Fatima Nicdao

Educational Philosophy Statement

I believe the purpose of education is to help students cultivate and acquire skills
and qualities such as grit, growth mindset, perseverance, resourcefulness, empathy,
self-awareness, resilience and love for learning. I believe that education is about
building citizens who are critical thinkers, effective communicators, creative problem
solvers, and collaborative team players. These are not just buzz words for 21st century
learning. This is a revolution in education itself. Long gone are the days of assembly
lines and education for the sake of creating cogs for factories and textile mills. The
current economy is no longer connected to the type of education. that was established
by the Committee of Ten in 1893.

Education must produce students who are fueled by curiosity, innovation and
love for learning. It is no longer about memorization of facts and content and hoarding
information in ones memory bank. Education is far from what previous generations
have experienced with drill and kill and pure memorization. Information is ubiquitous
and no longer something for a privileged few. The new conditions of education
demand our schools to rethink school.

The role of the student in education must change. We see this Freirean
movement that is no longer ignored. Education as a pouring of information into a
students passive mind is not the best way to learn. The student must be active,
engaged, inquisitive, and most of all see the connection and relevance of what they are
learning to their lives and society as a whole. I believe that a student must be up and
active and take ownership of their education. All students learn differently through
different ways. There is no average or one size fits all method.Students should learn
how to do something or do an assignment because they know it leads to a greater
process that will be useful to the community. I believe that education must create
authentic learning experiences that will lead to natural accountability of the learning
through presentations and exhibits of their work.

The role of the educator is now the facilitator, the mentor, the guide, the one
who asks the questions that inexperience may obstruct. Educators must be
inspirational, enthusiastic, passionate, and deeply involved and enraptured in the
content that they have mastered. It is in this passion that the fire of their excitement is
passed on to students who recognize the importance of learning the material.
Educators must guide the students to learn how to ask questions, think critically, and
make connections. The educator observes each student and assesses their strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to their learning. In addition, the educator is
data driven but not a slave to data. The data helps informs best practices and enables
the educator to re-strategize to increase optimal learning.

The role of the educational administrator is to provide the environment,

structure, the conditions and the guidance for teachers and students to learn at high
levels. The administrator must truly understand the four Professional Learning
Communities (PLCs) essential questions in a deep and meaningful way: What do we
want students to learn? How will we know if each student has learned it? How can we
extend and enrich the learning for students who have demonstrated proficiency? The
educational administrator must establish a viable curriculum, adequate teacher
development on differentiated instruction, and creating authentic assessments.

My educational philosophy can be summed up as student centered and teacher

supportive. I believe in the undeniable ability for every student to learn through a
rigorous curriculum of project based learning, and skills based assessments. I believe
that teachers can be. their best when they have achieved mastery, autonomy and have
purpose. At the heart of it all, education is not the learning of facts and trivia. An
authentic and transformative education develops the whole student; mind and heart.