Philosophy Statement :: Philosophy of Education Teaching Essays

Philosophy Statement Throughout my entire life there has always been one thing that has remained constant—there has always been some sort of teacher in my life. During my academic career, there have been teachers that I have liked and a few that I have disliked, but I have always respected them for what they accomplish on a day-to-day basis. It never occurred to me until my second year of college that I could also be a teacher. I have always participated in activities that stressed leadership, I have been a mentor for numerous children through 4-H and other youth programs. In a way I have been teaching my entire life, but I had never realized it until now. My classroom will be a place to learn and a place to develop social skills. It will include brightly colored and informational bulletin boards and seating that will depend on the classroom activity at the time. There will hopefully be at least three computers in the classroom and lots of resource and research materials available not only for me, the teacher, but also for the students. Throughout the school year projects will be assigned that will be relevant to the topic being studied at that time. As the school year progresses, projects will also be displayed around the room. Hopefully these will serve to inspire the students to learn and research new ideas on their own. The philosophy that I believe I am most similar too is John Dewey’s philosophy of Progressivism. Like Dewey I also believe that â€Å"one constant truth about the universe is the existence of change†. This is something that is not uncontrollable. As humans change their relationship with the environment that is being changed, they will change and be made different, and theoretically better, by the experience. I believe that change is very important in a classroom because one class of students is very dissimilar from another class. The teacher should be flexible so they are able to effectively teach all types of children. One of my goals would be to have my students be free-thinking and intellectual members of society. Education is a chance to utilize past experiences and to apply it to a new experience.