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Philosophy of Education

Alyssa Collins

EDU 201

11/18/2018

Dr. Ce Isbell
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Philosophy of Education

Profession:

I am choosing to become a teacher because I want to make a difference. There is no

greater satisfaction than helping a child succeed in school. My 5th grade teacher is the person

who inspired me. She was always so confident in her teaching abilities. She always made the

classroom fun. She never made us doubt ourselves and always wanted to see us succeed. Ms.

Campbell is another teacher that I now look up to. She is the teacher that I observed during the

field observation. She shows her students every day that she cares. Every day that I went into the

classroom, it was another learning lesson for me. It was amazing to see what I could learn in

such a short amount of time. She showed me how to keep the class under control, how to be

personal with your students and how to teach them on all ability levels. Besides the field

observation that I have done, I do not have any prior knowledge to teaching. Watching another

class has taught me patience. I have learned that not everything is going to go my way. I think I

have learned a lot about myself and how to help children more. A skill set that I can bring to the

table is selflessness. I always put other people first. I want that to be the same when it comes to

my students. I always fight for what I believe is right. I want to be able to show my students how

powerful it is to be independent. The field observation has taught me to understand the children

and the fact that not all of the children will learn the same. It has shown me how much a 5-year-

old can learn in just a span of a month. I have learned that teaching is not just about teaching the

children, but also making sure they understand everything you are teaching.

Teaching:

The educational philosophy that I most closely associate with is Existentialism. I value an

individual to learn and grow on their own. I value history and what books can teach us, but I also

believe that an individual needs to be independent. People learn from their mistakes and that is
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Philosophy of Education

what I want to teach my students. No one is perfect, and they should know that. I am very much

a person that puts other people before me. I value that quality. I also want to be the type of

person that puts myself first. I want my students to care about other people, but I also want them

to care about themselves and their education. I do not want them to be influenced by other

people’s opinions. I want them to be able to think for themselves.

There have been some court cases in history that have changed the way I view teaching.

One of the court cases that I have been reviewing is, Krizek v.Cicero-Stickney Township High

School District No. 201. This court cases involved a district court ruling against the teacher

whose contract was not renewed because she showed her class an R-rated film. I believe that

teachers should be allowed to show their students R-rated films. I think that parents are so

sensitive and want to shelter their children from all the bad in the world. That just is not possible.

I do not believe that the teachers’ actions were problematic. I do reason with the court that the

teacher should have informed the parents that the movie was being shown, but whether the

movie was 2 hours or 2 minutes, it would have had the same R-rated feature. Another case that I

have looked into is Schaill v. Tippecanoe School Corp. I agree the athletes should get drug

tested. In high school, I did cheer and the swim team. Each year we were drug tested. Not only

can you harm yourself, but you can harm other people. I believe that students should get more

than a suspension when they have drugs in their system. I do not think they should be allowed to

return back to the sport. If they did it once, they are going to do it again and they are putting too

many people in danger. I want to be able to teach my students about the proper ways to behave in

school. I want them to know what harmful consequences that can come to them by doing

harmful things. If they want to succeed in school, or life, they need to be able to follow the rules

and the guidelines of the school.

Instruction:

Instructional strategies that I will use in the classroom will be technology, group work

and behavior management. Whether we want it to be or not, technology is going to be the main

learning point at schools. Classrooms now have ipads and computers to help students learn.

When I was in school, everything was primarily done on paper. Young children now know how

to use ipads before they can write their name. Even though I do not want my student to use

technology in the classroom, it can be beneficial. Ms. Campbell has a center that is strictly for

ipads. The students will sit down with the ipad and it will show them how to read and how to

spell out words. It is helpful because the students can learn new words on the ipad instead of

having to wait for Ms. Campbell. I believe that group work is a large part in teaching. Sometimes

it can be difficult to teach each student one on one. Group work will help students learn from

each other. They can figure out different ways to solve the same problem. When I was observing

the kindergarten class, I noticed that group work taught the students how to share. Sometimes

there would not be enough markers for everyone to use at the same time. The students had to

learn how to share. It was difficult at first, but they were finally able to share all of the supplies.

It is also faster to teach a lesson within a group. The students need to learn how to work together

and how to be social with each other. I would also like to teach my students behavior

management. My behavior management would contain rewards for good behavior, such as Dojo

points. Students love to see the rewards and what being a good student can get them. I believe

with positive reinforcement, students will be able to behave well, in a normal classroom setting.

I will approach student learning with patience. I have to be able to understand that not

every student will learn at the same pace. Students also learn in different ways. Some students
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Philosophy of Education

need more visual and vocal. A teacher needs to be aware of her students and if students are not

doing so well in the classroom, they need to see how they can fix their approach to teaching.

Only teaching one way might not work for the whole class.

Some students have disabilities, and we have to be aware of that also. I want to be able to

understand my students, so they feel comfortable in the classroom and will be willing to learn. I

believe student diversity has become more popular in recent times. No student should be

excluded from a lesson because of their sex, race or religion. I will be respectful of all races,

religions and sex. I will also be aware of any students bullying other student because of said

things. No one should be discriminated against.

Student variability is important because even students with disabilities need to be

included in the lesson. I intend to set an example of proper teaching. I will show all of my

students the same respect, disability or not. Having a classroom that has students with disabilities

in it may teach me to become a better teacher. There should be no reason that I will not be able to

teach them. I may have to work a little harder and teach them in a different way, but I intend for

them to become successful in school.

I believe that assessment is important in school. Assessments will let me know where a

student needs improvement and where they are succeeding. I believe it will depend on what

grade I am teaching, which assessments I will be able to give out. I believe that verbal

assessment will be better when it comes to the younger grades, such as kindergarten and 1st

grade. I believe regular test will work best when it comes to higher level grades. Some schools

will have different standards that I will need to follow. I will test based on those standards, but

also test on my own level. I want to be able to make sure that each student understands the

material at a proficient level.

Future:

Characteristics and skills, I will need to continue my teaching career will be knowledge

of proper teaching, having enthusiasm to teach and a comprehension of the classroom

environment. Doing observations and watching how different teachers instruct the classroom

plays a key role in the learning process. Not every teacher is going to teach in the same way. It is

important to gather a set of strategies and figure out which one will work best. Being ethical in

the classroom is also very important. I want my students to go into the next grade with the same

level of respect and dignity that they had in my classroom. As a teacher, I will need to be aware

of my surroundings and respect everyone around me.

Asking questions, completing tasks to the best of my ability and using my resources are

the best steps that I can take to achieve my education. I intend to become the best teacher that I

can be. I believe asking questions can get you far in the development of your career. I want to be

able to fully understand what I am going to be teaching. I want my students to be able to learn

and become successful in my classroom. As much as I want to be perfect, I know that I can only

work to the best of my ability. I will work hard to become the best teacher that I can be. Using

resources such as books, former teachers and even the internet will help me further my

education. Sometimes we cannot do things on our own, and we need some help. I will never be

afraid to ask for help. Realizing that you cannot do everything on your own, will make you a

better teacher.

I hope to become a substitute or a teacher’s aide for the next step of my education

employment. I believe by becoming one of the above, it will help me become a better teacher.

The more experience you have in the classroom the better. I want to know how to work with

different kinds of students. I want to see how different teachers react with stressful situations.
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There are so many things that I will be able to learn from other teachers. Because all teachers

will instruct their classroom in a slightly different way, I want to be able to learn as much as I

can. I hope to become well equipped in my classroom that I don’t need to ask questions, but I

will if I have to.

I do not have very much volunteer experience when it comes to teaching. My field

observation was my first step to seeing how a classroom works. I am going to volunteer with my

observation teacher. I want to gain as much knowledge from her as I can. She has taught all

elementary grades, so I believe she has a lot of knowledge to give. Each year, I volunteer for an

Angel Tree. Even though it is not educational, I do help children. It is amazing when you see that

you are making a difference in a child’s life. I hope to able to learn as much as possible from Ms.

Campbell as I can by the end of the year. With her knowledge and my determination, I believe

that I will be able to become a teacher all student can look up to.
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References

Flores, R. L. (2018, September 18). Kindergarten Teachers’ Beliefs about

the Relationship between Music and Early Learning.

CSN Writing Center