Introduction

Philosophy of education looks into the philosophical study of education and the

problems encountered in the education field (Noddings, 1998). According to Noddings (1998),

the word philosophy meant love of wisdom. The philosophy of education is important

because it contributes to the growing educational theories and concepts (Jordan, 2008). Experts

are guided by the philosophy of education in developing and evaluating educational theories

and concepts by looking into the pedagogical history of ideas and theories found in the realm

of philosophy of education (Jordan, 2008). So, what is an education? Education is vital to shape

an all-round individual through a well-rounded education. To fulfill the underlying aims of

education, apart from developing academic skills, students are also nurtured in aspects of

problem solving skills, critical thinking skills, communicative skills, collaboration skills,

creativity, and many more to prepare students for the future workplace (A Well-Rounded

Education, n.d.).

The Nature of Learners

The nature of learners is this: children learn through observation and imitation.

Growing up, I have never stopped learning. I observe and imitate how my parents and brothers

behave. I have learned many basic human functions like walking, talking, eating, toilet training,

cleaning, and a whole host of tasks through observation and imitation. That is also the case of

how so many children and teenagers learn nowadays.

Going for my teaching practice has opened my eyes to a wide range of disciplinary

issues, something that has been going on for a long period of time and may never even be

completely dealt with or solved. During my teaching practice, I am utterly surprised by how

much my students know about sexual explicit contents at the age of 16 and the amount of

swearwords they use. Worse yet, one student was not shy to publicly holler inappropriate words

1
during the lesson. Once I remove the student from the group to reprimand him in private, he

would shy away from my gaze and avoid the question completely. Later, I was told that the

childs single mother exhibited behaviours that are indirectly telling the child that she has given

up on him. What has gone wrong with the way our children are learning today? Naturally,

when children do not get the attention they need or their needs met, they will engage in

undesirable behaviors to get the attention they need. In this case, a lack of attention can cause

grievous effect to the child mentally, emotionally, and physically.

One of my major aims as a teacher is to be a role model to my students and make them

feel appreciated and cared for. Since young, I have never had a time while I was growing up

where I was left alone at home or at a day care centre. My parents were good role models to

me and they would go all the way to make sure that we grow up as decent human beings

imparting moral and religious values strictly and indefinitely. Sadly, that is not the case with

so many children in families where parents put work before their children. Many students in

schools are the product of their parents neglect, sacrificing the golden years for them to impart

morality and important humanity values to their children. Unfortunately, the responsibility of

educating their children falls on the teachers shoulder without question.

Peer influence affects the nature of learner. Students are placed in tuition centres or day

care centres every day after school. They spend almost all day with their peers and little to no

time with their parents. As per the saying, Monkey see, monkey do, peer pressure has gotten

so many students falling into bad habits. I see my students smoking and riding loud motorcycles

in front of the school gate after schooling hours. To gain acceptance in their peer groups, almost

every student now owns a smartphone in school. Parents fulfilled their childrens desire by

purchasing a smartphone for a dash of happiness of their children without realizing the ultimate

2
price they have to pay their childrens declining morality. Children look upon their parents

as role models, and if they are not reprimanded for the wrong things theyve done, they will

grow up thinking that those behaviours are acceptable. Perhaps, this is the reason why so many

children are falling behind in education due to issues of neglect at home. I believe that by being

a good role model and showering them with more love and attention, the nature of learner and

the learning experience will definitely be influenced positively.

The role of the teacher

Before I made up my mind to become an English teacher, I sought to venture into the

field of Science, to become a Biochemist. I was blinded by the idea of having better future

prospects and receiving higher salary, I was very much wrong and extremely unhappy. It was

during SPM that I discovered my newfound passion in teaching, very much influenced by my

parents. I see how teachers can positively impact students lives, give them hope, set goals for

them, and most importantly shape them into becoming future leaders by tapping into their full

potential. If this is not rewarding enough to have as a job, I dont know what is.

Many teachers in schools practice the hidden curriculum. Teachers set high goals for

higher achieving classes with greater learning experiences and sense of accomplishment,

whereas low achieving classes receive just enough workload to get by and hopefully learn

something to help them pass their examinations. The teachers are unconsciously delivering a

message that is telling the low achieving students that they are worthless and hopeless. Yet, I

beg to differ. I see each student with a lot of untapped potential waiting to be unleashed.

I want to become a teacher who can see the different potentials in students, not just in

the aspect of academic. As quoted by Charles Kuralt, Good teachers know how to bring out

the best in students. I firmly believe that every student has equal potential to succeed through

3
various ways in different aspects and different learning styles. I came to know a student who

has low English proficiency but was very interested to learn English. She struggled a lot due

to the ignorant attitude of her English teacher. Her English improved under my guidance and

she was able to converse in simple English. On my last day of teaching practice, shed sewn a

handcraft with my name and a cartoon bear on it, it was the best piece of handcraft Ive ever

seen. Every student is equipped with the same potential to succeed. It might not be in terms of

academic, but it may be hands-on tasks or any other skills that they are good at. As a teacher,

I want to proudly endorse their interest and encourage them to keep up the good work. Sadly,

many teachers today fail to see this and categorize academically weak students as hopeless.

As my students leader, I strive to relate to my students feelings on a personal level

and understand their struggles and difficulties without making biased assumptions. Given the

right amount of motivation and inspiration, I believe that my students are able to perform to

the best of their abilities. Students need to feel that I am able to understand them, truly cares

for them and genuinely wants to help them. I will not teach the students the way they do not

want to be taught. Take Elon Musk for example, the founder of PayPal, co-founder and CEO

of Tesla Motors, and founder and CEO of SpaceX, whom displayed great leadership and lead

by example. Instead of avoiding chores or menial tasks as a founder and co-founder of his

companies, he has put words into action and 100 percent more effort than an average worker

(Top 10 in Leadership from Elon Musk, n.d.). A leader who leads by example will win the

hearts and trusts of people, and that is one of my top aims as a leader to my students.

I believe that teachers are placed next after parents as caregivers in fostering a childs

development. In school, cognitive development happens when students social and emotional

needs are met (Earls et. al., 1987; ODonnell et. al., 1995). Students look up to their teachers

4
as role models and to seek emotional reassurance. When teachers have given up on them, how

can students ever believe that they have the capability to improve? More than four students

told me that their English teacher dumbed them down by calling them stupid, raising their

affective filter towards learning the subject, and hindering their willingness to attempt the tasks

given in class. As my students caregiver, I will attend to all of my students in the class and

motivate each and every one of them. This was what I did during my teaching practice. I know

this job will not be easy, but I always find myself smiling in satisfaction after every lesson from

a very rewarding experience seeing students understanding the lesson well in exchange for the

sleepless nights of lesson planning. This is something I still reflect upon every single day.

With that being said, instead of being an authority that students should respect, I work

towards becoming their leader, caregiver and servant, providing them support not just

academically, but relating to them on a more personal level emotionally, physically, and

intellectually in various aspects of their lives.

Teaching strategies/methods

When thinking about the best teaching strategies and methods, it is natural to reflect

upon the teaching strategies and methods of our teachers in the past. Growing up, I attended a

Chinese national-type primary school where English was taught through drilling and excessive

homework. Back then, I have never really learnt how to apply the language in different contexts.

Fast forward to secondary school, my teachers adopted similar approach to teach English and

lessons are based on direct instructional method. In my opinion, it is a traditional method of

teaching which has been deeply engraved in the Malaysian education system and is extremely

difficult to abolish, even during the emergent of technology and 21st century learning.

5
 During my first 2 weeks of teaching practice, my students were disinterested in the

lesson. Later, I observed that this was due to the method which the teachers were using.

Teachers would give model answers to questions with no interaction. This encourages

teenagers to engage in unacceptable behaviours because they are bored. In spite of that,

teachers never really address this issue, carrying out punishments and labelling these students

as disruptive. As a facilitator in the 21st century, I want to tap into my students interest by

incorporating technology and breed critical thinkers. As an example, I taught my students how

to use TripAdvisor to plan trips to Cameron Highlands, in which they show great interest to be

able to access the internet alone. I believe that as a 21st century teacher, I must always keep up

with the current trends to be able to analyze their needs and interest closely.

I agree with Aristotles philosophy of education that emphasized an all-round and

balanced development incorporating play, physical training, music, debate, and studying

science and philosophy in the process of forming an individuals body, mind, and soul (Smith,

2001). In short, I believe fun learning is necessary to develop an all-rounded individual. A

classroom that emphasizes fun learning is frowned upon by many educators nowadays due to

the heavy preparation needed to develop the lesson. On the contrary, I believe that fun learning

can be achieved through early preparation. Take for example, I do not depend solely on

worksheets in order to teach preposition of place, what I did was this: I set up a crime scene at

one corner of the classroom, gave each student a crime scene report, and get them to describe

the crime scene using the preposition of place, students were also allowed to guess the murderer.

The lesson was very much straight to the point and engaging. The rationale of that lesson was

to involve students to be autonomous in their learning, apply critical thinking, and the

opportunity to walk around with purpose instead of just sitting down answering questions on

papers without much visual guides, this is my definition of fun learning.

6
 It is all but normal to think that a teachers main duty is to impart knowledge to students.

To Aristotle, the goal of education is not just about the attainment of knowledge but also the

attainment of happiness and goodness in life (Farooq, 2011). I strongly agree with Aristotle

that education of the early childhood period should be the responsibility of the parents.

(Farooq, 2011) After this, the state would be responsible for the childs further education. Even

so, parents are still responsible for their childrens moral education and development (Farooq,

2011). With so many parents placing career before their children, it is natural to think why so

many children are lacking in morals and ethics. With that being said, I intend to incorporate

morals and ethics in my lessons to teach them good from bad. To do so, I can introduce moral

values to students through the teaching of literary texts, instilling important values and

equipping them with the knowledge to differentiate the good from the bad.

Finally, as a coach, I aspire to reach out to students from different abilities and help

students to realize their full potential. Students learn according to different learning styles, if

teachers are only teaching using the audio-visual learning style, students who fall under the

kinesthetic learning style will be at a major disadvantage. Similarly, assessments carried out in

schools test students ability to only read and write and of lesser significance on speaking and

listening. As a result, there are more than 400,000 graduates who are unemployed due to their

inability to speak English (Hussaini, 2016). Teachers are so focused in teaching to the test to

the extent which they have greatly sacrificed students communicative competency. The best

way to overcome this issue is to find a leverage which students can be motivated and can relate

to the different modalities well. This can be achieved through well thought out lessons based

on fun learning and education technology. A few good examples would be to conduct lessons

7
that require students to make a sandwich with written directions, film their own weather report,

and create and describe their own character through Sims 4 simulation game.

The role of the school

When we talk about the role of the school, the first thought that came to mind was

multilingual public schools that are vastly available anywhere in Malaysia. We have often left

out the alternatives to public education: private schools, Chinese independent high schools,

Islamic religious schools, international schools, and homeschooling.

According to Sharma (n.d.), a school must be able to stimulate curiosity in young

people and prepare them with the tools necessary for them to become better human beings in

terms of mental, social, physical and overall aspects. I strongly agree with Sharmas (n.d.)

definition of the role of the school; even so, I believe that school should foster a healthy, safe

and supportive learning environment in order for students to achieve growth in all aspects.

According to Parrett and Budge (2011), children and adolescents need to feel safe and

supported to learn, they stressed that every student needs and deserves to feel respected and

free from physical harm, intimidation, harassment, and bullying. In Malaysia, there has been

a growing trend to homeschool children. According to Jason (2016), there is an estimation of

nearly 10,000 Malaysian children who were homeschooled as of 2012.

If the role of the school is to provide a safe environment, then why do so many bullying

cases still happen in schools? During my 3 months of teaching practice, two of my students

were expelled from the school for involving in fights and bullying cases, Ive also heard news

of an anonymous student who left a note to the counsellors threatening to attempt suicide due

to bullying. What role does the school play in relation to this issue? In this case, I believe

homeschooling is the better option for parents to keep their children safe from the rising

8
bullying cases happening in Malaysia as of 2017 this year. In that sense, homeschooled children

are able to study in a safe environment from the comfort of their homes with their parents as

their educators. The rationale is this: parents understand their children best, their weakness and

their strength, the best way for them to learn, and most importantly, their interest (Chong, 2008).

Furthermore, I firmly believe that the role of the school is a place to support character

building as well as morals and ethics development of a child. However, most schooling systems

in Malaysia fail in this aspect due to overemphasis on academic performance. Such

unpromising condition of the Malaysian education system has prompted some parents to try

homeschooling their children at home. Besides that, schools have become, as quoted by Chong

(2008), a pressure cooker with too much homework, heavy emphasis on examination success,

with more importance on head knowledge rather than heart knowledge, no wonder more

parents are turning to homeschooling, so that children need not sit still and remain quiet in

class and their success will not be confined to only the percentage of test scores.

I believe that schools play an important role in teaching students to believe that they

can impact the society and the world using their own capabilities. Still, that isnt always the

case. Malaysia schools practice streaming whereby students are grouped according to their

perceived aptitudes. The hidden curriculum conveyed assumptions about science stream

being more important than art stream. In school, there seem to be a notion that science students

are high achievers and arts students are low achievers, therefore science students are smarter

with better future prospect of becoming doctors, engineers, scientists, or physicists and greater

chances of gaining university admissions. From my point philosophy of education point of

view, such school streaming system has turned into a form of indoctrination which hurts the

underachievers and significantly lowered their self-esteem. As a product of this schooling

9
system, I too, was molded by society into thinking that if I did not enter science stream, my

future will be over, but I was told that I can always switch over to arts later, all I needed was

a certificate in science for it to look good when I apply for universities or jobs in future.

The school is also the place for teachers like me to realize my beliefs for a fun learning

classroom by providing sufficient infrastructure like computer labs and Frog VLE classrooms.

Students are able to access the internet and learn the proper ways of searching for information

online, as well as learn skills that will be useful for their jobs in future.

To sum up, I believe that the role of the school is to impart morals and ethics to students,

at the same time equipping students with a safe and supported learning environment for

effective learning to take place, academic achievement comes in second. Moreover, school is

a place where students can unleash their full potential and use it to the best of their abilities by

applying their knowledge in future workplace instead of competing against the notions and

expectations fabricated by the mainstream society.

Conclusion

In conclusion, developing my own philosophy of education has allowed me to view the

major issues encountered in the education field that needed to be addressed from a birds eye

view. The philosophy of education encompasses all aspects of education from the roles of

teachers, students and schools, to the teaching methods and strategies. Penning down my own

philosophy of education gave me a better sense on what kind of teacher I want to become in

future. Of course, my students development and happiness will be my utmost priority. This

career path that Ive chosen as an educator has been extremely promising and rewarding so far

that I am willing to continue down this journey as a teacher for many more generations to come.

I will become a teacher who will bring about positive change in education.

10
 References

Noddings, N. (1995). Philosophy of education. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.

Jordan, A., Carlile, O., and Stack, A. Approaches to learning: A guide for teachers. Open
University Press, 2008.

A Well-Rounded Education. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://timeandlearning.org/research/well-

rounded-education

Dumont, H., & Istance, D. (2010). Analysing and designing learning environment for 21st
century. In H. Dumont, D. Istance, & F. Benavides (Eds.), The nature of learning: Using
research to inspire practice. Centre for Educational Research and Innovation. Paris:
OECD.

Smith, M. K. (2001). Aristotle and education. Retrieved from http://infed.org/mobi/aristotle-

and-education/

Farooq, U. (2011). Aristotle theory, view, aim, curriculum & method of education. Retrieved
from http://www.studylecturenotes.com/social-sciences/education/247-aristotle-theory-of-
education

Sharma, D. (n.d.). The importance of school education in child development. Retrieved from
http://www.educationworld.in/teacher-resources/the-importance-of-school-education-in-
child-development.html

Parrett, W. & Budge, K. M. (2011). Turning high-poverty schools into high-performing

schools.

Jason, L. (2016). What you need to know before homeschooling your kids in Malaysia.
Retrieved from https://cilisos.my/what-you-need-to-know-before-homeschooling-your-kids-
in-malaysia/

Chong, W. L. (2008). Learning beyond schooling: Bringing out childrens true potentials.
Pelanduk Publications.

Earls, F., Beardslee, W. & Garrison, W. (1987) Correlates and Predictors of Competence in
Young Children, in E. J. Anthony & B. Cohler (Eds) The Invulnerable Child, pp. 7083. New
York: Guilford.

ODonnell, J., Hawkins, D., Catalano, R., Abbott, R.D. & Day, L.E. (1995) Preventing
School Failure, Drug Use, and Delinquency among Low-income Children: long-term
prevention in elementary schools, American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 65, pp. 87100.

11