PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Personal Philosophy of Education

Najma Bennett
Wesleyan College

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

I remember the day I decided that I wanted to be an educator. I assumed I was going to be
taking classes solely based learning teaching techniques. However, as I began to take more
courses I learned there were educational theorists who shaped the practice and methods of
teaching, and discovered there was a word for the study of education, which is pedagogy. Among
the theorists that studied, I connected with Lev Vygotsky. His philosophy was social
constructivism, which was students learning through collaboration and social interaction.
Vygotsky emphasized that language and culture played a role in cognitive development of
children (Vygotsky 1978). He later classified two developmental levels: MKO (More
Knowledgeable Other), refers to someone who has a clear understanding in a task or concept,
typically a teacher or adult. Secondly, ZPD (Zone of Proximal Development), is what the learner
can do with the guidance of a teacher or with working with peers. His fundamental views on
education and the process of learning appealed to me. The reason it caught my interest is because
I believe in students working with each other to formulate and process information. As a student,
I did well with learning material by working together with others and having the guidance from a
teacher whenever I needed a push to go further in a lesson. One of Vygotskys famous quotes
states, What children can do with the assistance of others might be in some sense even more
indicative of their mental development than what they can do alone (Vygotsky et al). It is a true
statement that ties in how most children develop in their classroom through modeling and
assistance today.
I believe that teachers rely too much on textbooks to teach their students. Half of the time
the books are outdated and contain inconsistences in information. The article, Teaching
Philosophy of Education Today, talks about this issue stating,

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Many readers of Educational Theory-- perhaps mostare teachers of philosophy of

education. Often they must choose textbooks as tools for their teaching. These books may
form an intrinsic conspiracy among themselves, given their competing conceptions of
education, philosophic approaches, or varying heuristic techniques (Worsfold).
Teachers that follow the philosophies of education tend to lean on textbooks to be their tool for
teaching. The same textbooks are often unreliable and does not give an in-depth approach to
lessons. I will lessen the use of textbooks in my class when it comes to giving a lesson. My
students will learn to use their prior knowledge and other sources of information besides the
textbook. My second belief is that teachers at times feel like they are limited to how they can
instruct and what they can instruct. Teachers should feel comfortable in their classroom, and
should be able to freely express themselves without offending or causing harm to their students.
From the previous article, Victor L. Worsfold speaks on another issue teachers face when
handling their classroom stating, Teachers and potential teachers must not find themselves
intellectually adrift, acquiescent to political domination in this era of continuous talk about
teacher assessment and accountability, restoring religious believe (that is Christian) values to
school, school voucher programs and the many other issues that make teachers believe they are
powerless in making independent judgments about the educational needs are interests of their
charges (Worsfold). In other words, teachers, future educators and myself should not restrict
ourselves to how we teach or assess a class.
Education gives the purpose for school and school gives the purpose for education.
School is the designated area where education is taught and demonstrated. Aristotle felt that
schooling should be granted to all because knowledge is power. In the article, Aristotles
Educational Politics and The Aristotelian Renaissance in Philosophy of Education, Randall

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Curren discusses his support with public education, The only extended discussion of education
in the Aristotelian corpus is in Book VIII of the Politics, where Aristotle advocates that schooling
be publicly provided and one and the same for all (VIII.1 1337a23). From the previous
information, it is known what the purpose of school is, but there are types of things that should
be taught in the school. Naturally children are inquisitive, and in the beginning love school.
However, as years go by students are taught new things in monotonous ways, which makes them
become burnt out and less interested in school. Whenever this becomes an issue, teachers must
reevaluate the true purpose of school and what children should get out of it. One of the most
important things that need to be taught to students is ethics. Children need to know the difference
between right and wrong and how decision making can affect their outcomes in either a good or
negative way. Teachers can give their students scenarios where they act out situations and
determine whether is it ethical and it can be assessed by the participation of the student and them
presenting a presentation of the lesson. Another thing that students should be taught is time
management. Time management is vital to students going through school, because they are
always getting assigned projects, homework, reading assignments, tests, and much more.
Teachers can monitor and assess their students in their time management skills by giving them a
nine-week log-in chart that shows their time activity weekly. As for class management, students
should be taught and reminded repeatedly the rules for behavior and instructed for the first week
of school. After students catch on to the pattern and repetition on hearing and demonstrating the
rules given they will fall in line with the class management I created.
My philosophy consists of many things I learned in my experience with working with
children, teachers, and taking college courses. In Education, you must explore different
techniques of teaching and learning to understand the concept of pedagogy. Vygotskys insight

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

on teaching and learning gave me an outline to center my classroom philosophy around. I learned
that teachers guide students to a higher learning and prepare them for the world outside of class.
As I begin my teaching career, my philosophy will influence my teaching and transcend into my
students.

PERSONAL PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

References
Carr, W. (2004). Philosophy and Education. Journal Of Philosophy Of Education, 38(1), 55-73.
Chapter 1 Philosophy in Education and Education in Philosophy. (2005). Journal Of Philosophy
Of Education, 39(2), 189-216. doi:10.1111/j.0309-8249.2005.00433.x
Curren, R. (2010). Aristotle's Educational Politics and the Aristotelian Renaissance in Philosophy
of Education. Oxford Review Of Education, 36(5), 543-559.
Vygotsky, Lev (1978). Mind in Society. London: Harvard University Press.
Worsfold, V. L. (2001). Teaching Philosophy of Education Today. Educational Theory, 51(3),
373-84.