Personal Philosophy of Education

ED 4413 Foundations and Issues in Education

Lisa Hanlon Oct 31, 2013

My beliefs about teaching and learning As with anything in life, people bring their baggage with them whether they realize it or not. Teachers especially need to be cognisant of what is inside their bags and how they perceive the contents. This baggage entails our experiences, attitudes, values and beliefs. In essence, our personal philosophies have been shaped by our life experiences. Therefore, it is essential that teachers recognize why we believe what we do about teaching and learning because we will bring these philosophies with us into the classroom every day by way of our behaviours. According to Weshah (2013), being able to analyse and articulate ones reasons for supporting a particular educational philosophy is one of the main ingredients for effective teaching. This paper will discuss my beliefs about teaching and learning and my view of multiculturalism, a controversial topic in education. I believe that the best environment for learning is safe and comfortable for the students, where they feel that they can express themselves, take risks, and feel free to ask any questions they may have. In my experience, when I have felt that my teacher cares, and promotes an accepting environment, I am more apt to learn. I find more interest in the subject and want to do better. For example, in my high school chemistry class my teacher put in a lot of effort of getting to know us. She shared about herself as well, so a trusting relationship was built. Therefore, I was engaged in her class and eager to learn about chemistry. Students succeed in school because they want to learn and do well, and they are selfmotivated and curious. I always felt a desire to get good grades so I would not disappoint my parents. I knew that my parents and teachers had high expectations from me so I wanted to meet or exceed these expectations. My father, in particular, was always pushing me to do better. When

we would go on hikes, I would try to race him to the top of the mountain. At swimming races, he would ask me why I didnt get a best time and encouraged me to try harder next time. Many of my teachers similarly gave me many chances to improve and praised my effort. This helped me to become self-motivated, as I felt a responsibility to myself and my educators to do the best that I could do. Furthermore, my parents often took my family on adventures which instilled in me a curiosity for the natural world. This curiosity spilled into school, where I was shown the tools to investigate. I came to understand the more you know, the less you know, which fuelled my curiosity further. Students fail because teachers do not believe in them, they are bullied, and/or have difficult home lives. With a positive support network, I believe anyone can achieve their highest aspirations. Children have vast imaginations and aspirations. With the right kind of support from teachers, family, and friends, kids make incredible achievements. Yet, when teachers do not help to encourage students to be the best that they can be, foster positive attitudes, and motivate, the students do not believe in themselves. If students do not believe they can succeed, then they will not succeed. Children who are bullied or have difficult home lives may have to overcome more challenges than other students to succeed. Yet, if a teacher believes in them and encourages them despite all the negative aspects in their life, I believe that student can still achieve. An example of this is my friend, David, who was bullied throughout school. He had a miserable grade school experience and thought poorly of himself and his abilities until high school. One of his high school English teachers was particularly kind to David and showed him what he was capable of. This teacher inspired David to want become a teacher so that he could make a difference in other childrens lives.

I believe the best way to teach students is to make it engaging, interactive, relatable and interesting. Furthermore, the teacher must show respect for the students so as to earn respect themselves. Additionally, enthusiasm and humour are two key methods to encourage participation and motivation. Giving the students responsibility for their learning helps the students to motivate themselves. An example of when I was engaged and felt responsible for my own learning was in university where I had to choose a topic for a research project for an organic agriculture course that I took in my undergrad. I chose to pursue research on school gardens as my interest on food education was just beginning to form. My research helped develop a keen interest in teaching which eventually led me to Lakehead faculty of education. Having had the choice to research a topic that I was interested in and was able to relate to my own personal goals, I set higher expectations for myself than if I had been given a topic to research. I believe the best way to evaluate students is in a fair manner, using clear, specific criteria that students are aware of prior to assessment. Using a variety of assessment techniques is important in order to effectively assess the unique strengths of all students. For example, if one student is better at oral presentations and another excels at writing papers, then they should both have the opportunity to demonstrate their strengths. Moreover, formative assessment should be on going all the time so the teacher knows where the students are at, in regards to understanding the material, so the lessons can be modified as need be. Students should have the opportunity to practise or work with the material multiple times before they are assessed on their knowledge. Having clear, specific criteria of what is expected of students makes it less stressful for the students and easier for the teacher to evaluate the work fairly. I still find it frustrating as a student

when I do not know what is expected of me, as I have been experiencing in some of my classes at Lakehead. However, there are some courses with very specific instructions which allows me to meet the criteria, and go beyond the expectations if I so choose. My teaching metaphor I believe that teachers and students should work together to form goals of education. Teachers may have a better idea of the long-term goals that they should work towards together, yet it is important to involve the students in goal-setting so they feel more accountable and want to achieve the goals. The roles students play in school is to bring different experiences to an inclusive learning environment. Teachers should be accepting and have an optimistic view towards the success of all students. It is important that teachers do not to discriminate in any way, and that they attempt to be aware of their prejudices and try to overcome them. The main role of teachers is to be a role model for their students. If teachers do not practise what they preach they hold no credibility and the students will not trust them. When there is no trust, there is no learning. Teachers should have a passion for learning and working with children. If this passion for learning is true, and modelled continually, then the students will be able to tell that teachers really love what they are doing and will be inspired to learn also. A variety of teaching methods should be used so all of the different learning styles are incorporated. Gardeners multiple intelligences (linguistic, logical-mathematical, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal) are a good tool for teachers to understand how different people learn best (Al Ghraibeh 2012). Understanding how people learn is essential to incorporating various teaching strategies that work best for the students in the

class. Every lesson should be tailored to the students that are being taught. Thus, it is the teachers role to know the students so they can effectively teach them. Although the subjects taught in schools are largely determined by the province, which I think works well in terms of consistency, I think teachers should have a bit more flexibility in what they teach. It can be very challenging for teachers to develop a new course in addition to finding funding and interest for the course. For example, aboriginal education and outdoor experiential education programs are quite rare, however, I believe they should be integrated into all schools. My high school had a grade 12 outdoor education program, however, the teacher who ran the program retired when I was in grade 11 so I did not have the opportunity to take the course. Courses such as these are dependent on the teacher who runs them so when there are no teachers who are passionate about those subjects, the children who could have flourished in these courses do not have the chance to do so. If subjects such as outdoor education were integrated into curriculum then more students interests could be addressed. Additionally, I believe there are some courses that every student should be required to take. I think students should be taught more practical life skills such as cooking and personal finance in high school. Furthermore, social skills such as communication, collaboration, conflict resolution, and problem solving, should be incorporated and taught explicitly as well as demonstrated throughout all subjects. My educational philosophy orientation My beliefs fall primarily under the educational philosophy orientation of Cognitivism. Cognitivism can be defined as a philosophical doctrine that thought is essentially both symbolic and internal to the individual human mind (Winch and Gingell 1999). Truth and knowledge are

viewed as personal, private, and most importantly subjective (McMahon 2013). This can be explained because cognitivists believe that all of the tools for learning are within the learner (Bowd et al 1998). Moreover, our learning is dependent on what we know already and how we perceive situations, which is dependent on our experiences and our internal mental and physiological states (Bowd et al 1998). Our experiences continually change the ways we think about the world, and therefore our learning changes as our mental representations of the world shift (Bowd et al 1998). I adhere to these beliefs because I believe that everyone is capable of change depending on future experiences. As a teacher, I believe it is my role to provide positive supportive experiences for students so they grow and change in positive ways. Cognitivists focus on creative and critical thinking, problem solving, and understanding in addition to making learning meaningful, relevant and personal (Bowd et al 1998). It is said that cognitivism occurs by means of symbolic activity in individual minds where connections are built through representations of the natural world (Winch and Gingell 1999). Further, cognitivism theory explains that learning best takes place through the solitary exploration of the world through hypothesis testing (Winch and Gingell 1999). Cognitivism fits my beliefs because I am a pragmatic, practical person, and always look for the reasoning behind why things occur. My curiosity for the world causes me to question why. In the classroom, methods of structuring knowledge, encouraging insight, and facilitating transfer to new learning are encouraged by Cognitivists (Bowd et al 1998). The role of the teacher is to work with students to provide structure to help construct individual knowledge (McMahon 2013). The responsibility of learning is shared between the

teacher and the student (McMahon 2013). Thus, learning is an active process and without the effort of one of the parties, no learning will occur. My position on multiculturalism in education Multiculturalism can be a controversial issue in the classroom. In Canadas melting pot of cultures, it is important to include and address the beliefs, customs, and social behaviours of many cultures in schools. Learning is affected by the social, political, and economic influences of the various cultural groups in the community (Ovando and McLaren 2000). Racism can be a prevalent issue in schools, whether there are many representations of cultures present or not. Therefore, I believe it is the role of the teacher to create an inclusive environment and educate about various cultures and the appropriate language to use when speaking about them. One of the ways cognitivist teachers can do this is to educate students about why cultures are the way they are, how cultures differ, how other cultures perceive the world, and how people are similar across all cultures. First, if teachers are not familiar with particular cultures, they must educate themselves in order to understand how students from various cultures learn, and how best to teach them. Looking at the history of cultures can be a good starting point to understand. Learning about different perspectives and understanding why and how they are that way enhances critical thinking, which is one of the focuses of Cognitivism. Moreover, providing practical, relatable comparisons to the students own cultures will help students understand on a personal level. If the students share personal experiences then they make the topic more meaningful and will remember why it is significant. Teachers are only facilitators that encourage this learning to occur, but the students must also be engaged with and see the point behind learning about multiculturalism for any learning to occur. If teachers work

with students and community members to learn and portray this information, then preconceived notions and perspectives of cultures can be changed. Teachers can include examples from various cultures on a daily basis, which will help make content meaningful for all students. However, students will not fully understand the importance of cultures until they start thinking about it and engaging directly with people from cultures different from their own. Therefore, setting up partnerships with schools where there are few cultures represented with schools in other regions, provinces, or countries can create opportunities where students can directly communicate and build relationships. I think learning about different cultures is essential to having an open mind in our multicultural society. All cultures bring different and equally important perspectives to our world, so we need to embrace that equality and celebrate differences. Furthermore, we need to have experiences in order to change our perceptions and to be inclusive of all races. So, starting in the classroom is a safe place for that to begin. References Al Graibeh, A.M. 2012. Brain based learning and its relation with multiple intelligences. International Journal of Psychological Studies. 4(1): 103-114. Bowd, A., McDougall, D., and Yewchuk, C. 1998. Educational psychology for Canadian teachers. Second Edition. Harcourt Brace & Co. Toronto. McMahon, J.D. 2013. Teaching/learning philosophies. Towson University, Human Resources Developemnt. Available online: http://pages.towson.edu/mcmahon/generic/philosophychart.html Ovando, C.J. and McLaren, P. Eds. 2000. Multiculturalism and bilingual education: students and teachers caught in the cross fire. McGraw-Hill. New York, USA.

Weshah, H.A. 2013. Investigating the effects of professional practice program on teacher education students ability to articulate educational philosophy. College Student Journal. 47(3): 547-559. Winch, C. and Gingell, J. 1999. Key concepts in the philosophy of education. Routledge. Ebook. (EBSCOhost). Available online: http://ehis.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/nlebk_61023_AN?sid=d676e545-abfb4d3a-9c82-819e53770a01@sessionmgr112&vid=3&hid=17&format=EB