Philosophy for Education

My philosophy for education is one that promotes positive and healthy growth in

all forms of human development - cognitive, physical, psychosocial, and vocational. In

order to achieve all of these goals, I think it is most critical to focus on the whole child

and to have a student-focused approach. Each individual student will be unique and will

differ in their stages of development. Even more so, each student will have different

factors that are either positively or negatively influencing the development of their

stages of human development. Although a teacher can not necessarily control every

factor such as the ones that occur outside of school or biologically, they are given the

opportunity to control the factors within school. I believe a good starting point is

fostering a classroom environment that successfully satisfies the needs described in

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Dr. Saul McLeod (2020) explains that in Maslow’s

hierarchy, the needs read from bottom to top as “physiological needs, safety needs,

belongingness and love needs, esteem needs, and self-actualization” (Simply

Psychology website). I believe this is important for two reasons: (1) it increases a

students motivation, and (2) it alleviates what may be distracting the student and

enables them to shift their focus on other things such as academic success (McLeod,

2020). Thus, ensuring these needs are met can be argued to be the first step that has to

be accomplished in a classroom.

Then, once students’ focus is ready to be put upon something, it is time for the

teacher to begin their instruction. I believe that instruction should be interactive and

student-focused, such that the student is able to relate their unique experiences to the

material. Having the opportunity to draw from own experiences and share them with the
class can allow a student to feel more heard, understood, and represented in the class.

With this, the student can then feel a greater sense of self-esteem. Also, allowing

students to make these connections can allow for higher academic engagement and

involvement. Furthermore, drawing these connections can foster a deeper and greater

understanding of the material.

For assessing students, I believe there should be assessments given that allow

for all types of intelligences to flourish. Michele Marenus (2020) explained that

according to Gardner’s Theory of Multiple Intelligences, there are eight different

intelligences - “linguistic, logical/mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinaesthetic, musical,

interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic” (Simply Psychology website). So, rather

than giving only standardized tests or assigning written work only, I believe teachers

should allow their students to choose from other options such as creating an art piece,

or filming a video, giving a speech, creating a board game, performing a dance, etc.

There are plenty of ways by which a student can express their knowledge, it is just up to

the teachers to allow them to do so.

My philosophy of education can be said to be a healthy mixture of the five main

philosophies discussed in this class: essentialism, perennialism, progressivism,

humanism, and critical pedagogy.

What I agree with and would include from the essentialist approach in my own

philosophy is that I believe students should be taught the core curriculum of math,

science, history, and language arts, and that the common core knowledge is subject to

change in the future. Although I believe in educating students on the common core

knowledge, I do believe that there should be some other subjects guaranteed in the
curriculum such as art and health (including mental health). I believe art allows students

to express their uniqueness and demonstrate their thoughts, feelings, ideas, and

knowledge in a creative way. I believe health classes, especially mental health, is

important so that students’ well being is tended to and supported.

For the perennialist approach, I agree with and would involve the concept

meditation that is taught and discussed. Meditation is a mindfulness practice that can be

very beneficial to a student’s mental and physical wellbeing. This idea is explored in

ancient Buddist texts, something that would be taught from a perennialist approach in

education. In addition to this, I agree with perennialism such that it is important that

students understand the deeper meaning behind concepts. With this instruction,

students are not approaching material to memorize facts, but rather, they are engaging

in the material and exploring the “why” behind ideas. This allows for a greater

understanding of the material.

I would take a lot from progressivism such that I believe in having a

student-focused approach to teaching and teaching the whole child. This approach

fosters problem-solving skills by allowing for experimentation when trying to learn and

understand a concept. If you take away the material, having the ability to problem-solve

is a very important skill that I think all students should develop and have with them when

they finish their years in school. You can apply problem-solving skills to anything in life.

Having the focus to just be on students memorizing answers for standardized tests, will

not give them problem solving skills, but rather will just give them temporary memorized

knowledge that will be forgotten over the years. In the Youtube “If Students Designed

Their Own Schools…”, I was fond of the research project idea where the students got to
pick any topic they wanted to research on and give a presentation on it. Although, I think

this should not be a weekly or monthly thing, and should just be a one assignment thing,

I thought this idea was really important because it allows the students to explore their

desires and passions. If anything, I believe students should be given the freedom to

make their own choices. I do not mean to choose the directions for an assignment, but

rather choose the topic. I believe academic engagement and achievement can see an

increase when students are working on something that they are interested in.

In regards to the humanistic perspective, I would include a lot from this approach

into my philosophy such that I would incorporate both learning and feelings in my

teaching. I know that not all students are provided a safe learning environment at home,

and thus, the classroom is an opportunity to give those students a safe and loving

environment. Besides, a student cannot truly be 100% engaged and perform their best

in academics when they are feeling uncomfortable. I can tend to these emotions by

ensuring I teach SEL activities, build a family and community within the classroom, and

provide resources (school counselor information).

Finally, there is Freire’s critical pedagogy approach, where he believes the

oppressed can self-discover their own means to take action and free themselves. In

order to do so, Freire believes that teachers have to foster the appropriate learning

environment by which they are not explicitly telling the students how to fight their battle,

but rather the teachers need to provide the right resources and tools. Since my

philosophy revolves around the whole student, I definitely feel that Freire’s approach

can be applicable to mine. With this, it is important that I am aware of my students

feelings and emotions, as well as what they are going through outside of the classroom.
It is not possible for you to know everything, but if you are dedicated and care, you can

have conversations to see what your students are experiencing. Knowing their

experiences, you can then implement helpful tools and resources to support them. This

could be in the form of SEL activities, or reading books that act as mirrors for the

students, as well as provide instruction that allows students to relate their personal

experiences.

All in all, my philosophy of education essentially bubbles down to one main

concept - teaching the whole child and having a student-focused approach to teaching.

Each student is unique and has different needs that need to be met, different

intelligences that need to be accessed and used, and different factors that influence

them as a student and person that need to be identified and supported.