My Philosophy on Learning and Teaching

Philosophy of Learning and Teaching  

Education is one of the most important aspects of human society. Passing along information is what allows humanity to flourish. The people who are responsible for this are the teachers. Their purpose, allowing with education, is to assure the continuing advancement of intellectual development and progression. The best comparison to a teacher is like a chef. They nourish and prepare the dish by understanding what it needs to achieve greatness. If the chef does what is necessary, then the dish will be at its maximum potential. The student needs to be vocal with their teacher and ask for help when needed. The teacher also needs to play an active role in the student's parents and be a positive member of the community.  

The purpose of education is to pass down valuable information for the benefit of mankind. It's important to teach the classics so they are not forgotten either. At the same time, teachers need to be open to criticism from the students; as well as allowing them to have some say in the taught material. As an educator, one should see themselves as a preserver of knowledge. It's a teacher's responsibility to establish a firm standing in lessons of the past as well as the future. This is necessary for all teachers regardless of the area they're in. Since it's likely that many new teachers will be in high density schooling zones (inner-city schools). To that end, teaching material like this is more challenging. It's important to incorporate their opinions in the lesson for easier transitions. Teaching subjects that appeal to most groups of students works best, but it's important to incorporate all students in the classroom. For an English teacher, picking books that involve a character of any specific minority will help to gain the attention of that present group. The entire class can take a lot of lessons away from a story such as Beowulf or Dr. Faustus; furthermore, both stories play to no specific minority, so nobody feels like an outcast.  

Children learn best when working with one another. Peer exercises help students develop a stronger sense of pride in their abilities when they lead discussions. Of course, the teacher will assist when needed, but most of the time the students can handle themselves adequately. The goal for these students would be to show a deep understanding of classical literature while being able to relate it to modern moral dilemmas. These ideas are easy to implement into the classroom. Creating small pods of three to four students will allow multiple perspectives into every conversation. These differences in perspectives is what allows a heated, but educational/civil, debate to occur. The students would learn new ideas and gain new perspectives on situations. This would also help all students feel more incorporated since their voice will be heard. Assessments would be only a midterm and final. The real test of their knowledge would be through papers. Ideally, a teacher could assign two or three papers throughout the semester. These papers could be on any of the material, but a focus on comparing a character's moral development and reflecting on it against another character could be useful.  

As previously mentioned, many new teachers are starting in inner-city schools. It's likely that this is where I will begin as well. These classrooms are far more difficult to teach in, so it will be interesting to bring this style of teaching into the classroom. My relationship with the community will be strong. A key part of being an educator is being active in the community. A teacher needs to be able to make an impact in a multitude of ways. The same can be said for the parents. Teachers should be willing to work extensively with hem for the benefit of the student. Furthermore, a teacher must have full cooperation with both the administration and teaching staff. If there are dilemmas between these groups, it can have negative repercussions with the students. Overall, an educator must be willing to put their best foot forward and work to benefit the student too the best of their abilities.            

My Educational Philosophy

Educational Philosophies 

The two teachers I choose are my 12th grade English teacher Melissa (Victorian Literature) and my 9th grade English teacher Jennifer (Intro English) 

Melissa/Progressive 

       Example 1: Our choice in reading materials was widely open to the class. She would compile a list of readings that were acceptable (around twenty options) and allowed the students to decide on three to read as a class and one as an individual. 

       Example 2: Student discussion was largely panel based. By this I mean that students were free to talk about the subjects as long as nobody was being interrupted. This enabled a lot of free speech because Melissa refused to lecture for any length of time greater then a few minutes. Usually, a question would be posed and students were expected to discuss its implications. 

Jennifer/Essentialist 

        Example 1: The course was very testing heavy. Unfortunately, the course relied on exams and quizzes instead of in class practices. Worksheets were also heavily used. 

        Example 2: The classes material was entirely based around grammar skills. Every single day was filled with lectures and workbook definitions. 

I am by no means trying to make one teacher superior to the other. Both of these teachers did a tremendous job at explaining the material in detail. I classified Jennifer as an Essentialist because her method was to breakdown all the material in the most simplistic and straightforward way possible. This is the class Essentialist. The Essentialist teaches material that contains no fluff. Normally this method is looked down upon because it hardly fosters growth, but it worked for Jennifer. The reason is simply because it's what the subject called for. Teaching grammar in any way other then straightforward would make it confusing. Since the focus was intense it allowed the students too focus on grammar alone. A progressive style would damage the learning overall. On the other hand, Melissa's method was perfect for her course. The progressive style of teaching worked beautifully since the class was based around literature. Literature naturally causes debate among groups so allowing that debate to flow freely helps the students growth immensely.   

 A Reflection on "Central Park East" 

The documentary poses a wide range over solutions to the crippled education system in low-income areas. The problems that need solutions are simple. First of all, not only are school classrooms to big, but they do not give the students a voice. The students struggle to gain integrity or a shred of confidence in their abilities. This is the cause for the high dropout rate in these low economic neighborhoods. The second argument is the lack of interest teachers have in supporting the students. Teachers need to care for their students to help them grow. These problems are what the documentary argues are the main issues. 

While these issues are very real, they aren't the primary concern. A serious lack of funding is the biggest concern facing schools like Central Park East. While it's briefly mentioned, the documentary fails in covering it. Their solution was to lower class sizes among other things. The students need to be properly supplied when coming to school or they cannot appropriately function. The best solution would be to rally for greater funding in schools like CPE (Central Park East). By no means is a task like gaining further tax payer dollars easy, but it is the greatest solution to the problem. 

The teachers philosophy when it comes to education are commendable. Their aim is to nurture moral growth through a steady education. They do not believe that people alone make education happen, but the environment plays a large factor as well. The small classroom with peer group styles is well researched in working, but at the time of this documentary it's a new method. Students work with one another without fear of harassment or bullying. As one of the students said, they have greater knowledge in being human then other schools can supply. 

This system of teaching is far different from my reality when growing up. For me, I went too a "factory" style school. Teachers were largely uncaring in anything but test scores. The teachers that I see in this remind me of the two teachers I had that change my perception of teaching, and are the reason i'm even teaching today. The curriculum was a set standard by the school. Change was unacceptable and it has to fit in the syllabus. If students were behind then it was their fault. CPE's system seems to be far more lenient than any other school I have seen. 

As much as I hate to say it, technology is becoming more prevalent in schools with every year. Soon schools will need to supply technology education courses in school. The reason I hate to say that is because it's already hard to teach the core subjects. Curriculum's would all have to be reworked to adjust for the new subject. I see three potential options when considering this possibility. The first is that all class be shortened to make more time. Second is adding more hours to the school day for new openings. This being the least likely since many educators believe school days should be smaller anyway. The third option is a combination of option one and two. Regardless, a change like this will likely be coming. 

Parents can have an active role in their child's education. If parents can shine a light on the abilities and habits their child has at home, the teacher can bring those things to the classroom. This would allow the children to learn through the things they love at home. For example, if a majority of the parents say their children love music, then the teacher could integrate music into the classroom. Ideally, the parents sense of satisfaction would rise since they have an active affect on the classroom.