Throughout my lifetime, I have always wanted to become a teacher in the hope of

touching the hearts of young children and providing them with the abilities to succeed in their
future lives. My journey to reach this goal began as a child when I role-played as a teacher with
my younger brother as my student. My play-teaching, obviously, was silly and ineffective,
stemming from nave misconceptions about the profession that I revised upon entering high
school. There, I enrolled in a series of child development courses that provided me with hands-on
experience working with preschool students. As well, I volunteered working with kindergarteners
at a local church and with fifth grade students at the nearby elementary school. All of these
experiences in my adolescence provided me with the chance to refine my perceptions of the
teaching profession. What I learned in these years carried over into my college career, where the
courses and practicum experiences allowed me to further develop my skills. Reflections from my
own educational past, experiences at high school, and studies in college has allowed me to
develop an educational philosophy. I believe that the most successful classroom is one where
instruction is differentiated for each student, where learning derives from the childrens
experiences and interests, and where the students, teacher, and community all work together to
foster understanding.
The purpose of education is perpetually unlimited in scope. Ones education is as much
as to develop intellect as it is to prepare them for a career. Education serves to create a successful
future work force, to fulfill social needs, and to uphold longstanding values. For this reason, it is
clear that ultimately, the purpose of education is to bring people to a full realization of what it
means to be a human being. More specifically, it means to provide students with the best
opportunities to develop themselves as a whole. This focus on the whole child is what guides a
teachers instruction because it is essential to differentiate for each student. Lessons should be

tailored as to give each child the equal and most effective ability to learn. This is accomplished
when the teacher creates genuine, close relationships with each student. When this is done, data
and observation will assist the teacher in understanding each students academic abilities and
social tendencies. Thus, differentiated instruction proves to be a necessary asset in ones
classroom.
A student should be given the opportunity to build their own understanding by means of a
structured but student-directed, inquiry-based curriculum. The most effective way to teach young
minds is to allow the students to explore topics they are passionate about through relevant,
purposeful activities. My personal philosophy aligns with Jean Piagets theory of constructivism,
which is why I will allow students to discover information for themselves in my classroom. My
role as an educator is to encourage students to use active techniques, such as experiments,
research, and real-world problem solving, to create their own knowledge. As stated by literary
scholar Mark Van Doren, the art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. Rather than fill
the school day with teacher-directed explicit instruction, I will allow students to learn as they
explore topics that they are passionate about. In my classroom, students will experience lessons
that agree with Jean Piagets theory of constructivism. They will be inspired to construct their
own understanding and knowledge of the world by experiencing things and reflecting upon it.
For instance, rather than reading about a topic, students will be encouraged to get actively
involved in the subject to discover more information. After the experience, they will be asked to
reflect on what they learned and how what they did helped them learn. Through this process of
active involvement and reflection, students will become expert learners. Students will not only
learn, but will learn how to learn. This knowledge will remain with and benefit students well
beyond their time in my classroom.

The successful classroom is dependent on the collective efforts of teacher, students, and
community. As previously stated, my role as an educator will be to provide students with active
techniques and the tools to discover their own knowledge. This will be accomplished by tapping
into what students are passionate about. I will be aware of every students interests, learning
styles, and abilities and thus embed standards into topics that best meet the needs of my
classroom. While students learn about topics they are interested in, they will come to school
motivated to learn. In this way, the students role in education is to uphold a fervent and
animated attitude about learning. With the proper inspiration, any student has the ability to learn.
It is for this reason that the community is a necessary partner in the learning process. Parents,
guardians, peers and community members will all be active counterparts in the daily learning
experience of my classroom. I will have open communication with each students family by
providing them with updates about the school day and feedback on their child. I will invite them
to participate in classroom activities and student interviews on a frequent basis. I will encourage
them to develop a passionate involvement in their childs education. In this way, the family and
communitys role in education is to have an enthusiasm for the learning of young children. With
the proper guidance and encouragement, the community will become an essential asset in the
daily structure of my classroom. Thus, the student, teacher, and community all play important
roles in the process of education.
My mission as an educator is to teach students how to teach themselves. I will draw upon
the resources provided by the joint efforts of the community and I will differentiate instruction to
best accommodate for each child. From this, each school day will be filled with opportunity for
students to actively seek new information. I used this strategy in my recent junior year student
teaching experience, where I guided my kindergarten class to learn about community helpers

through their own research. They conducted interviews with the classroom teacher and with the
towns Mayor, role-played the roles of various workers, investigated the local firehouse, and
used nonfiction texts to uncover even more information. The students not only learned a lot
about the academic content, but also practiced various methods of learning. In my future
classroom, students will interact with the world around them and reflect on what they are
learning, and in this way they will be able to use these strategies to learn in the future as well. As
stated by Galileo Galilei, you cannot teach a man anything, you can only help him find it within
himself.