Hailey Little

Edu 202

Professor Grant

18 Nov 2022

Artifact #1: Education Philosophy

Education plays a vital role in everyone’s life, but for me, it was my life. As a child with

an overactive imagination forming questions and creating scenarios that my parents could keep

up with, school was the place for me to let everything in my head let loose. Consuming material

and information in class was like an all-you-can-eat buffet for my brain and I was starving. The

school environment was the cocoon that nurtured me and pushed me to explore. I was labeled a

gifted kid and starting in first grade I was being taken out of my class regularly to spend an hour

of my day in a higher grade’s classroom. I was put into the G.A.T.E program and repeatedly

found myself ahead of my peers. Though I was flying so high I would find that the wings given

to me would no longer support me.

Growing older and talking to kids that were like me, I have established a belief that

schools just do not know how to support the students they label “gifted”. In fourth grade, I

already felt stuck. Nothing challenged me, nothing was stimulating my brain. Expectation-wise, I

was looked towards producing the best work, but I was still struggling with the material. Schools

and programs could only support a certain amount of growth until they thought all you need is

“harder work”. This is why gifted students are so prone to burning out so young, it is why they

fall in between the cracks. It is my experience as a neglected gifted kid that really stirred my

wanting to teach. I'm tired of seeing kids around me burn out or lose their spark because of

insufficient practice. I want to empower students and challenge them rigorously, to expand their
learning and understanding. I want to give the experiences that I so desperately wanted.

However, this does not only serve just gifted kids I will come across. Almost all students feel

neglected in some sort of way, and I want to use my personal knowledge about those experiences

and feelings to make sure every student feels welcome in a school environment and that they will

receive the learning they are entitled to.

My in-field observations have helped me start to play just how I will create this

environment. I recognize that the school in which I did my observations is not your typical

public school. College of Southern Nevada High School South a small knit community of very

like minds. At its core it is the gifted kid’s dream world. Educators are constantly challenging

their students, not just in graded work but in discussions that carry out of the classroom. Students

have more freedom to grow their learning and are not stuck. Additionally, each student was

given so much personal attention. The students felt seen in their wants and needs. Through my

observations I have built an idea in my head on how I want to engage my students and the

environment in which I want to create for them. It has pushed me more into the field of teaching

and accomplishing my dreams.

Through defining my wants of going into education, I have of course started to define my

own personal philosophies. So much of learning is through the experiences around you. By being

able to take those experiences and then conduct careful analysis of the factors that are attributed

to that particular event is one of the many ways students can earn so much from their own

learning. Though not an extremist, I very much see myself as a progressivist. I believe students

will get so much out of their learning if they recognize that all the answers are not going to come

from a book or video, but it is the events that occur in everyday society. Progressivism also plays

a large role in other educational philosophies. Social reconstruction ideals are centered in first
recognizing what exactly is wrong with society, observations field by progressivism. Students

engaged in their own learning and potentially learning how certain things will impact their lives

deals with the values of existentialism. Students can still obtain the “essentials' ' of education as

essentialism stresses, and they can still learn from the great books in perennialism. Progressivism

just enables a more student focus which I believe is key in any individual's success. Continuing, I

do not think it is any surprise that the psychological orientation I lean on the most is

constructivism based on my philosophies. Building on information that students previously cna

recognize is an effective way to connect topics and bring out interesting discourse. There are

obvious faults in this system but I believe that it is effective in the use of scaffolding to help

deepen ideas and concepts.

Looking at a historical concept, students did not always have this ability to have so much

control in their learning. A lot of students did not even have the schools to even attempt to try

and expand their mind. Schools should be the institution where all students have the opportunity

to obtain knowledge that will benefit them for their lifetime, and the value of information is

ultimately decided by them. School should not be a place where students feel as though they are

workers in an assembly line to produce scores. The curriculum in which students learn has

expanded by so much. Although a lot argue that students are learning a lot less in school, I argue

that yes, the quantity of information has lessened, but the quality has greatly increased. Students

get so much more out of their learning and it all starts in the classroom.

The strategies in the classroom should reflect experiences students will encounter in their

lives. This includes cooperative learning, providing feedback, testing hypotheses, reinforcing

effort, etc. I have found in my own personal experience in school and through my observations

that students flourish when cooperating. Bouncing ideas and building off of eachother,
cooperation is one of the many ways in which students pioneer their own learning and must use

their different background and experiences to come together and produce a single product.

Continuing by giving students active and informative feedback as well as reinforcing their efforts

keeps morale high and encourages students to continue their pursuit in whatever topic or field.

When students are confident in their work and abilities it fuels their motivation. If they are

discouraged they back away and become scared of attempting new things or going the extra step,

something I never want my students to do. Learning should be fun but informative and provide a

lot more than baseline information. The makeup of a classroom also affects just how learning

will be conducted.

Student diversity is a very much welcomed thing in my classroom. I believe that the

diversity between students strengthens the lessons learned in cooperative learning. Students learn

from each other and can reflect on each other’s backgrounds. It also brings different perspectives

to events and concepts, something I believe is vital when teaching history, my preferred field.

Student variability is also important when it comes to the diversification of a classroom. All

students have their own challenges, strengths, and behaviors, and of course this benefits learning,

but it also benefits the teacher. Educators cannot gow from consistency. Teachers also thrive off

of cooperating and having discussions with their students. I personally cannot wait to be

challenged and to expand my own knowledge.

Assessment is a huge topic in learning and is highly debatable. For me, assessment not

only shows mastery in a topic, but it also shows that the student has the ability to expand and

build upon that said topic. Instead of multiple choice tests, I would much prefer my students to

write essays on how the Civil Rights Movement still impacts the institutions of American

society. Not only do they understand the concepts presented in the civil rights movement, but
they can relate the information to their everyday lives, building upon the original topic.

Assessment is an effective tool when used in the correct way and provides an opportunity for

additional learning.

Though I would like to flatter myself and say that I possess a good amount of qualities

already that I believe will allow me to move forward in this career, I know that I seriously lack

one of the most important ones. Besides pure passion, experience in the career is one of the most

important things that will affect your ability to move forward with the career and to get the most

out of it. I have already kickstarted the gaining of this quality by participating in teaching

observations. Because I am still in high school, I have offered to give my peers simple lessons in

order to experience classroom feedback. I plan on jumping at any opportunity that allows me to

be in a classroom and interact with students that includes volunteering, substitute teaching, and

potentially a future job in education while in university. Due to my unique situation, I will

graduate with my bachelors before most people and begin my teaching career earlier, allowing

more time to gain experience. To me, experience is gold, the most important resource that will

determine your success.

Overall, education is something that holds a very near and dear spot in my heart. It is a

passion I wish everyone would share and will do my best to translate my love of learning into

creating an environment in which students can achieve their best in learning. My personal

experience, observations, and beliefs have defined my personal educational philosophy. Through

the use of different orientations, strategies, and assessments, I plan to give my students

everything they can get out of learning yet still yearn for more.