Philosophy of Education 1

Philosophy of Education

Carlos Ayala

LBS 400

August, 2017
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Class please be seated its reading time!! All the children took a seat except one. The student wondered around and

looked at all the illustrations on the wall, until he figured out that he needed to sit down as well. He walked to the

carpet and took a seat. All he would do is look around with a lost look on his face, his eyes were glazed over as if he

was ready to fall a sleep, and he was hunched over as if to be uninterested as to what was going on. The teacher

pulled out a book and said students this is Clifford the dog, does anyone know who he is? When he saw the book

his eyes lit up, his eyebrows raised, and a huge smiled was etched on his face. The teacher began to read, and his

body language changed. He sat up straight crossed his hands and starred with his mouth open as the teacher read.

It seemed like the pictures excited him because it brought a huge smile to his face. Maybe his favorite book was

Clifford, since that was the book that the teacher was reading out loud, or maybe he just liked dogs. The teacher

finished saying the last word in the book, and said the end and closed the book. When the teacher finished

reading the book the students whole demeanor changed once again. His body language became frail, and it

reflected on his facial expressions. It seemed as he expected to see more.

Children excel when they feel they can trust the educator. When they buy into you not

only as an educator, but as a person, that is when they will find true value in. That trust will

propel them to want to learn more, seek more knowledge, and be more comfortable to get outside

of their comfort zone. Teddy Roosevelt said, children dont care how much you know, until

they know how much you care. I believe that children want to open up to you until you take a

genuine interest in them not only as a student, but as a child. Once they know that you genuinely

care for them, they are more receptive to you as a teacher, and to everything that you have to

teach them. Every child learns and processes information at different rates. Its up to me as an

educator to be able to asses those students and implement a plan that will be best suited their

educational growth. I was a visual and auditory learner. Repetition and practice yielded me great

success, especially when it came to learning the English language.

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I have always been a visual learner. I learned that when I create acronyms to something

that I want to learn it stays with me for a longer period of time. For example, in my genetics class

we had to memorize an abundance of terminology. First I memorized the first letter of each

word, and them I would memorize the words in that specific order. I grouped them in clusters of

five. This method allowed me to learn the terms and definitions with ease. As an educator the

biggest challenge is to get all your students engaged into the lessons you are teaching. If a

student is not willing to engage you in a conversation or is not willing to participate in class, then

it becomes more arduous for you to learn that students learning style, and what areas they truly

need help with. For example, when I used to work as a paraprofessional at Martin Luther King

Jr. Elementary. The teacher I was assigned to had a difficult time connecting with her students. It

was easier for me to be able to help them with their work because I built a relationship with

them, and they were more receptive to hearing what I had to say. This experience affected me

because it showed me that teachers are not just teachers. Teachers wear many different hats, they

are role models, therapists, counselors, parent figures, and many other things.

Every student comes from a different background. Some have both parents in their lives,

some have one, and some have none. All these things, plus their socio economic status, and their

cultural background have a direct effect on how they learn, and more importantly on the

importance that they place on education. My grandparents raised me and instilled in me from a

young age to go to school, to study hard, so I could be whatever I wanted to be in life. Other

children werent given that type of support; thus they took a different path in their educational

journey. In my experience in working with children, the most challenging students are the ones
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that are the most gifted. They are like a diamond in the rough. You just need to polish them so

their inner beauty can shine for the world to see.

As a teacher my goal is to help all my students excel not only in the classroom, but in

their personal lives as well. We are affected by our environment, and in this age of social media,

children are more susceptible than ever. Everything that they learn in the real world is something

that they adopt to their personal lives. Whether it is how they dress, how they communicate with

others or lack there of, or how they treat others. All of this comes to light when they are

surrounded by their peers at school. I experienced this first hand when I was younger, especially

because I had no one to guide me or give me advise on how to act in school. In high school I

became a big fan of hip hop music and I adopted a lot of their vernacular, the way they dressed

and how they acted. I believed it to be cool and thought my peers would accept me because of

it. Little did I know, I was doing myself a disservice. I began to frown upon school, and thought

that school wasnt important. It wasnt until I began 10th grade that I realized how foolish I was. I

had a friend that lost his life because of the way he was dressed. A gang confused him for a

gangster and took his life. That changed my way of thinking and put my focus on what was

important, my education. As a teacher I will always be mindful of the realities that exist outside

of the school walls, and will remind my students of these realities so they can be better prepared

if they are faced with an unexpected circumstance.

My philosophy of education is simple; I want to leave a legacy of relationships, and leave

an impact on as many students as I possibly can. Stephen Covey framed it best when he said,

seek first to understand, and then to be understood. I will utilize my ears more than my mouth.
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I will be someone students can confide in, and someone they can trust! As and Bs dissipate,

and are forgotten over time, but the relationships and the connections that you create with your

students will be cherished and valued in perpetuity. No monetary compensation can match that

type of feeling. Your students are your children, and during the six to seven hours they spend

with you for five days a week you are their surrogate parent figure and role model. I will never

give up on them, and I will insist that they become the best that they can be! I will push them

because they dont know their limits, and because they are capable of achieving great things. It is

not impossible, and it will not be easy, but it will be the best adventure of my lifetime.