Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Learning Episodes 1
Learning Episodes 1
Learning Episodes 1
Introduction
You have been acquainted with various philosophies. With which do you identify yourself? What is
your personal philosophy of education? You are expected to formulate it in this second lesson.
Your philosophy of education is your “window” to the world and “compass” in life. Hence, it may be
good to put that philosophy of education in writing. You surely have one just as everybody has only that
sometimes it is not well articulated. Your philosophy of education is reflected in your dealings with students,
colleagues, parents and administrators. Your attitude towards problems and life as a whole has an underlying
philosophy. In this lesson, you will articulate your thoughts on how you perceive the learner, on what are the
right values, on what and how you must therefore teach. If you articulate your philosophy of education, you may
find yourself more consistent in your dealings with other people, in your actions and decisions.
In modern times there are opposing views about the practice of education. There is no general
agreement about what the young should learn either in relation to virtue or in relation to the best life; nor is it
clear whether their education ought to be directed more towards the intellect than towards the character of the
soul and it is not certain whether training should be directed at things useful in life, or at those conducive to
virtue, or at non-essentials. There is no agreement as to what in fact does tend towards virtue. Men do not all
prize most highly the same virtue, so naturally they differ also about the proper training for it.
Behind every school and every teacher is a set of related beliefs – a philosophy of education that
influences what and how students are taught. A philosophy of education represents answers to questions about
the purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, and what should be taught and by what methods
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this episode you will gain competence in clarifying your values about teaching, and in
articulating and demonstrating one’s personal philosophy of teaching. The end goal is to be a positive role
model for students.
Specific Tasks
For you to be an effective teacher in the future it is important to first start with an awareness of your
values about teaching and then write your mission statement or philosophy that you will uphold with conviction.
To reach your target, do the following tasks:
1. Visit a school and interview some of the students, pre-service teachers, and in-service teachers about
their philosophy in life.
2. Based on your interview among the students, pre-service teachers, and the in-service teachers, formulate
an educational philosophy of a teacher.
3. Observe a teacher and identify the actions that would match the educational philosophy.
4. Analyze the values and philosophy behind the teachers’ beliefs.
5. Reflect about your own values and philosophy about teaching.
6. Express these values and philosophy in your own mission statement.
I believe that education is an individual, unique experience for every student who enters a
classroom. In order for children to benefit from what schools offer, I think that teachers must fully
understand the importance of their job. First, I believe that teachers must consider teaching to be a
I believe that all children have the ability to learn and the right to a quality education. All
youths, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, and capabilities should have the opportunity to learn from
professional, well-informed teachers who are sophisticated and knowledgeable, both in their area of
expertise and life. Certainly, every child has different learning styles and aptitudes; however, by
having a personal relationship with every student, a teacher can give each an equal chance of success.
By recognizing every student's potential and having separate, individual goals for each, a teacher can
accommodate personal needs and abilities and encourage the pursuit of academic aspirations.
I think that teaching and learning are reciprocal processes. When teachers nurture individual
talents in each child, educators can build self-esteem and may encourage a lifelong skill. By supporting
these special abilities, teachers can, for example, guide students' research, and students can, in turn,
enlighten teachers about subjects in which they may not be as knowledgeable. This mutual respect for
individual skills cultivates a professional academic relationship, leading to a give-and-take educational
alliance. This liaison allows students to feel that they are on equal intellectual ground with their
teachers, thus creating a strong academic atmosphere.
In addition to having a reciprocal relationship with one's students, it is vitally important for
teachers to form partnerships with fellow educators. Solid communication among teachers will
My Concrete Experience:
This activity will enable you to ask yourself about the different future practices or actions that
you will do in teaching. You may not have done it yet, but if you become a teacher, what would be
your response to each item? Your answers will identify what your philosophy of education is all about.
Answer each item in the Survey Questionnaire very honestly. There is no right or wrong
answer for each item. After you have answered each item, record your answers and look at the
interpretation at the back of this work text.
After you have answered the questionnaire yourself, you are to ask two teachers to do the same
activity.
WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION?
(Based on Sadker and Sadker, 1998: Teachers Schools and Society, 2nd Edition)
2 1. The student learning should be centered on basic subjects as reading, writing, history, math, and
science.
2 2. The school subject should focus on the great thinkers of the past
4 3. Many students learn best by engaging in the real-world activities rather than reading
Now that you have responded to all the items, write the number of your response to each item/statement
in the matrix below. Add the numbers in each column and put your sums in the bottom row to determine your
attitude and those of the two teachers toward key educational philosophies. Then indicate your rank order for
each column.
Once you have finished this exercise, look at the types of philosophies heading the columns on the
survey response sheet to find out what types are compatible with your beliefs and approaches.
My Observations:
Visit a teacher in a school and observe what school / classroom activities reflect his / her
philosophy of education while she is teaching. Identify and describe teacher’s action or behaviour and
match each with the identified educational philosophy.
A progressivist teacher’s actions are seem to be positive about everything and giving inspirational
speeches or quotes to students to live their lives to the fullest. They are often to be the bubbly ones,
those who believe that learning comes through answering questions and that experiments should be
used to test concepts.
An essentialist teachers are teachers that are driven to give knowledge to students. These teachers just
give then the students take but essentialist teachers give room for students to have a personal
development. An example for this is when a student’s sit and take notes in a classroom while the
teachers lectures in the front.
Perennialist teachers are teachers who is pretty much just like essentialist teachers but they do not give
room for students development because they believe that education should be centered on concepts that
have persisted for generations. They think the concepts are still valid and significant today as they
were before. They advise pupils to gain knowledge through reading and evaluating the works of the
greatest writers and thinkers in history.
Existentialist teachers often ask students how they feel about certain things and making them feel like
they can study what they want to. Teachers like these are flexible to their students since some students
needs to be taught or wants to be taught in a certain way, so the teacher adjusts.
My Reflections:
Based on your concrete experience and the action of the teacher you have observed, how
important is your philosophy of education to your future career as a teacher? How would your
experiences and observations contribute to your becoming a teacher?
We teachers like what the readings above have said, we teachers have different kinds of philosophy in
our teaching and this philosophy is important because it is somewhat the one that is driving us or
motivating us to teach in some way. In our philosophies in teaching or in education is important
because I believe that philosophy will help the students to learn more and the teachers to be consistent
in their teaching career. Before we decided to be a teacher, we have our own ideals why we want to
teach
and I believe philosophies come into that part. We have an ideals of teaching then the philosophy of
how we teach. Understanding my own philosophy is a very important step to be a teacher, this will
help me to figure out what type of teacher do I want to be in the future. Having my teaching
observation, I will be open in my own mind in the teaching world.
My Affirmed Concepts:
Identify at least three concepts learned in your previous topic like the Teaching Profession
which are related to the Belief /Philosophy of Education that are confirmed or affirmed in this activity?
Enumerate.
1. Teachers have their own teaching philosophies that they probably want to have when they were
a student. That’s why they want to become a teacher to share their belief in teaching that; that’s
what or how the student needs to learn.
2. Teachers can still learn or apply other philosophies even if they have already believed in one.
After learning another philosophy, they can adapt to it and can apply to their students or to
themselves.
3. A teacher that knows what teaching philosophy they have or want to apply will be easy to them
to teach students.
My Future Application:
Using the first hand experiences in this activity, how will I use these when I become a teacher in the future?
Not every student will fit in my believed philosophy under some circumstances so I willing to adjust to
the students who are in need. I will be sure that my students are able to move on or learn.
Like I have said above, teachers have different philosophy when in teaching in the future, I will not
think highly that my philosophy is better than other teachers to the point where I bash them. I will not
do that, I will be very respectful.
Even if I have a philosophy in mind, I know after having actual experiences in the field of teaching. I
believe my philosophy will be more tough or it will probably change.
CHELSIE Y. CARVAJAL
NAME & SIGNATURE OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHER