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STATEMENT
Taylan Hayes
philosophy has been easily the most influential concept in my discovery of how I view education
and why I want to become a future educator. Experience combined with intentional absorbing of
pedagogy and led me to the beliefs I currently hold about constructive guidance and discipline.
continually shied away from using the term discipline as that word tends to carry a negative
connotation and was generally a cause and effect situation. The term I replaced it with was
chance for them to learn why they acted that way and what we could do together to prevent the
behavior from reoccurring. The most common form of discipline I know or have seen would be
removing a child from the situation, like negative reinforcement, but the child is the component
being taken away. If that is the method being used for behavior correction, when the opportunity
for dialogue comes, talk to the student about the situation. This is not an opportunity to lecture
the student about how their behavior was wrong, this is a chance to hear the student and come to
a consensus together about how to proceed in the classroom or activity. I found that this
definition of discipline fully aligns with my perspective on discipline: “helping children learn
personal responsibility for their behavior and the ability to judge between right and wrong for
themselves” (Fields, Meritt, Fields, 2018, p.3). This interaction of constructive guidance, or
development, is something I will take into my practice as an educator; hearing the students and
their perspectives and working as a team to combat the problem behavior if it should happen
To me, children are an opportunity for growth and goodness in the world. Each class,
each generation is another chance to fill them with rounded knowledge about the world and
themselves for them to carry with them until they can do the same to the children in their lives.
Children require our love, nurturement, and respect. The way we treat children forms their
impressions of how they should treat each other and how they treat children when they are
adults. The Constructive Guidance and Discipline states “Can we afford to spend school time
teaching social skills and caring attitudes? […] we can’t afford not to” and I strongly agree with
and support this claim (Fields, Meritt, Fields, 2018, p.4). Every time I get the chance to work
with a child, no matter the setting or context, I emphasize the meaning of why I do what I do and
how they can do the same. I am patient, I am kind, and I am respectful in hopes that they see and
feel that and reciprocate the same to me or others. All in all, children are sponges who will
absorb whatever is put in their environment. A good educator knows this, but a great educator
In any successful career, it is important to have goals planned out for the future, both
short-term and long-term and teaching is no exception. An educator should continue to strive for
excellence and have the personal awareness to understand and recognize areas in their expertise
personal biases and my own null education in order to offer a more rounded and impartial
education to my students. This entails reading, doing research, participating in field experiences
that offer multiple perspectives, and pushing my own life norms to include the pedagogy that I
want to offer to my students. Another short-term goal I have is to gain a better grasp the
strategies of constructive guidance so that I can practice and implement them this summer as a
camp counselor working with children of all ages. I could accomplish this goal by reading more
examples and definitions of the strategies as well as practicing them in situations I encounter in
my day-to-day life. Additionally, one final short-term goal I currently have is to work on
approaching every chance for student behavior development from a place of understanding and
love as opposed to seeing the situation as frustrating and something that needs fixing. I believe
this underlying tone of compassion is felt by the students and communicated throughout each
interaction. Continuing my growth in patience and love would be easily accomplished as a camp
counselor in the summers where I would be consistently presented with opportunities to practice
As much as short-term goals are easier to accomplish and check off, long-term goals
serve as important reminders of where you’ve been and where you’re going. Long-term goals are
also an excellent way of tracking the evolution of your pedagogy as an educator and can act as
students, so they feel comfortable sharing how they are doing, feeling, or when they need help. I
want them to feel that this is their classroom too, they are not just guests for the year. Another
long-term goal I have set for myself is to educate my students past merely curriculum. I want to
educate them about the world, person-to-person relationships, morals and ethics, etc. This
requires me to have experiences that challenge me as a person and put me outside of my comfort
zone. Overall, I want my students to see their own personal value in their education. I want them
to care about their education and to want to take responsibility over what they are learning rather
than them feeling like their job is to sit and listen while I pour out information to them.
To close, I am aware that these goals and philosophies will continue to grow and change
as I do. The more I learn about myself, the education system, and children, the more my views
on teaching will evolve. I believe an educator’s philosophy should change over time, because if
it is not, they are remaining stagnant in their responsibility as educators to nurture the developing
Fields, M. V., Meritt, P. A., & Fields, D. (2018). Constructive guidance and discipline: birth to
age eight (7th ed.). NY NY: Pearson.