Philosophy of Education
I knew at an early age that I wanted to be a teacher. As a child, my friends and cousins always played school and of course I always had to be the teacher! We had a cinderblock building that we called the "playhouse" and this is where my teaching career began. We would play for hours doing reading, spelling and writing. I always loved to grade the papers. And most of all I had strict behavior rules.
Throughout life, even though my teaching career has been on hold, I have worked in various atmospheres with children from babysitting to different types of leadership roles. Mostly being a youth leader in our church has had a lot of various types of teaching skills. Keeping children's motivation level and interest is a difficult task. I have worked with all different ages from preschool through the sixth grade.
I truly believe that sometimes a teacher is the most important role a child comes across. The impact that a teacher makes will last a life time. My elementary experiences were wonderful years that I feel have made me into the person I am today, especially my second grade teacher, Ms. Fezer. She was the greatest teacher of all times. She not only had love for her students but compassion to want them to learn and made sure they that they understood the material. She made learning fun and always had a wonderful smile. I hope to run a classroom in the manner that she did.
Another great teacher that stands out is my dad. He is a retired sixth grade teacher. He was very strict, but all the children loved him. He made sure that they were ready for seventh grade. Along with teaching respect and manners and he never failed to help any child in need. These children, now grown up still make a point to speak to him when they see him out. Some even thank him for being so strict and making them work hard that they have told him it sure did pay off later on down the road. As a father, he's the greatest and always willing to help .
The 1990s were a period of extreme ethnic conflict in the former nation of Yugoslavia. In 1992, Bosnia-Herzegovina passed a referendum for independence, which was not met with an equal enthusiasm amongst the republic's population. The group most against this independence was the Serbian minority, who were convinced by leaders such as Slobodan Milosovic and psychiatrist Jovan Raskovic in the idea of a "greater Serbia." Serbs were told they needed to dominate the surrounding Croats and Muslims based on their psychological superiority. Serb fighters carried out vicious campaigns of ethnic cleansing, killing over 100,000 people with another 1.5 million being forced from their homes to created predominantly Serbian areas. In 1995 Bosnia Croatia and Serbia signed the Dayton peace accords and focus shifted towards Kosovo, where discord had been emerging between the Albanians and the Serbs.
Millions of immigrant moved to America in search of freedom, equality, and success. This is known as the “American Dream”. A famous author names James Truslow Adams stated, “Life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement” (The Epic of America p.214-15). In other words, he believes that the American dream gives everyone the opportunity to reach an ideal place where you can be happy and successful; you can get there from your ability and achievement as stated above. The American dream made immigrants believe that they have a chance of receive equal opportunity, but when they got here they realize that it was a myth. Whiling living in American they realize that they were limited on education, voting rights, and jobs opportunity.
The temperance movement dates back to as early as 1800 with a central goal to cure society from the evils of alcohol.(Temperance Social) Everywhere across the country temperance groups appeared when people
...exico, resulting in the death of humans, wild and marine lives, in addition to contaminated water.
I was never going to be a teacher. My parents would tell you otherwise. As a child, I would spend my time playing school. I would write on my chalk board, create worksheets and homework assignments and take attendance. I would make my bedroom a replica of my safe haven. I guess I was destined to find my way into a classroom. I had also always loved to write, but I wanted to find a way to make money easily in the field so I thought journalism was the way to go. After the first semester of hardcore journalism classes, I concluded that the fast pace stressed me out too much. I worked with a career counselor to narrow down alternate fields of interest and all signs pointed to education. I took a generic introduction to education course and knew immediately that I had really come home in all senses of the
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.
As a school counselor, my mission is to help students learn about themselves and develop in three areas; personal/social, education, and career. I believe that every student has a gift that was given by God and my goal is to help students identify those gifts and purse those gifts to become successful students and citizens.
In my life, my favorite teachers were always the ones who taught lessons inside and outside the classroom. They taught us about our past, our language and the world around us for tests and quizzes while also teaching us how to navigate through life with their lessons that weren’t needed for our grades. For me, I wanted to be that kind of person. I knew I wanted to help others when they needed help, and I knew I wanted to do that as a teacher.
Before taking my philosophy self-assessment, I was sure my highest score would fall somewhere in humanistic or social change. I was surprised when I saw that all of my scores fell within six points of each other in all five of the philosophies. After thinking about this, I have determined that I have come to see the benefits of each of the philosophies of education and have drawn pieces from each one in order to shape my own philosophy of education and teaching. Behavioral, progressive and humanistic are the three philosophies that I scored highest in and I will attempt to show how my philosophy relates to ethical teaching of each in today’s classroom. In Nodding’s Philosophy of Education he says, “Thoughtful people continue to examine the old responses, to generate new ones induced by changing conditions and to reflect on current responses in the interest of making education as good as it can be.”
When I look back to my young developing stages in life, I always ask myself where would I be today if it wasn’t for my teachers? Teachers are the ones who build our future generations. Preparing children and teens for higher education. Also playing a huge part in shaping children’s lives, enlightening them, and educating them about society and the world around them; the types of things that a parent doesn’t have time for, or just lacks the knowledge of. I think teachers are what help make this world go round.
My beliefs and values about early childhood education is based upon understanding that all children are unique individuals who need a caring, nurturing, and secure environment in which to grow and develop socially, emotionally, cognitively, and physically. Children under the age of three are in critical stages of development, it is my belief that a quality child care environment will have a positive impact on a child’s development and make a significant difference in the life of a child and his or her family. My philosophy of early childhood education and the elements I believe are necessary in developing a developmentally appropriate child care environment is rooted in my views and beliefs about experimentalism, progressivism, multiculturalism, and the influence of philosophers such as Dewey, Piaget, Montessori, and Vygotsky. Furthermore, I believe young children will thrive and grow in developmentally appropriate child care programs that possess the following elements: (1) teachers who see themselves as intentional, responsive and respectful facilitators of learning, (2) the ability to build a community of learners, (3) implement an effective curriculum that allow children to explore their natural curiosity about the world.
Becoming a teacher has been the ultimate aspiration for myself since the first day I walked into kindergarten. As a very timid student, it was a difficult task transitioning from being with my mother everyday, to being part of a classroom environment full of strangers. However, my kindergarten teacher helped me through this transition smoothly, and adequately. I very quickly learned to love school. Soon after, I knew I would aspire to become a teacher. I would spend countless hours at home with a blackboard, acting as a teacher to my imaginary students throughout my elementary school years.
A teacher is not what I have always wanted to be. As a matter of fact, it wasn't until I had taken several of my general studies classes that I made a commitment to teach. Having played football through middle school and high school, I just assumed that whatever I did would have to be related to football. It was, however, during a time of reflection that I thought about a former football coach and the rapport that he had with me and other players. He wanted to bring out the best in each of us. It was then that I realized that I wanted to do the same.
Children are our future and it is up to us as educators to point them in the right direction. I always enjoyed school and found it fun and exciting. As I got older, I only remember the teacher's that made a difference in my life. I want to the teacher that makes a difference in a child's life. Whether it be as simple as a teacher, or advanced as a father-figure, I will be their for the children.
The teacher that stands out most in my head is my eleventh grade English teacher. She had a liberal arts background, and enjoyed the classic American writers; Hemingway, Steinbeck, what have you. She was in the class of teachers who was more impressed by actions and honesty than suck-ups and homebodies. She was the kind of teacher who was proud when you informed her that you had skipped her class to go fishing at the river and play bluegrass music with your buddies. She was the kind of teacher who preferred that her students wrote what they truly felt, and not what they truly felt she would like to hear. She was in the rare class of teachers who tried to prepare her students for life after school, not life for school. She was a part of a small class of note-worthy teachers.