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Educational Philosophy

Elizabeth Holsman
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As individuals in the teaching profession, we may not think about our own educational

philosophy until times when we really need really need it, like the interview process. I feel that a

teachers own educational philosophy is important to keep close at hand. There may be days

when teachers ask themselves, Why am I a teacher?. Taking a look at and truly understanding

their own educational philosophy will help to answer that question.

Before anyone can truly answer as to what their educational philosophy is, one question

needs to be answered: What is Education? Many teachers may have different views on what

education actually is and to establish a philosophy of it, one must have an understanding of what

they think education is. For me education is about learning knowledge, skills, and developing

self-concept. I believe that teaching by itself does not constitute learning. An effective education

will lead a student to incorporate the knowledge or skills that they have learned into their own set

of values and behaviors. There is a quote by David Orr (1991) that I believe explains my

thoughts on what education is very well. Orr (1991) said: Subject matter is simply the tool.

Much as one would use a hammer and chisel to carve a block of marble, one uses ideas and

knowledge to forge one's own personhood. When education is student centered, I believe that it

has the power to shape students and change their lives, and that is the basis that my entire

educational philosophy lies on.

My personal teaching philosophy leans very much towards humanism, with a few aspects

of constructivism. There are many aspects of both theories that I agree with and plan to

incorporate into my classrooms. Humanism focuses on improving the goodness that is found in

everyone and helping students to become more independent learners and individuals (Tomei,

2004). It emphasizes that how a person feels about learning is just as important as how the

person thinks or behaves (Tomei, 2004). According to Tomei (2004), individuals like Carl
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Rogers were on the forefront of Humanism and brought forth the humanistic approach, which

attempts to create an educational environment that fosters self-development, cooperation, and

positive communication.

Rogerss beliefs very much echo my own. He believed that all people have a natural

desire and eagerness to learn, which I cannot disagree with (Tomei, 2004). Seeing young

children and their drive to acquire knowledge reinforces that fact for me. I believe that as

children grow and develop, the way that they are taught hinders their eagerness to learn. I feel as

though if teachers could be more student-centered and engage students more in learning, then the

want for knowledge and understanding would still be instilled in students as they age.

Rogers also believed in meaningful learning, and explained that he believed that learning

occurs when students feel that the subject matter is relevant to their own needs (Tomei, 2004). I

completely agree with Rogers in his belief meaningful learning. I also believe that all subject

matter can be taught in a way to help students realize the importance and relevance to their own

needs. It is all about engaging students, making things fun and getting them to understand where

and how their education will benefit them in life. Being able to put information and knowledge

that you are trying to teach a student into practical use is key. I believe that more teachers need to

structure their lessons and ways of teaching around that one very important point.

Another view that Rogers had was that he believed a learning environment should be free

from threat (Tomei, 2004). I believe and have seen that students work better when they are not

pressured or criticized. Having a hostile environment in the classroom will affect not only the

students but the teacher as well. Rogers believed that students need the freedom to test their own

abilities, allow for new experiences, and even experience mistakes without being teased or

having people point out their faults (Tomei, 2004).

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One view that Rogers had that I feel is one of the most important is self-initiated learning.

He believed that learning is best when it is self-initiated and it also involves both the feelings and

the mind of the learner (Tomei, 2004). He believed in choosing one's own direction for learning

because he felt that it brought in feelings of responsibility (Tomei, 2004). Learning to do things

on your own, he believed would enhance students feelings of belonging and promote further

learning, and the cycle would continue as the student grows (Tomei, 2004). Having seen the

minds at work in an unstructured, self-initiated learning environment myself, I have to agree.

Most of the observations that I have made of self-initiated learning are in the form of playtime

for younger students. Playtime becomes self-initiated learning is because students make

decisions about what they want to do, where, with whom, and what they will need to do it.

Support from a teacher is needed during this playtime though, to model learning. Ive heard

many objections to this kind of teaching/learning method, because some teachers feel that if they

have not planned an activity or are not directing what the students are doing, learning is not

happening. I disagree with that because efficient self-initiated learning cannot happen without a

teachers help and support. Teachers do plan when they take part in an unstructured learning

environment by deciding and organizing what is available to students in the classroom, and

planning so that the children have enough time to devote to the unstructured learning.

The last view that I agree with Rogers on, is his view of metacognition. He believed that

metacognition was an important part of student learning, and that a students ability to

understand how to learn in a constantly changing environment helped them become more self-

efficient individuals (Tomei, 2004). I could not agree more. I believe that metacognition, or

learning how to learn helps students become independent, helps with self-regulation, and

allows students to reflect on their own strengths, weaknesses, learning and study strategies. As
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stated before, reflection is such a huge part of education. If you cannot step back and evaluate

yourself as a student or as a teacher, you need to re-think your strategies.

I also believe that the constructionist view should be used in the classroom.

Constructivism says that people construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world,

through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences (Thirteen Ed Online Team,

2004). With constructivism, we create our own knowledge by asking questions, exploring, and

assessing what we know (Thirteen Ed Online Team, 2004). I plan on using constructivist

techniques in my classroom by encouraging students to do experiments, involving them in real

world tasks, and relating what were learning to everyday life. Again, even with constructivism,

reflection is a large part. After accomplishing the experiments and everyday life related

activities, students need to reflect on what they have learned and realize how their views have

changed since the activities were done.

According to Jacqueline and Martin Brooks (2001), constructivism is like humanism the

sense that it works best without a standard curriculum. Instead if a cut and dry curriculum,

constructivism promotes using a curriculum customized to the knowledge students already have

and focuses on developing students prior concepts of things (Jacqueline and Martin Brooks,

2001). I believe that this aspect of constructivism goes along well with Rogers belief of

meaningful learning. When you build on students prior knowledge of things, you essentially

have the chance to make the students feel that the subject matter is relevant to their own needs.

The constructivist approach is also very hands on and self-initiated learning can occur during

times when students are doing hands on activities or going on field trips. I would also use

constructivist techniques like open-ended questions and promote dialogue among students to

help foster self-initiated learning. Another way that the two theories go hand in hand in my eyes
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is with assessment. In a constructivist classroom grades are not as important on certain tasks and

students learn how to judge their own progress (Jacqueline and Martin Brooks, 2001). I believe it

is the same for humanism as well. Of course as a teacher, there is no way to eliminate grades and

standardized tests. But, I believe a classroom needs to be structured more around students

understanding and grasping of a concept no matter how long it takes, rather than forcing a

student to try and understand a concept one time, and giving them an F if they dont.

One aspect that needs to be mentioned when it comes to a teachers educational

philosophy is discipline. As a teacher I will need to use ways to prevent negative behavior in the

classroom and ways to actively discipline negative behaviors when they arise. When it comes to

disciplining, I believe that respect has a lot to do with bad behavior in the classroom. The

students should know that I have respect for them, as well as they should be able to establish a

respect for me as a teacher. To gain respect from my students I do not plan on ever deliberately

embarrassing a student or putting them in a position where they feel uncomfortable, as well as

ever talking down to them. I feel that if students dont feel they are being respected then they

will be more likely to disobey in the classroom.

I also plan to use rewards in the classroom when I see appropriate behavior, when a

student is following class rules or when the whole class has behaved in a way that I see fit for

recognition. I believe in rewards like praise, stickers, homework passes, free time at the end of

class, and pizza parties, and believe that they will have an impact on students behavior.

When it comes to actually disciplining a student I believe that taking away privileges may

be an appropriate discipline technique, but I also believe that it is important to relate the

disciplinary action to the bad behavior. The student must know why he or she is being
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disciplined. I also have no qualms about calling a students parents about a disciplinary problem,

but only if it gets to the point when I cannot control it in the ways I would like to in the

classroom. The next step after calling parents is to send the child to the principals office. I feel

that this is a last resort for me because I should be able to handle the situation within the

classroom or with the parents help.

As my career as a teacher goes on I may learn different and better techniques along the

way and will adapt my philosophy of discipline to incorporate them. I believe as well that every

situation is different, and I may come upon a student or even a class that I may need to change

my rules around a bit for. Even so, I know that it all comes with the territory of becoming a

teacher and I embrace it.

As a teacher, I have the responsibility of adapting the environment that I am teaching in to

promote constructive and productive learning. I believe that every student, with or without a

disability has strengths and weaknesses and that the whole student should be recognized and

respected. Although I chose two theories of education that I believe I will use in my classroom,

as new teaching strategies are developed and used, I will continue to evaluate my educational

philosophy for use in the learning environment and with each student
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Works Cited
Jacqueline Brooks, M. B. (2001). In Search of Understanding: The Case for Constructivist

Classrooms. Prentice Hall.

Thirteen Ed Online Team. (2004). Concept to Classroom: Constructivism as a Paradigm for

Teaching and Learning. Retrieved April 27, 2010, from Thirteen, Ed. Online:

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html

Tomei, L. (2004). Learning Theories -- A Primer Exercise. Retrieved April 27, 2010, from Rober

Morris University: http://academics.rmu.edu/~tomei/ed711psy/1lngtheo.htm