PG 406-2 Educational Theory, Policy and Practice

Assignment: Individual

Task: In around 2,000 words, state and justify your teaching philosophy.

This statement should include an understanding of what education and teaching is with a

justification of the ideas, values and beliefs expressed above from a philosophical
perspective. These should be adequately supported with relevant and established concepts
and ideas from the discipline of philosophy of education.

Learning never ends. This statement was used even by our grand- parents who did not get the
opportunity to acquire knowledge at school. However, they were not philosophers nor
qualified, but yet they show us many tricks and taught us many things that we do not know.
Infact they have drawn their own path to manage their livings. According to Aristotle where
he said, “All men by nature desire to know”. Education should be in the hand of everyone.
Developing student potentialities is a key role to teachers. In fact, education should be a mean
to make the student reflect about his own future or career. How this knowledge would benefit
him? Or what meaning this would give him in the society (Cohen,2004).

Design and technology is a subject that develops student’s skills in terms of crafting or
building a new society. The subject involves many aspects of how can people live in a better
society. Teaching this subject for around four years now, I realized that each student is
unique and has his own skills and can develop his own idea the way he thinks he can.
Howard Gardner stated that "we are all able to know the world through language, logical-
mathematical analysis, spatial representation, musical thinking, the use of the body to solve
problems or to make things, an understanding of other individuals, and an understanding of
ourselves. Where individuals differ is in the strength of these intelligences - the so-called
profile of intelligences -and in the ways in which such intelligences are invoked and
combined to carry out different tasks, solve diverse problems, and progress in various
domains." (Gardner 1983). Teaching is only a means to acquire knowledge, but yet many
people are underestimated because of their educational background. Education is not the
property of someone, everyone has a right to obtain it. A scavenger for example has the right
to know philosophical theories or any revolutions that occurred in the past. Or a plumber also

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should have the right to know about Hitler’s or Einstein theories. But why do we tend to think
that those people are incapable in learning such theories?

Learners should be problem solvers and thinkers (Cohen & Gelbrich 1999). The subject I
taught has enable my students to think differently about our society. They become
autonomous and consider the impact education have on them. Nowadays, before a designer
design a product, several factors are considered, especially if that would have an impact on
the environment. In this way, I want my students to think critically and always question
themselves about evidences, facts and also for the future development of this society.
Therefore, I would advocate with Kelly’s (2004) statement about critical thinking where
teachers need to incorporate that culture in the future of teaching if they are to be effective.
That means knowing the ingredients in a student’s world and adapting those ingredients to
the methods teachers are already using, plus creating new and over-the-top strategies to reach
all students.

Education has become a political endeavor. Those who could afford to give their children
good education has reached the top whereas those who were still lagging behind did not get
such opportunity. Education is the right of every learner and I believed that democracy in
education must overcome barriers of any kind, whether religion, race, status, politics or
socio-economic background. Freire talked a lot about the philosophy of the oppressed. Both
Freire and Dewey contended that education should consistently counter the divisive and
separating effects of class membership, religious sectarianism, and ethnic and cultural
pluralism (Betz, 1992). Education should not be regarded as something luxury but rather a
necessity for everyone.

Democracy is also about sharing through dialogue. In design and technology, I often start my
lesson with a brainstorming session, this infact embrace the statement of Freire where he
talked about dialogue in a group which is important for the development and advancement of
each individual. In this way, there is two- way communication and whenever there is
something ambiguous, I give my student’s the opportunity to ask questions and reflect upon
it. Moreover, this method of teaching and learning gives opportunities for both teachers and
learners to interact and impart knowledge between them. Sometimes teachers learn with
students. For example, the teacher can take the student’s experience of life in those parts of
the city where drugs have been spread. Or discuss with the students the concrete reality of
their lives and that aggressive reality in which violence is permanent and where people are

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much more familiar with death than with life. Freire rejects the role of teacher as ‘factotum’
that is the teacher acting as a supervisor or animator in the class. He even went to the extent
rejecting proposed curriculum but rather proposed a programme that is created in and with
the people. He mentioned that the fundamental note of democratic mentality is critique (ibid,
86).

Promoting such practice would enable students to think differently about our society. Marx
and Freire agreed upon that we all have the right to decide on our own destiny. We are living
in a world where sustainable development is being promoted. For example, if a student
decided to become an engineer, he should not be limited to certain concepts taught at the
institution but rather free of being exposed to real life situation to examine problems more
closely. In this way engineers would not limit his knowledge as technician but would
challenge himself of being capable to be a problem solver. Education should be reoriented
starting with the principle of sustainability, thus making people recognized that we need to
educate people in the language they can understand. Dewey argued that the curriculum
should be relevant to student’s life and he saw learning by doing and development of
practical life skills as crucial in education (Shyman, 2011).

“I am now more comfortable and understand better” this is what my students said when they
got a clearer view of a task or problem I explained to them. Infact education is an act of faith.
Within the student’s statement we found self -confidence, intrinsic motivation and the
willingness to try, thus giving a more solid ground for teaching and learning. We cannot
teach if we do not have faith. These words provide me with assurance that I am in the good
path and happy that I can excel as such. It gives satisfaction and thus my teaching make a
difference. However, a teacher should also have faith in his students. He should trust their
abilities and capabilities that they can do better. I have developed the concept that a student
should feel comfortable and safe in the class. The student should be able to participate
actively in class. I embrace Dewey’s statement about faith in education which signifies
nothing less than belief in the possibility of deliberate direction of the formation of human
disposition and intelligence.

In a class where the students are of mix abilities, and a group work is being conducted,
usually the whole group get the same mark. Infact a teacher should have faith in the weakest
student abilities in the group. In this way if this student can understand, therefore the whole
group has understood the problem. In a statement, Dewey said ‘we do not solve philosophical

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problems, but we get over them’. I find it intrinsically important to set up a relationship of
trust and care with my students. In this way, they will get confidence and find me someone
who they can trust, non-discriminatory and someone who they can approach for any issues
they are experiencing, even problems that occurred outside the school. It is important to gain
the heart of students and make them feel comfortable in addressing a teacher. I would
promote the statement of Nodding’s who looks at caring relations as the foundation for
pedagogical activity where students accept what teachers are trying to teach and which also
increase the competence of the teachers. (Nodding’s, 2005).

Each student is unique with his own skills and expertise. Education is also learning about
diversity and equity. Each student should be treated in the same way and given equal
opportunity. It is true that in a class where there are mix abilities, some students need more
attention than others. But this should not affect other students as well. In this situation, a
differentiated learning approach can be implemented to cater for different needs of students.
This finding would also in accordance with the writings of peters (1968) on ‘notions of equity
in education’

Engaging in the profession of teaching is something noble, but imparting knowledge is action
not talk. The main problem with our curriculum is a rat race competition. Sometimes teachers
are not at fault but are obliged to follow this trend to finish their syllabus. This knowledge
would be only for student’s exams but not for real life. Freire also shared the same view in
his book of pedagogy of freedom. “Intellectuals who memorize everything, reading for hours
on end, slaves to the text, fearful of taking a risk, speaking as if they were reciting from
memory, fail to make any concrete connections between what they have read and what is
happening in the world, the country, or the local community. They repeat what has been read
with precision but rarely teach anything of personal value”. Rousseau also agreed with this
statement where he said “I do not like explanatory speeches. Young people pay little attention
to them and rarely remember them. Give them facts. I cannot say often enough that we allow
too great power to words. With our babbling education, we only make babblers”

Teaching is not just transferring knowledge, but to know how to teach create possibilities for
production and construction of knowledge. A beautiful speech never mean that knowledge
has been transferred but infact it should be in such a way that action is being done after
understanding the concept well. As a teacher, I need to have clarity in regard to what I am
engaged in. I need to know the various dimensions that are part of the essence of this

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practice, which can make me more secure in the way I approach it. The best starting point for
such reflections is the infiniteness of our human condition. Freire would also agree upon this
statement where he said, “I teach because I search, because I question, and because I submit
myself to questioning” also Plato’s statement “Without any one teaching him he will recover
his knowledge for himself, if he is only asked questions”

My philosophy of teaching would be that, everyone can learn despite his capabilities,
intelligence or socio-economic problems. The teacher should be a mediator where he is able
to challenge himself to teach anyone in the language the individual can understand. Every
child is unique, as teacher I believe that no child should be ignored but rather use different
approach or strategies for learning to take place.

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REFERENCES

 J L Ackrill, Aristotle the philosopher (Oxford, 1981)

 D J Allan, The Philosophy of Aristotle (1978)
 Betz, N. E. (1992) Counseling uses of career self-efficacy theory, The Career
 Development Quarterly, 34, pp. 299-308
 Cohen, Stewart. "Knowledge, Assertion, And Practical Reasoning". N.p., 2017. Print
 Cohen, L. M. & Gelbrich, J. (1999). Young children’s interests: Seeds of adult creativity.
In A. S. Fishkin, B. Cramond & P. OlszewskiKubilius (Eds.), Investigating creativity in
youth: Research and methods (pp. 147-177). Cresskill, NJ: Hampton Press.

 Dewey, J. (1934) The Need for a Philosophy of Education, in: D. Archambault (ed.), John
Dewey on Education: Selected Writings (New York, The Modern Library).

 Gardner (1983) "Frames of Mind". Google Books. N.p., 2017. Web. 7 May 2017.

 Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed (NewYork, Continuum).

 Freire,P.(1970) pedagogy of freedom: ethics, democracy, and civic courage (
Lanham : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers,c1998)
 Kelly, G. A. (1955) The psychology of personal constructs. New York, W.W. Norton
 Noddings, N. (2005) Caring in education. The encyclopedia of informal education.
Available from: http://www.infed.org/biblio/noddings_caring_and_education.htm.
[Accessed on: 03/05/2017]
 Peters, R.S. (1968) Ethics and Education. 5th ed. London: George Allen & Unwin Ltd
 R.S.Peters, (2011) R.S Peters and the Concept of Education (University of Illinois).
 Shyman, E. (2011) A Comparison of the Concepts of Democracy and Experience in a
Sample of Major Works by Dewey and Freire. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 43
available :http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.111/j.14695812.2009.00625.x/abstract
[Accessed on: 03/05/2017]

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