My Philosophy of Education

Being a pre-service teacher is a unique experience. You learn about and indulge in many different theories about child psychology as well as classroom management. While learning about many different techniques and theories you are on a quest to find what theories work best for you. Ultimately, you are trying to figure out what type of teacher you are and exactly where you fall on the continuum of teaching. I have grown, learned, as well as adapted to the theories of child psychology and classroom management. I have taken what I learned in the classroom and applied them to an actual elementary classroom setting. In doing so, I believe that I have found my philosophy of education and the role that classroom management plays in it.  

My philosophy of education is, each child is unique and deserves a stimulating, safe haven to grow and learn. As an educator, it is my responsibility to guide students in the right direction by exposing them to new ideas and useful information. It is also my responsibility to allow students to discover knowledge through their own natural curiosities. I will help them harness this curiosity and hopefully motivate them to exceed well beyond expectations. In doing so, the students will develop a better cognitive understanding of subject matter, expand on their creativity, increase their social self-discovery while preparing themselves for the real life situations. 

Discipline will allow me to successfully carryout and follow my philosophy of education. The purpose of discipline is to enable educational goals, teach responsibility and ownership as well as to develop morals. By modeling respect, self-confidence, self-discipline, and a persistent focus on my goals, I will encourage my students to mimic these behaviors and thereby decrease the amount of distractions in the classroom. Modeling will also help produce a safe, welcoming classroom environment that will encourage students to interact with one another.

Having a community in a classroom will depends on the level of trust between me and my students. Hopefully by implementing a referent power base and catering to each individual need of my students. will enable them to establish a trusting relationship with me. Establishing a relationship with the students will allow me to become more effective with the content that I teach. As a referent based educator it is very important to give my students the necessary tools to thrive. Although we would like to treat everyone equally, sometime equally is not always fair. For this reason it is imperative that I gain a trusting relationship with each individual student to gain a better understanding of their strengths and weaknesses. By gaining a trusting relationship with my students it will help them as well as me to become more successful in the classroom and it a key factor in building a community. 

I want to be a teacher in underserved communities because I am truly concerned about the success of these students. I empathize with their perspective that their world wants to oppress them, that their education will not help them, and that their homes are not like any other. But as their role model, they will broaden their perspectives and learn there is a world beyond what they have. With compassion and professionalism, I will dedicate my energy to give them a chance to succeed. My college education showed me values in service learning projects, field experiences, approaches with inquiry, and expansive literature. The power to learn together and to share ideas with each other is critical in student success.