Alyssa Hartley

Philosophy of Education
SAT-495
There is no better place to create a caring community than in our schools
the heart of our future. Patricia Ganadera
My philosophy of education is based around the word, community. My classroom will be
a place where everyone is welcome and where everyone can contribute. In order to do this, the
classroom needs to be a safe place where students feel heard, valued, and free to take chances. I
will do this by capturing students hearts and showing them that they are worth more to me than
a name on my class list. This can only happen when my students feel they are respected and
allowed to share their opinions. I will be in charge of cultivating that environment. My classroom
can only run when my students feel safe and know that their ideas are safe. I take this from
Maslows hierarchy of needs and the Capturing Kids Hearts model. It is nearly impossible for a
child to learn when they do not feel safe and are not having their basic needs met.
However, when students feel a part of something a team or community they are more
willing and able to learn. This will start out as us getting to know one another and learning not
only each others names but their interests. I got this idea from a former teacher of mine who
truly made our class this way. We each had jobs in the classroom that helped us as a community
function. We all had to be respectful to each other and to ourselves, and that created a safe
environment for us. When I spoke to my third grade teacher years later she pointed out a quote
that she lives by, Students dont care how much you know until they know how much you
care. 1She said she made her classroom after that quote thats credited to Theodore Roosevelt
and she said that has made all the difference. I will try to do this by making a point to greet every
student individually and ask them how they are doing. I will also make a point to let them know
that I care about them and want what is best for them. By creating a community where we all
work together and support each other we are in an essence helping cultivate a cultural force of
learning. We will create this kind of environment by doing at least one community building
activity a week. We will also start out the classroom year by creating our classroom rules
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together and we will remind one another to follow those rules. I will encourage students to hold
one another accountable. We will also celebrate as a class when we reach certain goals that we
set each week.
I believe that the purpose of education is to help students discover their abilities and
skills, and to equip each student to grow in those areas. I believe that, as an elementary teacher,
my job is to help students reach their potential through hands on, group oriented, class work
which promotes cognitive, moral, and social development. In every person on this planet, there is
untapped potential. How can a student know they are good at something if they never have a
chance to try it or work on it? I did a long term substitute position in a community based
program for adults with disabilities. I have never seen more untapped potential than in that
classroom. They ALL had gifts but yet many were not being given chances to show off those
talents. One of my students had this amazing memorization ability and yet he was never given a
chance at a job because he had an autism diagnosis. He could recall dates and the weather and
the first day he met me. He also was very particular about how things should be done and you
could show him once how you wanted it and he could repeat you with his eyes closed for hours
if you asked him to. This man could be working at a factory making great money but because of
his diagnosis many will not hire him. Another one of my students was the most positive person I
have ever met and one of the hardest workers. She would come in every morning asking what
she could do for the classroom and took great joy in doing chores around the building. She too
has untapped potential. She could be working as a professional cleaner or at a nursing home
bringing joy to patients while also tidying rooms but her potential is left at a standstill because of
her diagnosis of autism. I want my classroom to be about discovering talent and their passions
because everyone has them and if I work in a community based program I will be an advocate
for them to get employment. I will do this by exposing them to the various jobs that my students
could be employed at. I will have job sites that they can volunteer at and then ask them what they
like and dislike about those job sites. This will help them learn more about their strengths and
their passions. I always reflect on the quote by Albert Einstein, Everybody is a genius. But if
you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life thinking that it is stupid. I
want the students in my classroom to find some of their strengths and learn that they are
significant in this world and help them unlock their hidden strengths.

I believe that students learn best when material is made meaningful and if the student is
involved in a significant way. I agree with many of John Deweys points because of this.2 Rote
memorization does not necessarily equal knowledge and, I dare say, that while they can recite the
information memorized, it does not mean they have really understood it. I believe true learning
takes place through trial, error, and practice. I believe that all things in life must be practiced to
be fully learned. For example, we wouldnt just read to a person all about driving a stick shift
and expect them to get in a car and do it flawlessly. No, we would first inform them of what
would be needed to do it and then allow them to try and try again. Allowing them to try it
knowing that there will be room for error, but also room to learn from those errors. I believe
students learn best in a group setting and in one where there are activities that promote higher
level thinking. I believe the learner can understand more after questioning, testing, and
discovering for themselves.
I believe education should be more about the student, as a whole, and should be focused
upon practical skills, knowledge, virtues, and interests of the student. I will do my best, as an
educator, to grow my students using a variety of methods, but primarily in a hands-on, group
approach. I am a firm believer, as Dewey is, that we must teach students to live in community
with one another and that will help society as a whole. I hope to create a classroom that is more
of a community than just a classroom. If this occurs in my classroom I will have believed that I
myself have made a difference.

2John Dewey, Experience and Education (Kappa Delta Pi 1938)