Lena Nyberg

10/16/2015
Terry Stockton

Philosophy of Education

Unfortunately, school and education has become viewed as mandatory,

instead of an opportunity to learn and to become aware of the world. The
motivation is lacking, and therefore are the ambitions in the classroom. Education
is an institution where the amount of effort poured into the system, is a great
determiner on how and how much success can be achieved. As Hochschild and
Scrovonick phrase it, the dream is the unwritten promise that all residents of the
United States have a reasonable change to achieve success through their own
efforts, talents, and hard work. (Hochschild and Scovronick) It is a fact that the
more work and attention you put into your school, you will achieve a higher grade
and at the same time will be more adapt to studying and more successful in
finding the right study method. In the same way though, teachers should be
making a continuous effort to improve their teaching skills and lesson plans, to
meet the students needs and at the same time still be challenging for them. The
teachers role is to facilitate learning and should always be encouraging to every
students work equally. Like a student has to study to get good grades, a teacher
should be always manipulating their lessons to fit the students need to be able to
give the students the best possible chance to succeed. Personally for me, the
best way to achieve this, is to get to know your students more. In building a good
relationship with your student, you are able to base your classroom on trust,
good communication and respect. This will in turn allow you to understand how
your student learn and are able to manipulate your teaching strategies
accordingly. This, not only building a strong community in which they find safety
and belonging, but ultimately, allowing the student to be more successful in their
academic career.
As I am teacher assisting myself this semester, I find myself realizing a lot
of things that teachers seem to always forget. From observing teachers,
experiencing it myself as well, all the requirements, and testing, and curriculum

that has to be met, draws you so much back from the essential goal of being an
authoritative person in the classroom; the students. Especially in special
education, there is a tremendous amount of paperwork that has to be done, laws
and procedures to be aware of, that the students themselves, their needs are put
on the back burner. Noticing this, teaching looks incredibly difficult. But when you
take a step back, and realize that essentially you are there for the students, you
are there to help the students in anything they need, that you are to model
kindness, and respect, it becomes a lot less stressful. In realizing that the main
focus is the student, not the benchmarks that need to be met, the level of anxiety
is removed, allowing one to perform and teach a lot better.
I have come to see teaching not in terms of curriculum anymore, but as
an opportunity to model what being a part of a community means. If school
essentially was established to set the foundation of how to act, and be socially
aware, then that is what teaching should reflect. Curriculum is important, but it
should facilitate opportunities in which we want to model appropriate behavior.
Being aware of society and how to maneuver in one is crucial. Therefore, topics
such as racism, sexism, poverty, politics, news, different cultures and so on,
should be addressed in the classroom, in order to shape your students to
become upstanding, ethically aware citizens. I am in a special education
classroom in which behavior is an issue, but understanding and being aware of
the many societal hierarchies, is appropriate for everyone in the school systems
to be exposed too. These might be hard things to talk about, but essential in
learning about the history of humanity. And if you have established a classroom
that students feel comfortable, secure, and safe, then talking about these big
issues, will not be a problem.
I should talk about how to be that effective teacher in teaching techniques,
but there is so much that comes before that. The attitude the teacher has, the
attitude the teacher communicates to the students, how the teacher builds
relationships with the students, what kind of community is being established by
the teacher, what the teacher is trying to model. It is the teacher, who has the
power to motivate learning and growth. If a teacher is able to establish a
classroom community founded on trust, that is when learning can occur. Because
school is mandatory for students, it does not mean it is for teachers. Teachers

have chosen to be in school. Teachers should remember that passion that got
them started in the education system, and carry that through. An effective and
successful teacher will understand this, and will try to address the needs of every
student, making them feel a part of a community in which learning can occur. A
teacher holds a major responsibility in challenging the students in a very
interesting and effective way to keep the students motivated. Students success
relies on the ability of the teacher to facilitate classroom activities.