Philosophy of Education

As I learn more about the subjects I hope to teach and the teaching profession as a whole, Ive
started to slowly develop the ideas that would support and envelop my philosophy of education. While
learning of the broad ideas and concepts, Ive concluded that I could only hope to push the ideas of
Progressivism and Social Reconstructivism, while also drawing ideas from all walks of education. As
well as including the personal ideas that I believe in now and pick up and rework over the years of
experience that I hope to accumulate during my teaching career. It will be important for me to remember
that each student will learn differently and that I will need to change techniques and approaches in order
to best educate each student. In a sense my philosophy of education is to stay true to myself and my
beliefs, in staying true to the GVSU College of Education values of ethics and decision making, while
also acknowledging the need to stay versatile and open minded in order to best educate every child that
walks into my classroom
Over the course of US History the public school system in the United States has made a bold
commitment to the children of this nation, they say no to no one. Much smarter people than me have
decided that it is integral to the future of our nation for a system of schools to be open to each and every
child that wants to learn. I admire the ideals of this system and want to serve it. Therefore I will have to
continually remind myself that I have made a commitment to aid each and every one of the children that
passes through my schools doors to the best of my ability. Furthermore I will need to foster this service
with compassion, passion and empathy in order to create relationships with each student that helps benefit
their education. I think that the history of the education system has also proved that this is the purpose of
education, to educate our children in the hopes of creating a better, brighter future. One in which the next
generation has acquired the necessary tools to solve the requisite future issues.
My role as the teacher within the classroom would be to ensure that my students get the best
content-based education that they can possibly get. However that is not even remotely the only role, there
will be innumerable limitations in realizing that role and it will be just as important for me to be there for

my students, as they struggle with a myriad of issues that dont involve course work. It is important for
the teacher to be an active role model within the community and I hope to stay active by coaching school
sports teams as well as teaching, so that I can also try to help influence young peoples lives in the
classroom, but just as importantly, outside the classroom. In return I expect my students to give their best
possible effort given their individual unique expectations, which is all I can hope to expect from them,
and even then they will most surely not always give me that, but I must stress why it is important for them
to do so. In essence I want to create a level of understanding in my classroom whereby my students are
gaining meaningful skills, while simultaneously recognizing how important a well rounded education can
benefit them for the rest of their lives. I want to create this classroom with honesty and transparency.
Students should learn about real world issues and be given the necessary tools to combat the things that
they will have to battle in order to succeed in the 21st Century.
In order to achieve these goals it will be important for me to stay diligent in regards to knowledge
regarding the subject Im teaching, but also to stay somewhat aware of the students generational needs, as
they will different from my own. I will need to keep my course relevant and insightful in order to ensure
that the students can better see the need to learn the course work. However, high school students dont
tend to remember course work, they remember teachers, so that is why it will be integral for me to stay
relevant in regards to my life views and lessons. Therefore I can reach students on a personal level, and
hopefully make a positive lasting relationship or impact on a potential student moving forward. Without
this kind of empathetic, sympathetic relationship building the teacher will not only care about my content,
he or she will also not necessarily care about what I have to say about anything at all.
As technology advances it has become clear that the world is becoming more and more diverse
and global in its implications. As an educator I will need to recognize that my student body will be
diverse, and that even though my personal experiences may not mirror the students I will still need to find
the commonalities between their lives and my own. This will help me identify with each student and
better recognize their educational and personal needs. It will also be important to stress this idea to

students, that the world is not just what is inside themselves or their familys homes. There are many
different ideas and cultures and I want my students to recognize that open mindedness is a critical virtue.
Students need to recognize this early on in order to stay relevant in the global economy and to be able to
accept the differences in the world. Compassionate discourse is integral and future generations will need
to recognize that the kind of ideologue driven gridlocked discussion that currently occurs is not bringing
us forward as a civil society. I want to help my students gain insight about their own opinions while also
gaining the ability to listen to opposing viewpoints without responding with anger or vitriol. In general it
is important to be able to get along with and better understand the peoples of the world, to ideally create a
better world.
It is my belief that the children will best learn, if they see that I am passionate about not only the
subject that I teach, but also each of them as individuals. I want my students to know that I believe in and
want them to achieve personal success; however they come to define that. I also want to challenge the
students to think outside of themselves and to hopefully realize a better self. Within the classroom I want
to have an active learning environment and I would want to create a community-based classroom. I also
will need to keep in mind that I am in control of the classroom. As much as I want students to enjoy my
class, I will also need to balance their enjoyment with the necessities of the course work. I can
altruistically care about them without being their friend, and that seems integral to me. Ive found that too
many teachers strike an imbalance on either side of that quandary. Furthermore my curriculum should be
well rounded by design, it should include lectures as well as interactive discussion/opportunities for
students as well, group work and individual work and the recognition of my students multiple
intelligences. Assessment should be based on a combination of formative and summative assessments,
while also including the opportunity to integrate student choice within certain assessments. I want
students to have every chance to succeed, while also combating the problems that plague those students
who underachieve. While I continue to learn about my own philosophy of education I want to better
understand how best to develop my own curriculum, so that my students do not get bored or complacent

because each day is exactly the same. I dont know exactly what this curriculum would look like yet,
every day and every year will be a learning experience and I will constantly need to adapt in order to craft
the most relevant, necessary content.