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Valeria Lopez

Philosophy of Education

California State University Dominguez Hills

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Education is one of the most important qualities towards becoming successful. The only

people who can truly guide students towards success are teachers. I, as a future teacher, believe

that my job is to encourage my students to continue their education and be able to guide them

towards the right path. Our students are the ones who will become the CEO of a huge company,

police officers, doctors, lawyers, and even teachers. The purpose of education is not to pass out

papers, but rather the main reason for teaching is so all students are able to succeed (Bransford,

et al. 2005). What we want our students to do every day that they walk out from our classrooms

is become teachers themselves. We want them to become teachers in a sense that we want them

to set examples of what a positive role model looks like, and have the heart to help others when

help is needed. Our role as teachers is to teach students the knowledge they need to become

successful in the future, but it is also our job to help them become good citizens. Before we can

achieve all this, as teachers we must have a philosophy that will guide us as well as help us guide

our students’ towards success. This philosophy will explain our learning environment,

commitment to social justice, and how we will teach the curriculum.

I stand by the Essentialism philosophy in which, “schooling should be practical, and

preparing students to become valuable members of society” (Cohen, 1999, pg. 3). By saying this,

I believe that our students learn best in a classroom that is getting them ready for the real world

as well as being culturally responsive to their needs. Students learn best when there are

interactions among themselves, meaning we should have collaborative activities that will allow

our students to work together and learn from each other. For example, democracy diamonds

allow students to visually see and generate ideas or solutions, with the end goal of coming up

with some compromise (Pinto, 2013). During this activity, students are coming together as one to

come up with solutions to problems happening in their classrooms, or in their communities. I

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believe that students learn best when teachers use their time correctly and effectively. To

promote this in my classroom I will make sure that I have quick transitions which will allow us

to fluidly move from one subject to another without wasting time, and I will let students know

about their objectives for the day, which will allow them to know what they are expected to learn

for that day.

Just as our communities are diverse, so will our classrooms. As teachers, we must find

ways to create an equal and supportive environment. With race and diversity in the classroom,

teachers will realize “Students bring differences in intelligence and interest, in ethnicity and race,

in culture and gender” (Peterson et al., 2006, pg. 113). In order to respect my students, I will

make sure to learn about and respect all the different cultures in my classroom. Only this way

will I know how to be fair and respectful of my students’ cultures. I must be careful and avoid

any biases, and if I am to praise students then it should be all students. To ensure that fairness is

understood in my classroom, I will make sure my students understand why some students get

extra help during class and use different aids while doing their work. I will tell students that

although we all achieve our goals differently, we all cross the same finish line. To promote

equity within my classroom, I will have equity sticks by my side. Equity sticks will allow me to

shy away from just picking the same student every time, and instead allow for everyone to have

an equal chance to voice their opinions (Pinto, 2013). Overall, I want students to know that I

respect them and care for them inside and outside of school, but I also want them to learn and

respect each other.

I believe that we should teach what we must teach. This means to each all of the subjects

with the same kind of energy that we teach every other subject. No subject should get more time

or effort, each subject should be taught equally. The curriculum should be based on our state
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standards but as well as reflect our students. I believe that our curriculum is learned best through

a constructivism environment because essentially our students will learn based on their own

experiences and reflecting on them. By having students become problem solvers, and going out

into their community to do experiments will create a classroom environment where students are

excited to learn. If we want students to become successful in the future we need to expose them

to the world around them, and have them become familiar with it. I will promote this

constructive learning environment when teaching the curriculum in my classroom by making

sure to provide multiple modes of representations and perspectives of the content, create new

understandings by scaffolding, and using mistakes as reflective experiences (Christie, 2005). By

using this type of learning theory, when teaching subjects like math and science students will be

able to collaborate with instructors and peers, and build on his or her prior knowledge and

experiences (Christie, 2005). Our curriculum should pose questions and problems that are or will

be relevant to students community and lives, which will make learning the curriculum culturally

relevant to our students (Thirteen Ed Online, 2004). Overall, I believe that students learn their

curriculum best in this type of environment because they can see themselves and their interests

reflected in the classroom, which will encourage them to participate and want to learn.

Teachers will evolve during their instruction years. Some of the effective characteristics

that teachers share are being creative, patient, and culturally responsive. A teacher’s goal will

always be to guide their students towards millions of possibilities, and help them break any

barriers if they are to face one. As teachers we never stop learning, whether it is learning from

our students or from our mistakes, we will always learn something new every day. For us to

continue to learn and develop professionally we need to learn how to take criticism and use it to

our advantage.
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It is our responsibility as teachers to always acknowledge the importance of education,

create a perfect learning environment, introduce diversity, and teach the curriculum that will

soon lead students onto a successful road filled will numerous opportunities.
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References

Bransford, J., Darling-Hammond, L., & LePage, P. (2005). Preparing Teachers for a Changing

World: What Teachers Should Learn and Be Able to Do (1 ed., pp. 1-39). San Francisco,

CA: Jossey-Bass.

Cohen, L. M. (n.d.). (1999). Educational Philosophies.

http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP3.html

Christie, A. (2005). Constructivism and its implications for educators.

http://alicechristie.com/edtech/learning/constructivism/index.htm

Peterson, P.E., Wilson, S.M. (2006). Theories of learning and teaching: What do they mean for

educators?

Pinto, L. (2013). From discipline to culturally responsive engagement: 45 classroom

management strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin a Sage Company.

Thirteen Ed Online (2004). Constructivism as a paradigm for teaching and learning.

http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html