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Philosophy Assignment
Philosophy Assignment
Philosophy Assignment
Education 203
February 4, 2015
Introduction (0 points)
The purpose of this paper is to develop my own personal philosophy towards the
Why are you choosing this profession? Who or what experience has inspired you? What is your
personal knowledge or skill set that will serve you? What is your current understanding of the
I am choosing this profession because working with children with special needs is my
passion and I want to make a difference in their lives. I have been an SPTA with the Clark
County School District in a high school MCS classroom for two years now, and this is the
experience that inspired me. I absolutely love my job and all of my kids. I love that I am excited
to go to work each and every day. My personal knowledge is that every student is at a different
level, and almost every lesson should be adjusted at least a little to help that child specifically. I
have learned that children with special needs need a lot of positive reinforcement and rewards for
the little things they do, even if it seems like something simple or small to you and I. I know that
children with special needs are smarter and more amazing than people give them credit for. I
have learned to not get angry, upset, or lose my patience with the kids quickly because much of
what they do is because of their disability. My understanding of the local school districts is really
only of CCSD. I am not very familiar with any other local districts. What I know about CCSD is
that its a very large district with close to possibly 300 or more schools. I know there are
elementary, middle, and high schools across the valley but also in more rural areas like Laughlin
and Mesquite for example. I know that there is a strict budget with CCSD (sometimes a little too
strict.)
What educational philosophy dictates your current beliefs about special education? Why do you
subscribe to that educational philosophy? How does your knowledge of historical events set the
stage for how you will think about children and schools?
philosophy would be Progressivism. I noticed this was the only philosophy that said activity
based education student centered. I subscribe to progressivism because I believe that you learn so
much from trial and error. How do you know if a lesson is going to work well for your students if
you dont try it? How do you know what will help your students behave or what reward system
to use if you dont test out a couple to see whats best? I also really like that it pointed out
education is student centered, considering students are the reason we are there and teaching. My
knowledge of historical events such as school shootings, like the Columbine shooting set the
stage for how I think about schools by reminding me that school isnt the most fun or safest place
for some kids. The kids involved in the shooting were bullied, and bullying is becoming more
and more common. This helps me because it makes me want to be the teacher that the students
can come to for help or to talk, and I want my classroom to be the place where all of my students
What strategies will you implement? What will be your approaches to learning, student diversity,
I will implement strategies such as hands on and group activities, and community based
student diversity is to of course treat all of the students the same no matter what. My approach to
student variability will be to deal with it as it comes and to not let it negatively me or my
handwritten/paper tests but to make sure to observe the students all the time on their progression
and to make assessments fun, like jeopardy or something where they can get involved.
Future (5 points)
What qualities do you need to possess to move forward in this career? What specific steps
your goals?
To move forward in this career, I think I need to work on qualities such as patience,
understanding, and knowledge of all the disabilities that I will be working with or encountering
so I can better serve my students. The steps I need to take in order to achieve my goal of
becoming a special education teacher is to continue to work for my Associate of Arts degree in
Special Education at CSN, then transfer to UNLV to get my bachelors degree. I also plan to
continue working as an SPTA until I become a teacher to get more experience working with