improve oneself integrally, as much as updating the resources and materials one uses in teaching. Reflecting and analyzing over and over again the best way to teach to learn and how to make students to extend what has been learned. The many hours spend in the classroom will never be enough to plan lessons, prepare materials, review pupils tasks and exams, as well, all the administrative requirements one has to cover for whatever institution we work. Besides all this a good teacher, a professional one, will have to find the time to keep preparing to improve oneself.
Teachers have one of the most important jobs and help shape the next generation of students. While teachers have an impact on their student’s lives, students impact the teacher’s lives as well. Education is more than just going to school eight hours a day, and learning information, but it helps shape students into what they will be like in the forthcoming. I believe that teachers should be a model to their students, encourage them, and teach them through experience.