Philosophy of Education

Kendal Carter
Philosophy of Education
Dominican University
April 6, 2015

I believe all students should be accepted and embraced for who they are as individuals
inside and out of the classroom. I believe all students should be given opportunities to grow, be
challenged, and make mistakes in a safe space. I believe everyones voice deserves to be heard
and everyones thoughts and feelings need to be respected. As an educator, it is crucial that I
make sure that all of my students are learning in a safe and nurturing environment that challenges
them to work together, think outside of the box, learn from each other, and try new things. My
students will know that it is okay to make mistakes, but it is not okay to not try. In my
classroom, all students will be challenged to grow as learners, they will know that their opinions
are valid and that their voices will be heard, and they will have a safe space to challenge and help
each other to do their best.
In order to teach the students in a classroom, it is crucial to first learn about the class as a
whole and individually in order to be able to design engaging lessons, which cover the academic
content standards and are developmentally appropriate for the class. After planning a lesson
where this will fit the majority of the class, it is important to be able to take that lesson and then
modify it for students with different learning needs. Each lesson should be able to be adapted for
gifted learners, for ELD students, and for students who have any type of learning challenge. As
teachers, it is our job to get to know our students not only on an academic level but also on a

Philosophy of Education

personal level in order to know how to best fulfill their learning needs. I will draw upon my
understanding of patterns of child and adolescent development to understand my students by
using formal and informal methods, assessing students prior mastery of academic language
abilities, content knowledge, and skills, and maximize learning opportunities for all students in
the class. I will learn about my students abilities, ideas, interests and aspirations through the
relationships we build throughout the year. At the start of each year I will have intake
conferences with parents to get a better feeling for the students community contexts, culture,
health, and language backgrounds. This will help to ensure that I am looking at the child as a
whole and not just who they are while they are in my classroom. I will be able to look at the
students through many different lenses to gain a much greater understanding of how these factors
influence student interactions and student learning. The results of assessment data, classroom
observation, reflection, and consultation with the parents will allow me to see which children
need differentiation in my classroom. I will be able to identify students who need specialized
instruction, such as gifted students and/or students with physical disabilities, learning disabilities,
or health conditions requiring instructional adaptations and will work with my grade level team
to develop strategies and adaptations to help everyone succeed.
As an educator, it is crucial to create and maintain effective environments for student
learning. At the beginning of each school day, I begin by going over the instructional times as a
class walking my students through each step of the day. I will preview the lessons of the day for
students by briefly expanding upon what each task on the board represents. For example, if the
board says buddy time when we are going over the plans for the day, I will tell the students that
we are going into the buddy classroom and working with our buddies on a writing prompt and

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coloring four leaf clovers. While students are working I will write down how many minutes they
have left to complete an activity on the board quietly and then I will vocally give the students a
five minute warning to finish up what they are working on before we move on to our next task.
Developing and maintaining clear expectations for academic and social behavior will
achieve a positive climate for learning in my classroom. At the beginning of the school year, we
will come up with a list of classroom agreements to follow throughout the year. As a class we
will outline rewards and incentives for following these guidelines on an individual, table group,
and class wide levels. We will also set up guidelines for what will happen if students are not
living up to these classroom agreements on an individual level. The first few weeks of school
will be crucial for setting the rest of our year up for success which is why I believe the first few
weeks should be focused on classroom routines, guidelines, and establishing a sense of
community in the classroom through the promotion of student engagement through collaborative
activities and joint problem solving.
By starting out the year with clear expectations for academic and social behavior,
developing a classroom climate of support and community, and by taking time to learn about my
students as individuals as well as how they interact and learn as a class, I will set everyone up for
a successful year. Among the many classrooms I have observed and student taught in, the most
successful ones were classes that took time in the beginning for the students and teacher to get to
know each other and setting up the routines for the rest of the year. As a teacher I want my
students to know that they are respected and that they add to our classroom. I want them to feel
challenged to push themselves and work together to become stronger students and grow both as a
class and as individuals.

Philosophy of Education