Development of My Educational Philosophy

Not everyone realizes that they want to be a teacher when they are growing up. I grew up wanting to be a vet. Then I actually started my college career as biology major and wanted to work in a zoo as a zookeeper.  After a year, I realized that biology was not for me and started to look for other options. Finally with some help, I decided to change my major to Elementary Education. Since I began my major, my philosophy of education has been evolving.  I guess it started with the question everyone asks. Why do you want to be a teacher?  When I began to study education I had no real answer for the question. My answer may have been I enjoy babysitting. At that time, I did not understand what a philosophy for education might be. I was still testing the water to see if education was right for me. Now that I am farther along in my Elementary Education Degree, I have a better understanding of what my education philosophy is and that education is right for me. My answer now for the question is to be the excellent teacher that all students deserve and should have so that they can reach to their highest potential.

My philosophy of education now is that all students deserve a quality education with the guidance of an excellent teacher. An excellent teacher is a teacher who strives to put the needs of their students first so that the students can succeed in the teacher’s classroom.  Students coming from any background should have all the opportunities necessary to achieve their greatest potential. A teacher must understand that all students are unique. Meaning that students have many differences and similarities. Therefore, the classrooms should not be one sided but should contain a variety of objects to address every student’s learning style.

I believe that educational philosophies should be a mixture of progressivism, perennialism, essentialism, and reconstructionism. Educations should be about the whole child as suggested in the progressivism philosophy. Students should not be treated as one because of each student’s individuality. To address every students learning style, a proper mix of educational philosophies is needed. Progressivism brings students doing activities to problem solve and learning by doing to the mix.  Perennialism teaches students about Western Civilization. Student should know about the development of Western Civilization but also should learn about a wide variety of civilizations. However like perennialism, students should understand the basics of the civilizations that will lead to more complex topics about the civilizations. Essentialism is right about there being knowledge that student should know and is essential to being a valuable member of society. But, schools should expand past the basics to more complex topics once a student knows the basics. Teachers need to teach students about societal morals. Basic knowledge and societal morals will better prepare all students for their future. Reconstructionism can help address the complex topics. Once students learn their basics, complex topics about the world around them will help them grow intellectually. Bring the world to your students by a worldly problem may help them to better understand the subject. Every student will receive a higher quality education with the proper mix of educational philosophies.