RUNNING HEAD: ARTIFACT #3 PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Artifact #3 - Philosophy of Education

Elisabeth Whitefield

College of Southern Nevada

EDU 201

Susan Bridges
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I am choosing the profession of elementary education because I have a passion for learning and I

want to be able to share the same excitement and enjoyment that I find in discovering some new

information with kids so they can be excited about school. I was inspired to pick this career path

by some of my high school teachers who reignited my spark. I was always a great academic

student and I have always flourished in a school environment, so I feel like it’ll be a challenge

and my obligation for me to pass that on to younger generations. When I did my field

observation with Ms. Turner, I got to experience what teaching is like while doing this distanced

learning. I got to experience firsthand how teachers and students are adapting to virtual

classrooms and the things that have changed since I was in elementary school. The coolest thing

for me was seeing just how smart and independent first-graders really are. They were able to do

so many tasks by themselves and stay on track even in small groups.

When I was reading the chapter on educational philosophies, I decided that the ones I felt most

aligned with were the constructivism and the progressivism philosophies. My own ideals about

teaching are that the learning process should focus on the student as a whole and that you should

allow and guide students to discover the ways that they learn best and what they are inspired to

learn about. Of course, teaching in larger groups makes this teaching style more difficult,

because you have several individuals who all think and absorb information in completely

different ways, so the best you can do is make your teaching adaptable. This year has been a

huge reflection on how the education system in the U.S. is set up and some of the flaws that it

holds. The Covid-19 pandemic has forced many schools to shift to a distanced form of learning,

where everything is done online. I think that this event has really forced me to examine my own

ways of learning and how I need to be adaptable as both a student and a future teacher.
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Some instructional strategies that I want to bring into my classroom are visualization and the

inclusion of technology. In my life, I’ve noticed that many people need to see and do things for

themselves in order to get a better understanding of what they are learning. If students have the

ability to see how something is done or how it works then they get the chance to do it

themselves, through practice or acting it out, and they’ll have an easier time retaining the

information. As for student diversity and variability, I believe that it is important to be

knowledgeable about the different ethnic, religious and social groups, as well as having an open

mind so that you don’t allow your personal biases to affect the way you teach or impact your

students and their learning. You need to be able to empathize with the way your students are

feeling about the things around them, and be a stable adult role model in their lives while they

are your students so that they have a place to feel safe and comfortable, regardless of their

situation.

Some skills that I’ll need in order to succeed in this career field are passion for my subject

material, or passion for my career as a whole, dedication to my responsibilities and tasks that

help keep things running smoothly in a classroom, and patience with my future colleagues,

students, and myself. I believe that to be a great teacher, you need to have empathy to ensure that

you can learn to understand how your students are affected by their educational experience. It’s

so important to me that kids feel seen and that they have at least one safe space for them to grow

in. School was my safe place for many years because I had some great teachers that allowed me

to blossom in their classrooms. I want to be a teacher like that. Someone who shares all of the

great things about learning with my students. As for continuing to pursue this career path, I plan

to continue my education and earn my bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education, for starters.

My long term goal is to earn my master’s degree in Education so that I can be a more effective
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teacher. I have a list written down of all of the tasks I need to accomplish in order to obtain my

teaching license in the state of Nevada and I plan to continue working my way down that list.

I’m very excited to be a teacher.