Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 1

Philosophy of Education: Doers Rather Than Observers

Haydee Rojas Zegarra

Westminster College
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Philosophy of Education: Doers Rather Than Observers

The word “philosophy” has its roots in the Greek words, ‘Phylos’ meaning ‘to

love’ and ‘Sophie’ meaning ‘Wisdom’; thus, philosophy accounts for the ‘love of

wisdom’. In this sense, I believe that the type of Philosophy of Education that I am going

to be applying in my classroom is Social Reconstruction since it provides a holistic

approach to wisdom. This serves the purpose of providing education in representation,

which provides curricula that is designed in basis of Funds of Knowledge (FOK). All of

these elements combine to form an equitable education. I believe that the game of life is

an act that at least everybody should have a chance to participate in. Participation is

seen through the chances of being educated, which uncordiality not everybody has the

chance of in an adequate way.

What is the purpose(s) of education? What do you believe are the most

important goals of education?

I believe that the purpose of education is to forge members of society who are

free observers, meticulous analyzers, intrepid experimenters, innovator searchers of

answers and more importantly: Executors of solutions. If students are encouraged to

think outside (of) the box and go beyond their comfort zone, re-constructing our society

and decompressing imparities become plausible. Also, I think that exposure plays a

transcendental role when teachers design classes. As a language teacher, I feel that

culture cannot be taught rather than shared; in this sense, implementing lessons that

use language to navigate through these concepts becomes essential. In order to

achieve these goals, it is necessary that a combination of progressive classes and

exposure to unique forms of living are present in lesson plans. If understanding that
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learning rhetorically in philosophy is maximized by the combination of logic, emotions

and credibility, and transferring these aspects of rhetorically learning to education;

reconstructing a better society, which I think is the major goal of education, becomes a

natural consequence.

How do you view learners? How will you engage learners in the

classroom? What should you understand about all learners?

I view learners as grains of sand on the beach. Even though as a whole; they

seem to be the same, in essence they are not, they are unique just as grains of sand on

the beach. It is the educator’s role to find ways to make each student shine when the

time appropriate, as in the same way that the sun makes every single grain of sand

shine through the day. I feel that in order to despair imparities in society, it is important

that we start by reshaping the concept of being different to the notion of being unique. I

choose to use the word unique instead of different, because when we understand that

something is different unconsciously our minds begin to emit judgments of value; which

in my opinion (it) provokes to make people to think that something is better or not and

as consequence disparities began to arise. On the other hand, if we train our students

to be citizens that value uniqueness, those judgments of value won’t be present when

making decisions throughout their lives and more importantly, in their behaviors as

citizens of the world. We educators need to embrace all the uniqueness in the world,

and more importantly the uniqueness of our students; in this sense, the celebration of

FOK becomes the propeller of the usage of the capital that students bring to our

classrooms. I also understand that we as unique individuals, learn in different ways;

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reason for which, I believe that content of lessons needs to be delivered in ways that

are accessible to all of the unique intelligences that we humans possess.

What counts as knowledge and what should be taught (curriculum)? What

is the teacher’s role in determining the classroom curriculum?

In my opinion, knowledge is the compendium of all of the experiences that we

have been exposed to; either the way that we have been raised, the friends that we had

during childhood, lost, birth, parties, funerals, or even the trip that we went to last year.

Because of that, curriculum should be taught in a way that is adapted to all the unique

experiences that students have been exposed to. This can be only plausible if

educators have a good sense of whom their students are. I think that the role of an

educator in the classroom is compared to the thermostat that we have attached to the

walls in our houses. It is the teacher who sets the environment in the classroom,

understanding environment as the flow that curricula will take and be taught.

How should curriculum be taught (pedagogy)? What approach will you take

in to engage in the curriculum for your classroom? What pedagogical practices

are essential for teachers to employ?

I think that curriculum should be taught in a way that sparks investigation.

Investigation is triggered if the content of lessons exposes students to subjects that are

interesting to them. In a world where distractions are present in our day-to-day basis; I

feel that it is important that schools train students to pay attention to what is really

happening around us. This skill can be developed by the practice of mindfulness. For

this reason, I think that students need to learn tools that help them to cultivate this

practice. Team building and communication skill games are my favorite and I have them
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present in every lesson that I am planning to teach. I feel that if we have them in our

everyday classes, we are going to be able to learn while we are playing. Which is

something that I am really into and also it is something that leads the activation of

emotion, an important piece when knowledge is retrieved. A curriculum that is based on

FOK is a successful curriculum. A lesson is successful if students apply it in real life and

solve a real problem. Curricula needs to be designed with fundaments on

representation, all with the intent of having students that are fully engaged. Having said

that, social reconstruction is feasible if students receive content through pedagogy that

is fun with lessons that also represents every student in the classroom and encourages

everyone to be team players in a pluralist societal model that breaks the schema of a

tribal society model

What does an equitable education for all students look like?

Equitable education is translated to the fact no matter where the students come

from or who they represent, education is seem as a tool that evens up disparities, in a

way that validates everyone as unique and delivers content based on uniqueness.

These pedagogies have a common denominator: adaptability. For example, if a student

has a hearing impediment, the content of the lesson needs to be adapted with

mechanisms that make the content accessible to the student. If lesson plans are

designed based on student’s individualities, it is most likely that they will be successful.

Moreover, students will have higher chances of redirecting expectations that a social

model predicts for them. There is a saying in Spanish that says “Es importante saber

quienes somos para saber hacia donde nos dirigimos” (It is important to know who we

were in order to know where to go to) but I choose to restate that saying to something
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like “No importa quien eres o de donde vienes, lo importante es saber como llegar a

donde quieres llegar” (It doesn’t matter who you are or where you come from; what

matters is to know how to get where you want to go). Lastly, it is through equitable

education that students are allowed to reach their maximum potential and find their own

form happiness.