Katie Hardy

EDUC 300
Prof. Thomas
A Philosophy of Education: The Early Draft
Throughout my experiences visiting multiple classrooms, taking high school education
classes, as well as college-level education classes, I have discovered that there are five different
philosophies of education. In my Foundations of American Education class specifically, I have
learned that there are five philosophical models of education: essentialism, perennialism,
progressivism, social Reconstructionism, and existentialism. After much thought, I believe that
the philosophy I most closely will follow is progressivism. As described in my classes textbook,
Teachers, Schools, and Society by David Sadker and Karen Zittleman, progressivism is focused
around the thoughts and interests of students (p. 190). One of the three student-centered
philosophies listed above, progressivism includes the use of real world experiences or
applications to help the student learn the material and encourages students to apply
pragmatism, or determining if an idea is a sound one by testing it. To sum it up in a simple idea,
progressivism is about doing not just reading.
The most famous practitioner of progressivism is John Dewey, most well-known for
opening the Laboratory School in Chicago in 1896 (p. 191). The Laboratory School was a place
where educators could test and practice their new ideas; it is an example of progressivism in
action! Deweys school also had multiple rooms where all sorts of different methods were
practiced and especially with ones that focused on group social interaction.
There are personal events that influenced this belief too. For example, by visiting
historical places like Mount Vernon always made me more interested in history. Seeing these
real places near my home made the material I learned stick better in my head, and even
remember to this day. Another example is when I had to create a budget in my eighth grade

civics class. I learned how to write a check, balance my budget, and watch the amount of
money I had to spend a month, all of which prepared me for money situations I would deal with
has I got older.
I also find that there are aspects of other philosophies that I can agree with. Within
social Reconstructionism, I like the idea of encouraging students to go outside the schools to
make a difference in the world. I also like the idea of having a core curriculum, as stated in the
model of essentialism, but I do not like how far it has gone in todays schools.
The Purpose of Education
Schools believe that students should have a basic standard in having common sense and
be able to learn things very quickly. Ive had to learn various math concepts, scientific formulas,
historical dates, and grammar rules in a matter of weeks just so I can pass a standardized test.
While these are still important, I think that there should be a different purpose of education. I
have a very simple idea of the purpose of education. I believe that students should be able to
thrive in the world we live in, and become well-educated and productive citizens. To elaborate,
I think that students should know how to solve real-world problems, whether it is economic,
social, or political in nature. Right now, there are a lot of people who struggle to become
successful in todays world, whether it be from lack of education, or just not having the set of
skills needed to do well in todays society. Skills like balancing a budget, using a computer,
completing simple calculations are only a few of the necessary skills needed to make it in the
world we live in today. Schools should emphasize real-world applications to the material
students learn.
The idea of standardized testing and knowing different things within the core curriculum
is a great essentialist idea, but it has been blown way out of proportions in todays school, and

sadly it is what schools are currently expecting students to succeed at. However, there are
components of my progressive ideas that are slowly integrating themselves into schools today.
Hopefully, one day when I am a future elementary school teacher, I can implement these
progressive ideas into my classroom, while still meeting school standards.
What Should Be Taught And Why
As stated earlier, I think that schools should be teaching real- life skills, and information
that is of interest to the students themselves. A lot of what is in the core curriculum today is
important to learn and can be of interest to students, but there should be a bigger emphasis on
material that can be applied to the real world, or just expanding on the skills the students may
already have. In my opinion, common sense can get you far in life, and while it is great that a
student can recite their multiplication tables or important dates of the Civil War, if a student
does not have the common sense to know what is right and wrong or how to behave
appropriately, it can hurt them in the future once they are out on their own. For example, I
remember in my fourth grade class, my teacher highlighted common sense while teaching us
about percentages: which percentage gets you the better deal on peaches? Applying real
world scenarios into the math lesson made it all the more appealing to learn, especially since I
love peaches.
I believe that a person is well-educated when know how to be self-sufficient and
provide for themselves, as well as have knowledge of whatever information society deems to
be important. Schools change their curriculum based on societys needs, and what kind
knowledge students need to learn to help society advance. I personally will not be able to select
the curriculum I will teach to my future students, since that is up to the state and their
standards (like the SOLs in Virginia). However, I can bring in real world applications while

teaching these standards to make the state happy, and help my future students become better
members of society. I can also bring in information that will appeal to each student, so that way
they will be able to focus more on what they are learning, and have fun while learning!
The Nature of the Learner
As I have learned in every education class I have taken, every child is unique and
different in how they learn. With that idea though, I still think that every child does have a good
level of responsibility for their own learning. Students should want to learn, and put in the
effort to succeed and learn the material correctly. All students are curious, and should want to
pursue that curiosity in their education. They should want to make themselves better, whether
it is by mastering the material on a test or by correctly writing a compound sentence. Students
should also know that it is okay to mistakes, since mistakes can only make us stronger as
individuals. Students are not responsible for teaching the material themselves- that is the
teachers job! But they should be responsible for having the enthusiasm and inner drive to
succeed and learn more information.
I expect my future students to fuel their own curiosity, and learn things that can be
applied to the world they live in. I will help by getting to know my students, their likes and
dislikes, and always encourage them in whatever way I can. Also, they should want to work
with their fellow peers. Working with others is a life skill that will never fade away, and can be
applied to all levels of education and in the work force as well. Hopefully, my students will be
able to work well with each other, since there will be a lot of group work, but still some
individual work as well. In the real world, both exist. I find this to be a very progressive idea,
since what I will be bringing into my future classroom will be based on real world applications.

Also it will meet the wants of the students (some students prefer working in groups, some
students want to work by themselves), which is also a progressive idea.
The Role of the Teacher
A teacher is a very important figure in the classroom- mainly because they are the ones
running it! Teachers have to work with many different kinds of people: students, parents,
administrators, fellow teachers, and other professional figures in the school system. I hope to
have positive and professional relationships with all of these different figures through by
keeping the same ideals and values that I hold very highly. For example, I am a big advocate for
the golden rule: treat others as you would like others to treat you. Also, always trying to be
positive, willing to make things work, and show that I can go the extra mile if needed to get
something done for myself and others.
In my work, I hope to promote some of my values such as hard work, dedication,
cooperation, and never giving up. I plan on promoting these values by showing in examples,
and also stressing it in as many different lessons or stories as possible. I also plan on leading by
example, since students learn so many ideas just by watching their teacher; hopefully they will
learn a lot of important values from me! All of these values and ideas are progressive in nature
in my opinion since they require students to learn through example (me!) and come up with
their own opinions and questions to these kinds of ideas and values.

Teaching Methods That Should Be Used and Why

Throughout my school career, I have been in many classrooms as a student, as an
observer, and also as a volunteer. By visiting so many classrooms, I have seen many

characteristics that I like that I hope to one day implement in my future classroom. For
example, I have seen both in my previous school classes and at my time at Waterman
Elementary school a great layout of student desks. I love it when elementary school classrooms
have desks shaped into groups. I believe it helps foster the idea of cooperation and even team
work, and makes it easy for group tasks. Another characteristic I have seen is student work
displayed on the walls. I feel like by displaying their work, students will feel a sense of
accomplishment, and will take greater interest into what they produce. Students taking a
greater interest in what they are learning and group work, are ideas that can be found in the
progressive model of education.
I am still in the process of learning the best way to teach my future students. What I
hope I will be able to do though is meet the interests and ideas of my students. I want to hear
their input, and figure out the best way for them to learn. I believe that if students are
interested in what they are learning, they will become more engaged and focused in learning
the material, and hopefully work harder to master the material. I hope that I will be able to pull
real world scenarios and knowledge to make a lesson more applicable to students, so that way
they can see that the material they have to learn is material worth knowing, and then that
material can stick with them for the rest of their lives.

References
Sadker, D. M., & Zittleman, K. R. (2012). Teachers, schools, and society: A brief introduction to
education (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw-Hill.