Running Head TEACHING PHILOSOPHY KAYLA D'AMICO

Were I a teacher, perhaps I should on the occasion vow to build a foundation for

education, If I were to vow at all, it should be to build a light house. This is a parody inspired

by the wise Benjamin Franklin. Despite the difference in context, he chose to vow upon a light

house because, like teaching, it provides guidance for sailors on voyage. Being able to teach is

similar to being able to activate a light house and watch the ships get closer and closer to the

illumination. Being able to stand in front of a class of a few dozen sailors and teach them new

skills, and watch them grow cognitively. Throughout the students voyage from Pre-K to as far as

college graduation, they keep their eye on that light house. With every discovery, every passing

year, they are approaching the land. With out this light house, many sailors would be found lost

among the twisted curriculum. But this light house guides them among the seven seas of

intelligence. But it is our jobs as teachers to use the light house to guide the children to greater

waters, and eventually the final achievement.

The purpose of every educational standard, no matter how bizarre it may seem, is to get

the students ready for life in the democratic society. In younger grades, like elementary school,

teachers implement social skills like politeness and sharing. They will teach simple shapes to

recognize as a building or a car, and do a quick lesson on how our government is run by the

people. As grade levels increase, so do the life skills the students need to learn. Friedrich

Froebel, the father of kindergarten, endorsed hands-on and play-based learning. Maria

Montessori tagged on this idea and thought that it would be best if the kids learned life skills by

actually practicing household tasks. Many classrooms today are built around these ideas, with

play stations dedicated to different household activities.

The students learn best, within their first few years of school, with these stations. In

preschool, most children are eager to learn and grow attentive throughout the year. They may
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work best in groups once they get comfortable with their peers. The teacher should encourage as

much group interaction as possible, whether it be a group discussion or taking turns in an

interactive science experiment. When students reach about four, they start asking a lot of

questions. This is not to be a bother, or sound redundant, simply to make sense of the world

around them. Teachers must incorporate this thrive in their lessons, leaving much room for

curiosity. Having the students crawling out of their skin with questions improves patience,

classroom skills, and social skills. They should almost always be rewarded with an answer for

every question they ask. Curiosity is always welcome. Patty Smith Hill, although not very

popular at first, brought about a great idea about the incorporation between innovation and

Froebels original play-based learning system. Always change the approach, the curriculum, the

level of intensity to keep the kids intrigued and test their growing intelligence. Kids, while they

love free play, also need time for independent studies; so giving them individual assignments is

just as important.

Every classroom should be based upon a balance of nature versus nurture. That is my

single philosophy. As the great John Lock had once claimed that children are born with a clean

slate and molded by experience. Children are shaped first by their parents, they learn their

language, their faces, their home, and so on. They then get shaped by friends they may meet at

the playground, or at the store. When they go to school, they need this same compassion and

similar relationships to not only avoid separation anxiety, but also help their cognitive

development. In the beginning of civilization, children were treated as adults and this damaged

their development. As soon as society started teaching children, and treating them as such, they

saw an immediate correlation with their intelligence. As a teacher, I hope to nurture the students,

as they need to be cared for. I also hope to help their natural cognitive development, as expressed
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by Erik Erikson and Howard Gardner. Both psychologists discovered stages in either social or

cognitive development. These are stages teachers should live by. These are stages every teacher

should base their own teaching philosophy off of, as I did.