Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION 1

Philosophy of Education

Rosalie Romeo

College of Southern Nevada

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Philosophy of Education

Ever since I could remember, I have always wanted to become a teacher. All I would ever tell

people was that I was going to become a teacher, no matter what comments they threw at me, I

was determined. Many teachers have inspired me to become a teacher throughout my educational

career. My 7th grade teacher Mr. Poole was so kind, caring and inspiring in the way he

passionately taught English to a bunch of pre-pubescent teenagers, but still made us want to

participate and learn by making his lessons fun and engaging. My 7th to 8th grade history teacher

saw potential in not only me, but a lot of his other students, and he pushed us to be better

individuals and do better in school. Without him, I would most likely not be where I am today.

He enrolled me in a gifted kid's summer program and pushed me to take AP and honors

programs in high school.

Teachers who inspire and who motivate their students, while also showing compassion,

respect, and care for them are the reasons why I want to become a teacher. I hope to follow in

their footsteps and become the teacher that kids look back on and thank for having a good and

happy life because they were pushed to be better and do better by their teacher. During my online

field observations, I can tell that there are a lot of teachers who go above and beyond to show up

for their students and prove that they care about them outside of the scheduled block during

school hours. Those observations solidified my reasons as to why I am doing what I do and why

I will not give up on my dream.

I mostly agree with having a democratic classroom and a democratic teaching style. I

want my students to have their own voice and their own choice in how they learn the curriculum.

I want them to feel included and as if they are getting a say in how they are being taught and how

they learn. If kids feel heard, empowered, and cared for, there is more room for mutual respect
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and higher levels of participation in the classroom. Kids will want to come to school, and they

will want to learn because class will be exciting and inspiring.

I am also a mix of an existentialist, progressivist, and reconstructionist. I wholeheartedly

believe that education should be student centered. Students learn better when they are interested

in what they are learning. There are students who find math exciting and are happy to learn more

and are excited anytime math class happens. Then, there are students who hate math and do not

want to learn math or participate and their grades usually are lacking. Yes, they need to learn the

basics in math, but why force students to go farther and learn Geometry and Algebra and Pre-

calculus if they are not interested? Students should be able to learn something meaningful to

them and something that excites them. Teachers should look at the whole child and their interests

as it relates to their cognitive, affective and psychomotor areas. A student’s learning needs to be

active, not passive. I also heavily agree that teachers should foster caring and respectful

relationships with their students. Students need to feel valued and respected for them to want to

participate and learn in class.

I also believe in creative choice and how the human experience shapes how we learn and

approach learning. I want to be the teacher that allows freedom of choice while also giving them

the experiences that will help them find their own meanings to their lives. I like to look at the

curriculum and what we are teaching and relate it to life. How does it help students and how does

it relate to their lives and their experiences? Similarly, I believe that schools and students need to

take the lead and change/reconstruct the social order. I like to bring in a lot of the community

into the classroom and show students about what is going on not just around the world, but in

their own backyard. I love field trips and community-based projects because they show students

exactly what is going on in the community and they get a hands-on approach to form their own
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opinions in hopes of being motivated to make a change. I believe that no issue is too large or

difficult for children to understand. They need to be exposed to all social issues in order to see

what is happening in the world and to be able to form their own opinions and educate themselves

on the matter.

Students learn in many different styles, and some learn in more than one different

instructional style. I want to be a teacher that effectively integrates direct instruction, interactive

instruction, independent instruction, indirect instruction and experiential learning. I will figure

out how to smoothly transition from lectures and videos to group projects or discussions as well

as case studies and problem solving in addition to field observations and field trips with

homework and reading as supplemental work. I like the idea of a flipped classroom where the

students read the text and material and watch the lecture at home. Then, when they get to class

the class is all working at their own pace on what they need help with while the teacher goes

around and gives everyone extra help that they need. I hope to implement a type of flipped

classroom style into my class, if permissible, because I feel like more learning and more progress

happens in those types of classrooms. I want to move the direct instruction from the learning

environment to individual homework time so that the learning environment can be used for a

dynamic and interactive learning environment where the teacher is guiding students and creating

a flexible learning environment with intentional content that helps students in areas they are

struggling with.

I need to be able to have patience, self-control as well as determination if I plan to teach

using my teaching philosophy. This will be a long and rewarding journey to be able to teach

students and make an impact in their learning career as well as their personal lives. I will

continue my own education and I will continue to learn about my community, different teaching
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styles and strategies, and the ways that social justice is intertwined within a classroom. Lastly, I

also volunteer within my own community, so I plan to continue that throughout my teaching

career.
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References

Parkay, F. W. (2019). Becoming a Teacher. [VitalSource Bookshelf]. Retrieved from

https://bookshelf.vitalsource.com/#/books/9780135185216/