My Philosphy of Education

My philosophy of education is that a student will learn to explore their own thoughts and ideas, with the guidance of a teacher. My role is to give them a foundation to build from and then take what they have learned and explore, think critically, and apply it to real life. I just recently watched a clip on teaching our students more about civic duty. It is so much more than knowing who the President is, and the three branches of government. This will also be part of philosophy that students must understand the role they play in this great country. They have a voice and joined with others they can achieve great heights.

In today's presentation we learned about the four philosophies of education. My group had Perennialism. The best way to think of this is comparing it to a perennial, it is permanent and teacher focused. It was based off of our founding fathers, and used the intellectual skills of math, science, and literature. The next group discussed Essentialism. This philosophy is based off curriculum changing with the times, and helping the students to develop basic skills. Then we discussed Progressivism, where the student is well-rounded and learning real life problem solving skills. Finally, we discussed Social Reconstruction where schools, teachers and students should take lead when it comes to addressing issues. The students learn to work together for the better of mankind. This one is my favorite because it goes back to the civic role that everyone can play in and outside of the classroom.

I leave you with this quote or even philosophy:

The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think—rather to improve our minds, so as to enable us to think for ourselves, than to load the memory with the thoughts of other men.

John Dewey