My Philosophy of Education
Why do you want to be a teacher? Being education majors, I think this may be one of the most common questions that many of us are asked whether it be by a family member or getting interviewed for a job. Besides the more generic answer like, "I love kids"- why do you really want to become an educator? For me, I knew pretty early on that going into education was something that I wanted to do. It was not until my high school years that I truly found out the reasons that I wanted to be a Special Education teacher. Going out and experiencing exceptional and below average teachers gives you tools to try and be an excellent teacher yourself. If you think about the top three best teachers you ever had or worked with, you should wonder: what do they have and how do I get it!? So far, these experiences have majorly helped shaped my philosophy of education.
If I had to sum up my philosophy in one sentence it would be "All students deserve excellent teachers." I like it because it is simple and to the point. A students' quality of their education should not depend on the funding of the district they live in. No matter the economic status, all students deserve to be taught by teachers who strive to be excellent in their craft. If you are not passionate about being an educator, it is only going to damage future generations. Yes, that might sound a tad bit dramatic but I feel that teachers have such an influence on the way a child turns out. It only takes one person to inspire someone else into doing great things. If a teacher does not really want to be in the classroom, why would a kid really want to sit in and listen to what they have to say? From my own experiences, things like scripted lesson plans and 'teaching to the test' have also put a lid on not only the students' imagination, but the teachers as well. I feel they should be used as guidelines only.
An exceptional teacher is always a life long learner. In order for my students to ask questions, I have to ask questions. I think that some of the worst teachers I've ever had are the ones that always thought that they were right and did not want to learn past the curriculum. In my opinion, this is one of the flaws in perennialism. Nothing that would really change is taught and this very much so limits the students the right to an imagination and to be curious and ask questions. That being said, I really did enjoy all the aspects of experience based learning that progressivism brings. It really embraces change which is good because we all live in a world where one of the only things consistent in life is change! All of the philosophies that were discussed in class had their pros and cons but I was glad to hear about them because they each had valid ideas to bring into our own classrooms.
The best of the best special education teachers that I have observed so far all share a couple of the same qualities. Most importantly, they both truly love their job and take a personal interest in their students. I love that they are willing to go the extra mile to cater to the many and diverse individual needs. They also stressed to me that as a teacher you are going to make mistakes, not all lessons and ideas that you throw out are going to be successful, and that is okay! Both of them could go with the flow and not get so caught up in all of the technicalities.
In conclusion, I think that the best kind of teacher is a passionate teacher. If a teacher is passionate, the want to constantly better yourself and your students will come naturally. A passionate teacher will always see endless potential in their students because everyone deserves to have someone believe in them.
You said, "If you are not passionate about being an educator, it is only going to damage future generations." I believe you are correct in saying this. The future is going to be run by the students we will teach in our classrooms and it will be detrimental to our society if we as educators do not try in every way possible strive to be the best we can be. As we are headed right now our society is in a decline because of the economy but also because students are consistently dropping out of school whether it be high school or college. If we can find a way to make our passion to teach known to students without being overbearing and also get them interested in what they want for themselves as a person, we can grow as a community and culture. My inspiration to be a teacher came in the fact that I do love children but more so because I hated going to school. I cannot remember why or when it happened, but I want to be sure that I can instill a passion for school or learning instead of a student hating it. This is the cause of many of our dropouts and maybe we can decrease that.
ReplyDeleteSounds good, but which philosophy does an "excellent teacher" correspond with- and how does that compare with your experience and what you will do in classrooms be specific.
ReplyDeleteI think that incorporating all of the good aspects of each philosophy in your teaching corresponds with being an excellent teacher. From the perennialistic viewpoint, I would have my students learn about the past and core curriculum because it is important. But instead of stopping there, I would have them compare and contrast the problems we as a country have had in the past to the problems we are having now. From there, they would introduce different problem solving ideas. Even if the answers are basic, I think that it is important to incorporate the past into the present. How else will can they understand improvement as a whole with any situation if they don't know what went wrong in the first place? I think that one of the main reasons I didn't really like any history classes I've taken so far is because it was simply all factual. The instructors did not intertwine any of the old with the new so it was hard for me to relate and go to a class where I was only learning information for a test, not to apply to real life.
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