~*~Educational Philosophy~*~

    Throughout high school I was not sure of what I wanted to be, I changed my mind several times, and once I actually graduated I decided to go into the education program at Concord . For the past two years I have helped coach a middle school cheerleading team and I knew I loved to work with children, this is when I actually decided teaching might be for me. I took my first education classes at Concord and had to do observations at a local elementary school. However after doing these observations I changed my mind and decided I wanted to be a high school Business teacher.  Children in general light up my day when I see how happy they are just to learn something new and exciting.

    Educational philosophy seems like a complicated term, but in all reality it can be broken down into meaning your personal educational standards and beliefs. Since I am planning to be a teacher in the near future I am required to develop my own standards and beliefs on how to be a good teacher.

    Throughout the years I have had many teachers and there are only a few teachers who really stand out because of how they actually took time with me and helped me no matter how long it took for me to understand. The type of teacher I am talking about is one that inspired me to be where I am today.  A positive role model for students, the one that cares enough to want every student to succeed, and one that will leave a lasting impression on a student’s life, this is exactly the type of teacher I want to be.

    Once I get in my own classroom I think it will be important for the students to meet the content standards and if I don’t feel they have I will strive to help them until they get to the level they need to be. I also will give recognition to the students for positive efforts to encourage their effort. I will have my students seated in a U with my desk at the front center of the classroom where each student can see me and I can see each student. There will also be a marker board in the front of the class where each student can visibly see. I plan to run my classroom by the Assertive Discipline idea. The Assertive Discipline idea limits the rules in the classroom to between 4 to 6 rules. This makes the students feel more comfortable and not like they are in jail.

    Based upon my experience during my observations I feel I will be pursuing essentialism as my main philosophy with a mix of progressivism throughout. Essentialism which is the traditional back to the basics approach to teaching strives to teach accumulated knowledge and well structured hierarchy of goals and objectives. This is the main criteria for the schools in the area where I will more than likely be teaching, and all teachers are required to teach in this way. Essentialism is totally teacher-centered and the students will more than likely be placed in rows. I agree with essentialism being the most important philosophy of teaching; however I feel there needs to be a more hands on approach as well. This is where progressivism comes to play, progressivism is based on the curiosity of the students, and problem solving using real life experiences, it requires a lot of group work and sometimes requires outside school experiences. This approach is student-centered and would not be as strict as the essentialism approach.

    I feel the overall purpose of education is to teach our students the knowledge they need to know to succeed in today’s society and as teachers we have to keep updated as to what is necessary to succeed. I think a teacher should be a continuous learner, and not get set to one certain way of teaching; they should grow with today’s society. I feel education is important for each and every child, no matter the class, race or any other distinguishing factor with the right knowledge any student can succeed in their own way. As a teacher I want to be remembered as the one who actually took the time to help students learn.

    I will manage my class in a similar way as my observing teacher. She talks to the students as if they are people just like her, she treats them with respect and they give it back to her as well. She always acts rationally and never raises her voice, and this really works well for students. However, there is always going to be the trouble maker in every class, I will treat this student with respect just like any other student however if the student continues to disrupt my class I will send him or her to the principal for further disciplinary action.

    The curriculum is basically a set of rules a teacher must teach by in his or her classroom. I think the curriculum is extremely important, this keeps all students learning at least at a minimum level in order to be promoted to a further grade. I will be teaching high school business and I feel that keeping up to date with the technology is extremely important in today's society. At the high school level most kids know how to use a computer, however they probably are not using everything correctly, especially things like typing on the keyboard. Most kids know what the letters are, but not how to type without looking, I feel this is where I come into play. There are many other things to keep them up to date on, especially since the technology today is constantly changing.

    I plan to be an high school Business teacher after graduating with my bachelor’s degree. When I have time I plan on pursuing my masters in education. I also will take all the things I have learned from elementary school through college and use them in my own classroom.