Wednesday, June 10, 2009

Educational Philosophy

I have a passion for teaching, my passion comes from the love I have for learning and helping others do the same. I believe that doing this will only lead to a better life, a better future for those who choose to take part. It is important to have those who care teach, when we have those who care teach our children the classrooms would be filled with motivation and enthusiasm. Based on my educational philosophy, I am will perform more activities in the ranges of existentialism, progressivism and reconstruction/critical thinking theory.
Existentialism is the importance of individual responsibility. As I researched each category in which I fall highest under I realized how fairly accurate they can be. As I previously stated, existentialism is showing the kids independency. When a child is put to make their own decisions knowing with every action there will always be a reaction, the students will begin to feel as if they are the experts. Making a student feel this way can change their life. The reason I say this is because many students think “They” (those we never see only hear about on television) are the experts because they make all the decisions and determine what happens. When you allow the student to think for themselves and create their own leaderships they will then interact and react a lot more effectively. Reason they will react more effectively are because they want to “know what is going on” so that they are able to stand up and speak or correct someone when it is time.
Progressivism is allowing the student to relate classroom activities with real life experiences. This can be a very effective way in teaching a student. No matter how old the child is they can always learn from hands-on experiences. For instance, if I was teaching a lesson on solar power, given the proper materials, I would take the students outside and allow them to construct experiments with their solar panels. This will give them hands on experience of how it works and what it can be used for. Following this strategy allows the students to be engaged on hands on and outdoor activities versus staying in a cold room reading about it in a book.
Reconstruction/critical theory is taking reality and introducing it into the classroom. It is hard many times to follow this however; just like the others it is very effective. I believe that education starts with the outside walls of the school. When a child is driven to school and driven home ending the day at home, the child can be “Albert Einstein Jr.” and still not be very intelligent. It is not to say the child is uneducated or does not know how to read write or count, it just means they are lost on what goes on beyond the walls of school and outside the comfort of one’s own home. It is very important for the students to learn basic arithmetic etc. but it is equally crucial for them to be exposed to the world beyond the four walls. For instance, if you have two students from two different nationalities and exposure, you may run into a culture clash due to the lack of education on the world. What I mean by this is that when the child does not get exposed to reality (the fact that there is starvation happening, or kids killing others for their own survival) they may be able to understand why their county is such a melting pot beyond that, they may just appreciate the things they now take for granted!

No comments:

Post a Comment