Luann Szukhent

EDU/200 11.28.11
Educational Philosophy Essay
Statement of Educational Philosophy
It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.
-- Albert Einstein

I believe the goal of education is to prepare young people to become critical thinking,
well-informed, problem solving, productive citizens. My educational philosophy is centered on
the goal of creating an invigorating learning environment that encourages students to become
inspired learners. A classroom that comes to life with hands-on learning opportunities will
capture a students attention, imprinting the lesson far deeper than simply pencil and paper. I am
committed to providing this type of classroom for my students, not only to feel free to engage in
the learning process, but to love to learn.
To achieve this goal, I feel it is important to blend the four educational philosophies:
perennialism, essentialism, romanticism, and progressivism. Perennialism and essentialism are
certainly needed to teach the traditional subjects. I like the perennialists appreciation for the
classics. Lessons of freedom verses responsibility can still be learned today from Huck Finn and
Tom Sawyer. There will definitely be an active bookshelf in my classroom for the classic novels.
In addition, there are essential things students must learn, such as language skills and
mathematics. The essentials viewpoint is very practical what do you need to learn today to
survive in the world? This concept, preparing for the adult world, will be in focus while teaching
critical math and language skills. Using problem solving skills, based on progressivism, and
hands-on learning, such as a simulated banking account to teach basic math skills will give the

student a taste of real life activities. A fun project of making ice cream in a bag before writing
an essay on ice cream will add depth to their understanding and ultimately their writing project
by using a progressivism approach. For the advanced student in my classroom, I will allow their
personal curiosity in a topic to drive any additional study or projects building on the philosophy
of romanticism.
I see my role as a teacher to lead, direct and sometimes get out of the way. I believe it is
my responsibility to direct the classroom in learning activities. However, when students are
interacting and digging into the meat of an assignment, Ill get out of their way to let their
discoveries continue. I will do my best to put the responsibility of learning on the students and
help them realize they are accountable for their own education.
I believe another role of the teacher in the community is to be involved outside of the
classroom. As we have learned in class, teachers are role models for their students, so whether
attending a seasonal festival or shopping at the local grocery store, activities outside of school
can build positive interaction with students. If I am involved in the community, hopefully
students and parents will realize I value where I live as well and desire to make it the best it can
be.
I am looking forward to putting all I have learned in my teacher preparation classes to full
use in my own elementary classroom. Not only blending the variety of educational philosophies
to engage all the learning styles presented by my students is the goal I plan to accomplish, but
also being an active member in the community. Being involved outside of the classroom can be
another avenue to connect with my students and parents. As the teacher, I will work towards
impressing the responsibility of learning to my students. I see my goal to be the classroom

facilitator, encouraging students to discover their own solutions to problems. A classroom

bustling with learning activities from hands-on science experiments creating fossils to the
lessons learned from Laura Ingles Wilder on the prairie is a classroom I will be proud to call
my own.

My heart is singing for joy this morning. A miracle has happened! The light of understanding has
shone upon my little pupil's mild, and behold, all things are changed.
-- Anne Sullivan