Sally Maxwell
October 31, 2006
Abstract
I have wanted to be a teacher since I was very little. My teaching philosophies consist of existentialism, progressivism and social reconstructionism. Existentialism focuses on human experiences, progressivism focuses on the students, and social reconstructivism focuses on getting the students to help with the society. I feel that teachers should be the facilitator in the classroom. Students tend to learn more when they are working together in a group or working against each other in competitions. I also think that the student should be partly responsible for their education in order for them to get the best education.
Teaching Credo
There have been many people who told me, “Choose a job that you like so you do not have to work a day in your life.” I think that teaching is the job that will allow me to have fun and not feel like I am going to work everyday. I have grown up in a school and I think it is the place that I feel most comfortable. I feel as though the teacher should be the facilitator and the students should be responsible for at least part of their education.
I have wanted to teach since I was a very young girl. There was not really one experience or teacher that influenced my decision to teach, it was mainly all the good experiences I had at school with all my teachers. I think that teaching is a profession that only a select group of people can do and a profession that is commonly overlooked. Teaching has to be something that you enjoyotherwise; your students will sense that and not want to learn. I tend to favor teaching methods that allow students to make mistakes and learn from them, and methods that allow students to interact with the teacher.
The teacher should be the guide in the classroom and it is their job to facilitate the students’ learning. I really admire teachers that encourage their students to challenge them, but I dislike teachers that try to convince students that certain ideas are compelling and exciting. As a student I enjoyed a teacher that did not explain entirely what they expected of us because that tended to leave room for creativity, which I feel is essential for students. I think that once students reach a certain grade level they should have a say in the methods or procedures at which they learn because they know what works best for them.Therefore, I think that teachers do not give students too much freedom when it comes to how they learn.
Students tend to learn when they are either working with or against their peers. I think that group work and competitions among students are some of the best ways to learn. I also believe that most students learn best from hands on experiences verse reading it from the text. Also ideas from other children are normally very helpful when a child doesn’t understand the content of lessons. There are times when student can explain to another student a problem better than the teacher. Children tend to learn more by sharing their ideas than by keeping them to themselves and that is why I think that classroom discussions are valuable learning experiences.
For the student to get the most out of school, they have to take on at least part of the responsibility for their learning. Usually if the student attempts to do their homework then they are going to pass the class. In order for students to succeed they need to be able to work well with others and the faster they learn that skill the more successful they will be.
Existentialism, progressivism and social reconstructionism are the three major philosophical orientations that I tend to lean toward. Existentialism focuses on human experiences and individual choice. An existentialist strives to figure out what is meaningful to them or what is true for them. It allows one to be creative. An existentialist teacher tends to choose curriculum according to whether it contributes to the individual’s quest for meaning or not.
Progressivism focuses on the child rather than the subject and makes the school responsible for helping the students develop personal and social values. Knowledge that is true in the present might not be true in the future. Therefore, we should equip students with skills to solve problems that might come up. And since society is changing we should encourage new ideas to make the future better than the past. Teachers should allow the students to have more freedom in the classroom and the teachers should act as a guide or facilitator.
Social reconstructionism focuses on getting the students out in the community that they will have a hand in running someday. The school should take the lead to reconstruct society. Students should take field trips and participate in community based projects according to the social reconstructionism philosophy. The future of the society lies in the hands of the students.Therefore, the more experience they can get before they are out in the world on their own the better.
Teachers should be the facilitators in the classroom and give the students a little more freedom when it comes to how they learn new information. I think that students learn more when they are working together in groups or against each other in competitions. The student should be partly responsible for their education in order for them to get the most out of school. My teaching philosophies consist of existentialism, progressivism and social reconstructionism. Existentialism focuses on human experiences, progressivism focuses on the student and social reconstructionism focuses on the students contributing to society.