Personal Philosophy Of Education

Personal Philosophy Of Education
The function of philosophy in a teacher’s life is self-reflection. This, to me, means bridging the responsibilities tied to educational inquiry and technological standards with those tied to the needs of individual children. In order to achieve this goal, teachers must utilize four main philosophically-based standards of practice, in my opinion. Professional knowledge is the first of these. Educators must keep current on not only subject matter information, in my case, technology, but also on pedagogical theories that will help them meet their objectives in the classroom, as well as changes to the educational frameworks in their school districts. Professional practice, the second standard, accompanies professional knowledge. This means that teachers are able to engage students at a number of different learning levels, and using a number of different tools to promote learning. Effective teachers use a variety of research-based instructional strategies that provide challenging and positive learning experiences for all students (Noddings, 2003). These teachers build ideas and concepts logically to lead students to comprehend more complex concepts and encourage higher order creative and critical thinking skills. They use effective questioning strategies to stimulate thinking. Effective educators can explore, evaluate and integrate learning tools, including technology, to make content accessible to students.
Based on my own research and personal experience, the purpose of education should be to help students to acquire technological tools to not only learn information, but also to ascertain what value that information may have to themselves and to others. In a global society, knowledge of how our perceptions color what we believe to be fact is key. I have come to learn that teachers can set the stage for critical literacy and help students achieve their goals with respect to this educational focus. Whereas in the past literacy and numeracy were the sole purpose of education, I believe that teachers are now responsible for helping children become aware of their role within the world around them, and their reasons and methodologies for participating in their communities, their families, and in other social situations. Managing challenges associated with our communities’ growing diversity of needs requires teachers to be subject to an evolving social context that will continue to change.
  The nature of the relationship between teacher and students should be grounded in mentorship. I feel that teachers need to have a clear and overarching commitment to children’s futures in order to ensure that every student has the same opportunities to succeed and is given hope that their future might include the option of overcoming the challenges that their own diverse nature has given them during their elementary and high school years. In order for an educator to make a lasting difference in a student’s life, they must help the student situate the negative experiences that they face and the solutions to the issue within social justice frameworks so that the young person does not see themselves as wrong or bad, and so that they have the tools they need to surpass these issues over the long term. Teachers who are mentors can act to empathize with, not just understand intellectually, how the students they teach and their parents see the world. Being able to critically understand the point of view of ‘the other’ especially within the context of the classroom allows the educator to engage students not only in observing the lives of other people, but also to carefully adapt to the new technological challenges in the world around them, develop relationships, understand the reasoning and viewpoints of themselves and their family in relation to the rest of the world, and actively participate in their own personal and community history and future. Knowing this, I believe that teachers have a unique role in assisting their students in not only building bridges to students from other backgrounds and of other abilities, but also in creating the means by which students are able to cross those bridges and truly engage with others.
  The teaching philosophy that has most influenced the ideas expressed in my answers to questions two to three is that of Noddings’ (2005) Ethic of Care. Noddings argues that caring needs to be at the center of every educational system, with the goal of the creation of a connection and relationship in interactions and in decision-making by and with students. To this end, Noddings (2005) posits that the idea of leadership and what qualities are required by leaders needs to be linked to education’s greatest stakeholders, namely children. As Noddings (2003) suggests, a caring teacher should connect to the cared-for child with an attitude that emphasizes a high level of engrossment, commitment, and motivation. What this means is that a child’s ability to acquire compassion, creativity, and develop emotional skills is not only linked to their social environment, but also their personal self-esteem. In return, the child who is the recipient of care, and therefore of higher self-esteem, is able to respond in a positive way to the challenges he or she faces in life, as Noddings (2003) points out. What this means is that there is a necessity for teachers to base their decision-making and philosophical values on the current requirements of their students’ education, rather than on the traditions intrinsic to the educational administrative community. As Noddings (2005) has pointed out, needs which are defined solely by the educational community, and not by an inquiry into students’ needs, are likely to come up short in making sure that students are able to meet their educational goals over the long term.

References
Noddings, N. (2003). Happiness and Education. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
Noddings, N. (2005). Identifying and responding to needs in education. Cambridge
Journal of Education, 35, 147—159.