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Source: EverythingPhilosophy.com |
I was recently asked to write down my philosophy of education and it made me think a little about what I believe in with regards to education and my teaching. Like many of you, I have been asked to write (and rewrite) this simple, yet powerful document for different college classes through the years and I have found that there are almost always changes each time. The changes aren't usually anything major, but every time I have revised and rewritten my philosophy of education there has been something to add or take away.
I challenge you to take a few minutes and revisit your philosophy of education from when you were in school and reread it to see if it still makes sense for who you are as an educator. If you feel the need to make some changes go ahead and change it and then re-save it as a new document with the date on it somewhere so you can see what your views were at this point in your career. Once you have the document all updated, place it somewhere you will be able to see it regularly to keep an eye on what you believe, what you feel strongly about. Who knows, it might even be a help to get through those difficult days we all seem to face while teaching those we are entrusted to at school.
I thought I'd share mine as way of having a record, so it is listed below.
Every
student is expected to learn certain things as they pass through a K-12
education system, whether public or private. These certain things are
considered by many to be the “3 R’s”: Reading, Writing and Arithmetic. I feel
the world in which we currently live has an additional requirement and it
doesn’t even have an “R” in it, Technology. We live in a digital world where
technology literacy is just as important as language literacy and if our
students pass through 13 years of an education system and they haven’t achieved
a high enough level of technological literacy, then their education system has
failed them.
I also believe that in order for any
relationship to succeed you have to have a level of trust included. As an
educator, I am not here to be friends with the students, but instead am
striving to help them become successful members of society. In order for me to
help push them along, they have to trust that I am working to help them improve
themselves. By creating a learning environment where the students feel safe and
are willing to make mistakes I am most capable of achieving my goal of helping
them succeed. As long as I am able to help them feel safe enough to risk making
mistakes and possibly even failing, I know they will be able to gain a true
love of learning and be more likely to develop a desire to become lifelong
learners.
Because I am so desirous to see my
students succeed and become the best possible members of society, I have very
high expectations for all of them. I don't care if they are high-achieving
learners (gifted & talented), lower achieving (special education students),
or on-grade level students, I expect the very best they can do and nothing
less. I will always push them to try to do a little more than they believe is
possible because I want them to realize they are their only limitation in
school and in life.
I
have a motto in my classroom that states, "Work Hard, Play Hard," and
I do my best to live and teach by it. There is a lot of work that needs to be
done, but we also try to have as much fun as possible because it is important
to keep school and learning enjoyable for the kids. We try to have at least one
fun activity each week to show the students that school isn't just about work
but that we can also have fun. I like to show my kids that there is nothing
wrong with having fun, but that it is important to prioritize and do the most
important things first.
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