Artifact 3 Educational Philosophy 1

Artifact 3 Educational Philosophy: Progressivism, Existentialism, and Social Reconstruction!

Shakeyna Godman

College of Southern Nevada, Charleston

April 8, 2017
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Artifact 3 Educational Philosophy: Progressivism, Existentialism, and Social Reconstruction!

Ever since I can remember I have always wanted to be a teacher. For the younger children too.

Kids are great, funny, really small and cute, blunt, liers, truthful, deep, understanding, and I want

to be surrounded by this crazy unpredictable environment all of the time. My goal is to be an

inspiration, THAT person who promotes knowledge, understanding, and life skills into my

students. Over the years I have had many great teachers with a zest for their profession. One

being a woman named Mrs. Bristow my 4th grade teacher, Mrs. B for short, she was hands down

one of the greatest women I have ever met, outside of my mother. She inspired me to learn, not

just what was in the textbook but from life and experiences. As I grew older another teacher

comes to mind and she was my 9th grade World History teacher, Ms. Nealey. Ms. Nealey was

my radical, know thyself type of teacher. Her greatest lesson was a challenge for to me was to

seek true historical accounts and to always observe as many sides of the argument you can.

These teachers and other contributing factors leading to a life of a pursuit of knowledge and

promoting the education of our youth. Wisdom in life is earned through experience, not learned.

I offer my future students my wisdom of life, what it offers and what you have to take. I am a

woman of understanding who will often see beyond the surface to the deeper problem. Dramatics

are my life. I love to put on a show for others and will use this to show my students that learning

can be as fun as you want it to be.

I am a mixture of beliefs and those beliefs all focus on the betterment of myself and others. I

believe we have a choice on who we become, but we are a product of our environment until we

become self aware. Leading us toward personal growth whether positive or negative. My

Educational Philosophies are focused on my students as the center, with an emphasis on self and
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societal development. (Parkay & Stanford, 2007 p. 126) My personal beliefs align along with

Progressivism which is, according to Parkay, the belief that education should be child

centered the content of the curriculum ought to be derived for students interests rather than

from the academic disciplines.(p.128) Meaning I want to see my students learn what would be

relevant and interesting them. I would try to tailor my lesson to help students gain knowledge of

the world, with regards to their everyday life interests. Existentialism, according to Parkay,

offers the individual a way of thinking about my life, what happens for me, what is true for me

(p.130) I have always advocated self reflection and want students to think about what

information has to do them? Why is learning this subject of any importance to me? Social

Reconstruction from Parkays explanation holds that school should take the lead in changing or

reconstructing the current social order. (p.132) I do believe that if changes are to be made it is

always important for the up and coming generation to always think about what we make better or

what is unjust. If students aren't taught to question they will never truly be consciously

productive members of society. Becoming a teacher I believe I wille most likely use a

combination of these three philosophical orientations to aid my approach in teaching my

students. Along with these philosophical orientations the a mixture of the humanist and

constructivist psychologies fit well into my belief system. I want the closeness and interpersonal

relationships that humanism gives you; with the cognitive processing to construct understanding

material to be learned (Parkay, p.137) I want my students to be self aware but also be able to

process information in a critical way that would help them resolve any problem or figure out any

situation. Although, I find that my beliefs align with certain philosophical and psychologies I

cannot discount the others as I see certain parts of myself in those as well.
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The way a classroom is setup sets the tone for the class and how it is run. I would like to set in

class up is small groups, so it is easier to break off in groups to complete assignments. I would

like to have many group discussions as it teaches students the value of expressing their opinions.

Moving groups are important and this was on aspect I loved the most about school from

elementary to college. There is something about moving around that made me feel like I was

having fun and learning. Readers theatre and drama skits are always fun especially if there are

amiture actors/actresses in the class. Over the years I have learned that not all students are

brilliant test takers so I plan to use mini assessment to help understand if my students are

learning. I will not do away with all testing but I will change it up so students are not always

bombarded with test. One example, would be to have a math challenge to see who knows all of

their multiplication tables. As a black woman I have seen that many classrooms are set up to

reach one demographic most times. I would like to incorporate pictures from different world

cultures because just seeing a picture people who look like you, can make a room more inviting.

Also, I hope to incorporate a variety of stories about other cultures into my lessons as to aid in

cultural understanding.

In order to continue or even begin in this field you need the tenacity to keep toward your goals

and to deal with every involved in the running of the school. Patience is a must, which I am

continuously working on for the future benefit of myself and students. Lastly a willingness to do

the work of a teacher. I have seen that it is a life consuming job and if you do not have a

willingness to do the work you are in serious trouble.

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Reference

Parkay, F. W., & Stanford, B. H. (2007). Becoming a teacher (9th ed.). Boston, MA:

Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.