Philosophy
Education is defined as “the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction; an enlightening experience”. As a future educator, it is important that I understand and value the impact that I have on my students. Doing so, I believe that there are certain standards that should be met; certain philosophies that should be followed.
I believe the purposes of education are to help students learn about important subjects while also preparing them for their futures. Education not only provides information for students, it gives them support and guidance. I believe that children learn best when they are in an environment that makes them feel safe, contains structure and repetition, while also providing the stimulation they need for cognitive development. It is important to keep a creative learning environment that will not only keep student’s attention, but fill their desire to learn as well. Providing structure in a classroom falls in the line of maintaining a certain persona in front of students. While holding the position of teacher, it is important to be mindful of the way that you address your students, for example, “talking at” your students provides less feedback than “talking to” them. By following this simple process, the outcome of the classroom will be much better than that which is not as engaging.
The curriculum of any classroom should include certain “basics” that contribute to children’s social, emotional, intellectual, and physical development. The basics are class discussions to promote social skills and cognitive development, group activities like sports, labs, and physical education, and relating practical usage from the material that is learned. Children tend to learn best in an environment that promotes learning. Features of a good learning environment are creativity, safety, tranquility, flexibility, and encouragement. It is always best to provide encouragement to students so they desire positive feedback and realize that they are doing a good job. By allowing students to express their creativity in different projects and activities, they are learning more about the subject and themselves.
All children have certain needs that must be met if they are to grow and learn at their best. Some of these basic needs are feedback, positive reinforcement, learning basic study skills, educational tools and resources, parental involvement, and a good teacher. I plan to meet these needs by maintaining constant supervision of my students’ activities and homework and providing timely feedback on what needs to improve; helping students learn how to memorize appropriate materials correctly; teach them about the tools they need to exceed in different subjects; and finally, encourage parents to be more involved and active in their child’s learning process. Above all else, children need to have a good teacher, someone that is passionate about their job and truly cares for their students. All teachers should have certain qualities. Qualities that I believe are important for teaching are a passion for the job, compassion for your students, a desire to learn, the ability to be flexible, and learning from past experiences. One of the most important things that any teacher will say is that a teacher must be passionate about what they do, because if they are not, their students will know. The more excited a teacher is, the more likely their excitement will reflect on their students. The ability to be flexible is extremely important when teaching because there is always the chance that something could go wrong, whether it is the computer, a failed experiment, or a number of other things. It is my goal to keep all of these qualities close to my heart so that I can become the best educator that I can be.
Being an educator is so much more than just teaching students. We are their teachers, coaches, leaders, and guardians in a sense. I plan to take all of these roles seriously and to do my best in educating the future generations so that they will make a positive impact in society.