During this semester I have seen presentations and read about ways to educate students. Over this time I have developed a philosophy for educating students. Some of the basic ideas behind my philosophy are from my own educational experience. The purpose of this paper is to outline my philosophy on educating. While describing my philosophy I will be talking about the role of the student in education, the purpose of schools in society, the effective teacher, and the environment and management of my classroom.
First, what is the role of a student in education? Based on my philosophy I believe that a student’s role in education is to learn. I know that sounds basic but I think that is the number one thing a student should do. I feel students naturally want to collaborate and work with others. Also students naturally are very interested while in school. The way that I view students is that of a moldable mind that is waiting for proper information. I also think that all students are different. Based on my philosophy this is how I view students today.
Second, what is the purpose of schools in today’s society? The first key goal that I feel schools should achieve is basic skills in reading and math. The ability of students to read at their grade level while in school is very important. If we want to have a well educated society we need to first make sure our students can read and write. Schools should also work to make sure students can read above and beyond their grade level. In a perfect world our students would be reading classic and contemporary literature to develop as educated people. Math is just as important as reading for students today. There are many different philosophies on how to teach math but I believe each student needs a basic knowledge of addition, subtraction, multiplication and division while in elementary school. If each student has a solid understanding of basic math then there are no limits of what they can learn in high school and beyond. A solid education that teaches student their basic skills in reading and math is a very important for our schools to achieve.
The second key idea that schools should achieve is collaboration and project based learning. In today’s world corporations are looking for people who can collaborate. Collaboration is first achieved in the classroom. Based on my prior experience of working at an elementary school I saw that students naturally want to work together. While students are outside playing they are constantly working together to play games. Project based learning is a very important skill for students to learn at a young age. I have few memories of working on projects at young ages all I remember is testing and listening at a young age. I think that letting a student research and create is much more beneficial than testing and teaching. After watching the film about Finland my beliefs about project based learning with collaboration were verified by seeing their success without any testing. Collaboration and project based learning is very important and should be emphasized in our schools.
The third key idea that schools should accomplish is a world view. I feel that I am at a serious disadvantage due to the fact I was educated without a world view. Traditionally American schools have been very locally biased. As the worlds financial power is shifting from east to west the United States is no longer the world power and base of the world’s economy. Students should leave school with some knowledge of other countries traditions, languages, and even the basic knowledge of where all the other countries are located. When I was in school the books still had the Soviet Union in them and I still to this day have no idea of where all these other nations are located. I find this to be ridiculous; schools need to change their curriculum often to make sure our students have a basic knowledge of today’s world. Students should learn a foreign language. Whether it is Chinese, Spanish, or German it is beneficial for students to learn it. Right now we are teaching foreign language the complete wrong way. In most schools we are allowing student to take four years of language in high school. That is not the right time to teach a student a different language. The right time to do this is in elementary school when students can learn at a faster rate. I feel all elementary schools should offer an immersion program. A proper world view is very important for student’s success.
Third, what makes a successful teacher? I believe that a successful teacher has many attributes. A teacher must be understanding when dealing with students. Not all students are the same and they all have different home lives. A part of being understanding is remembering to not treat all students the same. Another important belief of a successful teacher is that teaching is not just a job. If you plan of being a teacher and just showing up to do, “the same old same old,” you will never be a good teacher. Teaching is more than just a job teaching is a duty. We as future and current teachers have a duty to give our job 100% every day, if you cannot do that than it is time to retire. Also a successful teacher should be willing to learn themselves. Teachers should ask to be reviewed by others to get ideas for what they could do differently. Also as technology changes teachers need to learn how to use it properly. Technology today goes way past email and the web; we are now dealing with social networking, smart boards, and iPads to name a few. Students will always have a better knowledge of new technology but teachers can try to keep up to help students learn. These attributes will help a teacher be highly qualified and successful in teaching students.
Fourth, how would I organize my classroom environment? I would first put all my desks in clusters. I want the students to face each other every day so they feel like they can work together. Also students may be nervous to talk to the whole class but when they are in groups of four they may be more willing to open up and work together. I would also like to have level reading books so that my students can find a book at their level so that they understand. Instead of just standing up a preaching in the front of the class I would like to have room to walk around and call on students so that they are all engaged the whole time in learning. I feel like some changes to a classroom environment can make them much more cohesive for learning.
How would I manage my classroom? Classroom management is very important, as a teacher you need to keep order and make the classroom feel open so students will be willing to share and work together. I feel like to many teachers use punishments to control their classroom. Punishments like timeouts from recess, heads down, or loss of privileges just do not work. You must praise and reinforce good behavior with children to encourage a happy and healthy learning environment. Don’t get me wrong there are some actions that children take that you must punish them for to; ensure safety in your classroom which is your number one goal. But you should not look at punishment as your go to for classroom management. Keeping your classroom managed is very important to your success as a teacher.
I have covered a wide spectrum of what I believe as a future teacher. I have covered the role a student serves, the purpose of schools in society, the duty and attributes of teachers, the way I will organize and manage my classroom. My philosophy is still developing itself as I go to school so just as I stated above I feel that I will always be learning and I never will be set in my ways, to be a good teacher I need to be able to change and adjust. I hope that I achieve these goals while I teach and I want to really make a difference.
