Theoretical Foundations & Rationale of School Philosophy
The foundation of The Waldorf Academy first began with the plans of Rudolf Steiner- who was determined to make the most intelligent school system for our growing children. Developed by Rudolf Steiner in 1919, Waldorf Education is based on an understanding of human development that addresses the needs of the growing child. Waldorf teachers strive to transform education into an art that educates the whole child including the heart, the hands, and the head.The Waldorf curriculum is structured to respond to the three developmental phases of childhood: birth to 7 years, from 7 to 14 years and 14 to 18 years. Rudolf Steiner stressed to teachers that the best way to provide meaningful support
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Waldorf Academy is dedicated to help student develop determination, the interest of learning, formality, creativity, originality, and social and moral responsibility. Waldorf Academy incorporates the best and proper curriculum in music, in math, in science, in the humanities and arts for all ages. Our main determination in Waldorf Academy is to help students to succeed in life.
Vision
The vision of Waldorf Academy is to help students with the best academic program and create one of the best successful schools of the city. Waldorf Academy wants to help to create the highest level of the students’ success working collaboratively with a professional staff and the most innovative curriculum to help student obtain the necessary skills to become productive and responsible people in society. Philosophy
Rudolf Steiner crisply captured the aims of Waldorf Education when he wrote, “Our highest endeavor must be to develop free human beings, who are able of themselves to impart purpose and direction to their lives.” The Waldorf Academy realizes these aims by seeking to balance the intellectual, emotional, spiritual, and practical life of the
This paper will discuss Tiffany Hunter’s philosophy of K-12 education. It will first explain her perspective and the perspective of a follower. Second, it will explain how her philosophy relates to her leadership style which is transformational. Third, it will explain how history and politics has made an influence on her philosophy of education. Last, it will explain how her philosophy influences her decisions to current trends and issues In K-12 education and her decisions may evolve.
Bill Russell is a legend in the history of basketball and created a lasting legacy at the Boston Celtics. Russell holds a record eleven championship rings and got them by being one of the most impactful centers in all of basketball. He is generally known for his achievements on the court, but few know of the impacts he has made in the lives of others. Russell has founded many organizations that sponsor the under-privileged youth growing up; he also has worked with many organizations such as MENTOR: The National Mentoring Partnership to help children find role models to look up to (“Martinez”). Bill Russell grew up an average high school ball player and
The 1980s were a different time period. People start getting better ideas and those ideas were advancing history. A major thing that was part of the 1980s were vehicles. Vehicles were people's transportation. Vehicles were advancing at that time in the 80s some of the first production car were being introduced to fuel injection. Cars were starting to evolve and high horsepower started becoming a factor as well. Movies were another big part of the 80s because graphics and actors were becoming better.
When I first became passionate about pole vault, I realized the sacrifices required to be successful. I spent countless hours of my free time practicing and getting stronger for competitions. I lost sleep at night because I was on the track too long and I would wake up in pain from the previous workout. However, I feel even more passionate about serving in the Army, and I understand the sacrifices that come with it- time, youth, money, safety, comfort- and I would not trade this honor and privilege for anything else.
What is the purpose of education? A question that has been asked for centuries and defined in many ways; each theorist will argue their views on education is unsurpassed, yet it remains a question, that the future of our children depends upon. My personal philosophy of education is to create an environment that allows every child the freedom and ability to discover, create and pursue their interests; ultimately becoming the best they can, for an evolving and unpredictable future. Within this framework, the purpose being to encourage learning through children’s interests, by personalising education for the individual and interlacing subjects to engage and entice learning. While discussing my personal philosophy of education, I will explain the aim of education, consider the role of the teacher and the learner and present effective teaching methods and practices for within the classroom. This essay will demonstrate that Dewey, Friedman, Neill, Noddings, Robinson, and Zhao, support my personal philosophy and prove in contrast with the theories of Skinner and Rousseau.
Educators produce a wide variety of experiences, perceptions, prospects, learning and abilities to their education (DEEWR, 2009, p. 9). In my career and through my studies, my philosophy and pedagogy have been closely linked with the constructivist theory from Piaget. Being able to focus on a child’s interests and creating learning activities that are implemented as fun is a big part of my motivation as an educator and teacher. The educational environment needs to sustain every single child along with inspiring significant work that can result in more advanced thinking (Evanshen and Faulk, 2011, p. 225). Following Piaget’s ideas while implementing the EYLF has made for a simple straight forward way of supplying quality learning experiences for children from birth to 12 years old and it has helped me widen the scope of each experience to allow for multiple levels of developmental stages. Using a constructivist approach to learning allows for the breaking down of the experience as a whole into smaller parts which brings the focus around to the process of learning (Evanshen and Faulk, 2011, p. 667). Overall I believe Piaget’s Theory to be one of the most important influences in modern teaching, allowing scaffolding of learning in a place that that
Going back to our text, it is mentioned that in 1920s, the emphasis was on physical and intellectual development, and the early education programs were based on the works and studies of Froebel, Montessori, and McMillan. But as education improved in late 1940s, the attention was to focus on physical, social, and emotional growth (Eliason, et al., 2008 p.5). So the creative curriculum has been based on the theories and researches that inform decision making in the early childhood field. We can find these theories in the works of Piaget, Maslow, Erikson, Vygotsky, Smilansky, and Gardner. (Colker)
The Waldorf Approach was originated in 1919 with the basic analysis that children can learn traditional educational subjects through artistic activities. The assumption is that children should dictate the classroom curriculum, and that the material learned should benefit the child as a whole. There are four conditions that teachers focus on when using the Waldorf Approach. The four conditions are Aesthetic, Social, Symbolic, and Sensitive conditions. In a classroom setting these four conditions are put into practice by ...
When I first visited a Waldorf School ten years ago in search of my children’s school, I felt as if I were in the fantasy land. I couldn’t believe that there was such a school like this one still had existed in this fast-paced and competitive world. I was impressed with the campus, the teaching style, and the teachers. The twenty-two acre campus by the American River held the nature area, a farm, a garden, and the athletic fields in addition to the classroom buildings. Their teaching style was simple but deep and rich.
The education of children has existed since the beginning of time as parents have taught and molded their children into the young adults they desired them to be. Initial training of children was not in a formal setting, although history would see numerous settings, purposes, and methodological changes. Philosophies of education have also changed through the years as various voices have seemed to grasp the purpose of educating the next generation, thus laying out objectives to reach those goals of teaching children.
Education is very important especially in this day and age. What school one attends and how they perceive school to be is a huge factor in one’s life success. There has been research done in the past few years proving that students who receive a Montessori education will prosper academically more so than those who receive a traditional education (Ryniker and Shoho, 2001). Traditional schools typically follow teacher based philosophies and the Montessori education is student centered. On average, children enjoy student based philosophy classrooms. Therefore, they are much more in tuned to what they are learning and that benefits their educational career. Having fun while learning is the key to keeping children engaged.
Jaime Escalante, a great educator, once said, “The teacher gives us the desire to learn, the desire to be Somebody.” As a teacher, my goal will be to show students that each of them can be whatever they want to be, and not only are they capable of being good at what they do, they can be the best. To reach this goal, I must be an effective teacher, which I believe can best be accomplished by teaching in a way that is comfortable for me. Therefore, I will not base my classroom around one single philosophy; I am going to seek comfort by utilizing certain aspects of different educational philosophies, namely essentialism, existentialism, progressivism, and social reconstructionism.
Assignment 2: The Theories of Piaget and Kohlberg. Many researchers have written about child development, but none are quite as well known as Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. Jean Piaget’s cognitive development theory and Lawrence Kohlberg’s moral development theory are essential for researchers to gain a better understanding of child development. While these theories are unique in explaining different types of child development, they have many similarities and differences as well.
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.
When I began the unit, I believed that unless you sent your child to a Montessori or a Steiner school, you were basically getting the same pedagogy wherever you went. Killen (2007) states, “in the past 30 years our understanding of how people have learnt has changed dramatically. New approaches to cognitive research and developmental psychology suggest that learning is a much more individualised process than was previously thought” (p.2). I did not realise that there had been so much research on ...