Running head: Philosophy of Education 1

Philosophy of Educations for Special Populations

Meghan Coursey

Paris Junior College

Education 2301
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Philosophy of Education for Special Populations

I volunteer in the special needs room at my school. When you walk in the door of that

room, there is a poster on the wall that reads “everyone deserves an education.” This has a lot to

do with how I see my personal philosophy in education. There are many special populations that

are deemed difficult because some students simply learn in a different way when in reality every

student should be treated fairly when in an educational environment.

I fall within two categories of special populations myself, but in a lesser way. I am a

gifted and talented student at my high school because I learn in a much more complex way than

everyone else. I also have a reading disability that we have not yet figured out, but we believe it

might be due to ADHD where my brain moves faster than I can comprehend when reading. I go

to school with many kids that are apart of special populations such as dyslexia, English as a

second language, and those whose parents’ income is substantially low. Personally, neither of my

learning curves have stopped me from excelling in all my work throughout high school. I know

many kids who would say the same. I believe this is due in part to the way the teachers at my

school teach in an all-inclusive manner.

When I become a teacher, I will be teaching agricultural education. This means that

anybody can take my classes. Each kid has their own form of learning weather they are special

populations or not. I plan for my approach to teach each topic in a different learning style in the

begging, then see who follows along best with each learning style. I plan to implement a lot of

group projects and discussions because for me sometimes it has to be explained to me differently

for me to understand it. I want my kids to feel encouraged to learn the material. I want them to

understand that everything we are doing in my class has an effect on the real world. I hope all my
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kids can learn social skills, leadership skills, and agricultural concepts, such as animal and plant

science.

My approach to the special populations is more so to include everyone. I will allow the

kids to ask questions frequently and will move at the pace all need to understand the topics I am

presenting with. I will teach the information in the ways that I believe they will need to

understand the topics. I hope that my approach to teaching all the populations will work well. I

want my students to feel as though they are a part of a whole not individually having to take on

tasks because “everyone deserves an education.”