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Ryan Marchione
My Philosophy of Education

I have many core beliefs about education. I realize that in today’s world, everything will
not go the way I want it to. I may be forced to implement some policies in my classroom that I
necessarily don’t agree with, but that’s the way it is. At the same time, I have the most influence
and control over what goes on in my classroom, so I have some ability to implement my core
beliefs about education into my classroom. My first core belief is that education should be about
the students first and foremost. I believe that my purpose as a teacher is to educate and provide
for my students. The needs and concerns of my students should be at the forefront of any
decision I make. My second core belief about education is that I need to teach students more than
the curriculum. While the content that is in the curriculum is very important, students need to
learn how to apply the content to the real world. I believe that I need to tie my lessons in Social
Studies into real world applications so that students can see the purpose of studying Social
Studies. In addition to the Social Studies content, I also believe that the purpose of education is
to get students ready for the real world. I believe that it is my duty to incorporate life skills that
the students will need into my lessons so that they become more capable individuals when they
leave my class. My biggest core belief is that all students are different and learn differently. I
believe that due to this, education should not be uniform.
I believe that an effective teacher is one who can realize and is conscious about what is
best for their students. I think an effective teacher is one who gives respect to their students and
treats them like individuals. Another characteristic of an effective teacher is that they understand
that every student is different and learns differently, and so they differentiate their lessons to
meet the needs of all their students. Most importantly, I think an effective teacher is one who
cares about their students and is devoted to doing everything in their power to see each one
succeed or at least progress.
As mentioned above, all students are different and learn differently. With this in mind,
my personal pedagogy is based on differentiating instruction so that the material can be
comprehended by all learning styles. I believe that having a variety of methods of delivery is
very important to ensure that all students can grasp the concepts. I also believe that all students
demonstrate their mastery of content differently, so I want to implement several types of
assessment so that students have a choice of how they want to be assessed instead of one uniform
method.
My biggest theory on classroom management is giving respect to get respect. I believe
that if you give students respect and treat them as grown individuals, then they will in turn, treat
you with respect. I do not want to have a strict classroom. I want students to be comfortable and
feel safe in my room. I believe that if students feel comfortable and safe then they will be more
likely to want to come to my class and will be more inclined to follow classroom rules. While
this is not true for all students, I feel that I will manage my classroom on a case by case basis.
However, in general, I believe that if I manage my classroom by treating the students with
respect then they will do the same and I won’t have to deal with many issues.
Assessments are a major controversy in education today. I think that the biggest issue
with assessments is that they are uniform and want all students to demonstrate knowledge in the
same way. This is simply not possible, and we know that students are better at demonstrating
knowledge some ways than others. I believe just like with lessons, that assessments should be
differentiated. I feel that students should get the option of how they want to demonstrate their
knowledge whether it be a written test, essay, project, or oral presentation. Due to the lack of
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time and resources, this method is not always feasible, but I still believe that I can differentiate
assessments. I feel that I can do this by giving students multiple forms of questions on a written
exam such as multiple choice, matching, and essay questions to meet all types of needs.
In conclusion, education should not be treated as one size fits all. Everyone is different
and has different needs. As a teacher I will do my best to realize this and plan out lessons and
assessments accordingly. The bottom line is that we are dealing with humans, and the best way
to deal with humans is to understand their needs and treat them with respect.