Diana Alvarado

9/20/2022
ECE 250
Philosophy of Education

I believe the purposes of education are to provide an equal opportunity for all children
and adults to better themselves, work hard, learn all that they can learn, and be successful
adults. I believe every child has the right to an equal education. I strongly believe in the No Child
Left Behind Act. I also believe that every child is smart and every child deserves to explore and
challenge their abilities in school. For all of this to happen, we need outstanding and caring
teachers. I believe teachers are very important in a child’s life. Teachers spend a tremendous
amount of time with their students and should teach them as much as they can. I believe school
and education should be a positive outlet for students.
Children learn best when they are in an environment that promotes learning and comfort.
I believe children learn best when they are fully focused in the lesson and fully interested.
Students give their best and understand the most when lessons are being taught in a way that
helps them understand. I also believe that student’s strive for more when teachers have high
expectations for them and have positive expectations. From working with kids, I have witnessed
that every student learns differently and at a different pace. You walk into a general education
classroom and they are all over the place. I believe it is important to accommodate each
student’s needs and adapt to each student as well. All children have different or certain needs
that need to be met and a way we can do that is by observing, documenting, and assessing. I
believe the third standard in the book Early Childhood Education Today, describes another
aspect of a teacher's job. A teacher’s job is to also observe, document and assess student’s
development to see in what way they can give support and teach their students. Just as
teachers are important in their student’s life, so are their parents. Some parents might not be as
involved in their child’s life as they should be, but maybe as a teacher reaching out to them can
nudge them towards that direction of being more involved in their students' lives. Growing up I
witnessed that my family was not that involved in my education. I wish they were and knew what
was going on in school and knew what I accomplished in school. The relationship between
parents and teachers is just as important as well. This helps teachers better accommodate a
child’s needs and help them be more successful in school. If a child needs extra practice
reading or writing, a teacher should express these concerns to the parent to see in what way the
parent could be of help at home. If a student is acting up or behaving a certain way and it
becomes a pattern everyday, a teacher should reach out to the parent and express this concern
as well. For this, there needs to be a positive relationship between the teacher and parent. Both
teachers and parents can collaborate to come up with effective strategies to help the student
academically and with behavioral problems.. Teachers should also encourage parents to stay in
contact and inform them of daily progress or incidents in the classroom.
Furthermore, I believe the curriculum of any classroom should include children’s social,
emotional, intellectual and physical development. In the book Early Childhood Education Today,
the author states that a teacher named Hokama believes that teachers must teach “the whole
child”. Hokama states that by teaching the whole child physical education they are developing
physically, emotionally, and intellecutally. Another way to contribute to the social development of
a child is by integrating other children’s culture into the classroom. Proving healthy and
respectful environments can also contribute to a child’s physical needs. A teacher’s qualities
should include good communication, caring, observant, creative, collaborative, patient, kind-
hearted, and overall professional. Any person that helps and cares for children are kind-n
hearted people already. A teacher should also be a mentor, leader, counselor, and friend to
students. It is important for a teacher to have a connection with their students. Children feel their
best and try their best when they trust their teacher.
Lastly, I will meet these goals by doing my best to teach all my students to love learning.
I believe every student has the ability to learn no matter the pace. Every student can learn at
their own pace and hopefully with my skills and understanding I will give them the appropriate
support and teaching available to them. I will be the teacher, mentor, leader, counselor and
friend to my students and a partner to the student’s parents. I will also meet these goals
observing, documenting, and assessing. I will also reach out to my colleagues and any
resources available to me when I need help or advice. The theories or research that ground my
philosophy is my experience working with students and the Early Childhood Education Today
book that I used as a resource for my philosophy. I learned about the six NAEYC standards.
They have helped me build my philosophy of education, but also opened my mind to try new
things.