Personal Philosophy of Education

I desire to teach because I want to help young students become active learners and
to guide to them to a life of success. My purpose of education is to teach my students
how to be successful in their own unique way of learning. My role is to get to know each
and every one of my students as learners. It is important for me to regularly reflect on
myself as an educator and constantly seek ways to enhance my students learning by
trying new teaching techniques as I see fit. As an educator of a diverse group, it is crucial
for me to reach every one of my students learning capabilities to the best of my ability
by teaching to satisfy a variety of learning styles. Flexibility is also a key component in
the teaching profession. I must learn to not rely solely on my set ways of teaching, but
rather be willing to take a drastic shift in approach if I see ineffectiveness in my lesson
plans. I will honor and respect every culture present in my classroom and instill that value
in my students to have mutual respect for one another. Everyone should feel equally
important and I believe that respect is the foundation to an effective, positive classroom
community.
I am going to teach students anywhere from 1st grade through 5th grade. The role
of the student is to engage themselves in the course content for their success in the
classroom to the very best of their ability. Also, it is important for every student to come
to school with the mindset to learn. Learning should be every students first priority if
they plan to succeed in education. I understand that there are outside factors that may
interfere with the learning mindset priority of some or all students, and I will take every
single factor into consideration. A students success in education has a great deal to do
with that constant mindset to learn. In order to reach the wide diversity of children that I
will have in my classroom, I will help develop essential concepts in the childrens first
language and within cultural contexts that they understand (Koch, 17). It will be
important for me to honor each and every culture in my classroom for the comfort of each
student and reassurance for the parents. My goals for my students are to come to class, on
time, be ready to learn new concepts, and apply them in meaningful ways.
I am going to teach a wide variety of subjects by well-organized lesson plans,
hands-on activities, and work groups. I believe children learn by many different ways.
Some children learn simply by reading the text and filling out some study guide, while
others learn more by working in groups and discussing ideas with others. Some children
learn through sources such as online blogs where they can interchange ideas on a certain
topic, while others learn through hidden curriculum, which is what students learn as they
participate in the act of going to school (Koch, 36), such as the use of music to teach
something or personal stories for better understanding of a text. I also believe in the
importance of psychological tools, which was formally introduced by Vygotskys theory
of cognitive development. I believe that these psychological tools aid and change our
mental functioning, so I will most definitely be using them in my teaching and with my
students. My beliefs will greatly impact classroom management, instructional strategies,
and assessment because they will reach a great range of students learning styles;
therefore will be efficient. I will be reflective about my practices by frequently evaluating
the effectiveness of my current practices and always think of fresh ways to improve my
teaching skills.
I plan to teach in the Northern Indiana area, most likely in La Porte.

In order to bring global awareness into my classroom, I will devote a time during the
week to read an article about current events and conduct a discussion on the article and
student opinions. In my classroom, my students will experience different cultures while
highly valuing theirs. It is my vision for the community, parents, fellow colleagues, and
administration to be one big web of educational support. I believe that if we all work as a
team to support learning and engage ourselves in every students education, they will be
more likely to earn higher grades and test scores, pass their classes, attend school
regularly, have better social skills, and adapt well to school (NEA). I will make it a
priority in my classroom to involve the parents as much as I can by informing them what
is going on with their child in the classroom setting, collectively as well as individually.
I am going to teach my students with bright new ideas using my past educational
experiences and new aspirations of the kind of teacher I want to be. As Martin Luther
King, Jr said, Intelligence plus character-that is the goal of true education.

Works Cited
Koch, J. (2013). TEACH (2 ed.). Belmont, Calif.: Wadsworth ;.
NEA - Research Spotlight on Parental Involvement in Education. (n.d.). NEA - NEA
Home. Retrieved September 26, 2013, from http://www.nea.org/tools/17360.htm