University California Riverside

Educational Philosophy Statement

Elsa Serafin

May 18, 2019

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Educational Philosophies

In education there are six educational philosophies; a teacher will usually fall

under one or more philosophies when describing their teaching habits, methods of

delivery, and instructions. The two perspectives that the philosophies fall under are

authoritative which can be described as idealist and realist, and non-authoritative which is

pragmatic and postmodern. The authoritative perspective which is more of lecture based

and teacher directed mode of teaching has three philosophies which include authoritative

essentialism, essentialism and behaviorism. The non-authoritative perspective is more of

a teacher facilitated style, and also has three philosophies which include constructivism,

critical pedagogy, and multiculturalism (Flores, 2009) Teachers’ instructional style is not

limited to one perspective, as teachers may very in their personal style, and teachers may,

at times, fall under both authoritative and non-authoritative styles.

Philosophy Style

The two philosophies that I feel best describe my own instructional style are

behaviorism and constructivism. I believe these two philosophies best describe me

because human development is learned, thus allowing teachers a system of rewards and

punishment to e able to change student behavior in the classroom. As teachers, we have a

responsibility to shape students’ behavior and help them excel in their studies. Part of

behaviorism is assuming that human behavior is learned, that all behaviors can also be

unlearned, and replaced by new behaviors; that is, when a behavior becomes

unacceptable, it can be replaced by an acceptable one (Standridge, 2002). Additionally, I

believe that students achieve a better understanding of a lecture by allowing them to

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discuss in class and also by allowing time for them interact with one another so they can

convey their thoughts about lecture. If students have trouble comprehending part of the

lesson, a teacher’s responsibility is to then ask students good questions of the topic in

order to provide thought. Vygotsky observed that when children were tested on task on

their own, they rarely did well as well as when they were working in collaboration with

an adult. It was by no means always the case that the adult was teaching them how to

perform the task, but that the process of engagement with an adult enabled them to refine

their thinking or their performance to make it more effective (Atherton, 2009).

Nature of Men

Abraham Maslow refers to a hierarchy of needs relating to human motivation; as

teachers, it is important for us to be able to motivate our students. Specifically, Maslow

associates what he calls “ego needs”. These are belongingness needs of love, meaning to

affiliate with others and be accepted, and self-esteem needs which include achievement,

being competent, and gaining approval and recognition (Huitt, 2004). This is evident in

students that I work with; they have a desire of being accepted by their peers and a need

to feel that they have been able to accomplish the task. As a teacher I can help students

boost their self esteem by calling them to answer a question when I know they know the

answer; this will help them not only with their confidence, but also create a positive class

environment. On the contrary, teachers also have to be sensitive to the needs of the

students who do not know the answer, making sure not to alienate the student.

Constructivism usually means encouraging students to use active techniques to create

more knowledge and then to reflect on the talk about what they are doing and how their

understanding is changing (Educational Broadcasting Corporation 2014). For example,

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during my observation at a class in Pinacate Middle School, the teacher went over an

assignment with the students incorporating their questions. Mrs. Rose gave the

assignment, a specific time limit for completion, and students were able to work in

groups. After Mrs. Rose established time limit was up, Mrs. Rose ask how many

students were done… all were silent. Then she said, “Come on you guys this stuff is

review, seven graders can you do this, you had enough time to finish,” then proceeded to

allow five more minutes to complete the assignment.

Personal Reflection. In my opinion, as a behaviorist, I would not have allowed

more time to complete the assignment, because a time limit was already set. By allowing

more time, I believe, the teacher set up a precedence that allowing more time could and

would happen in the future. In addition, by allowing more time it makes students

identify the assignment as insignificant, because they assume that more time will be

allowed if not completed. Furthermore, it seems to me that the teacher observing, he

teacher played a video from “3DELTeaching program” which is a program the school

purchased to help students visually see lecture, in this case, how words and sentence can

be connected. In this lecture I would be following the philosophy of constructivism by

having students work in groups and allowing them to interpret their own understanding of

the lecture, sharing with each other and helping one another to learn; having students

individually discuss what words fits in completing a sentence and having Students repeat

the sentences together. When anyone, including the teacher, can reconstruct and accept

the sense- making that has gone into a conclusion, the answer can stand (Oaks, 2007, p.

106).
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Obstacles teachers may face with the nature of society are lack of parental

involvement and students not knowing English; these students are known as English

Learners (ELL) At PUHSD, I have encountered many classrooms with these obstacles.

By using visuals, allowing time for cooperative groups to discuss the lesson, active

student participations, and writing key notes on the board, I feel it may help ELL students

to understand the lesson better and create a more supportive classroom. To get more

parental involvement I would get parents phone numbers and e-mail address. This would

assist in the education of parents as well, letting parents know how their child is doing in

class, and regularly allowing for students progress to be communicated. This

communication would provide an avenue for concerns or questions that parents may

have. My commitment level to this tactic would require immense tenacity, and through

follow up, but I feel that good communication is crucial to student success.

Finally, as teacher having knowledge of the community in which she/he teaches

will help them understand where their students come from and the types of needs the

students require. As I mentioned before, at PUHSD, there are many students that are

ELL. By incorporating students’ first language and their culture in class, it will help

create a welcoming and supportive environment (Wilddowsen 1990; Savignon 1997).

Creating an environment in which ELL students are able to participate in all class

activities, for example, having volunteers help them out when they are trying to convey a

point in the classroom discussion, also having bilingual dictionaries at hand will help

them feel involved in the lecture.

Another way to help ELL’s is to change the lesson plans to include more visual or

modifying the lectures to more basic English, by doing this it will ensure that ELL’s
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students are able to succeed at task given by making the lesson more understandable.

Teachers also need to make modifications for Special Needs Students. Creating an

environment where all students are able to participate in classroom activities makes

student feel that they are part of a group and accepted in the classroom. The role of the

teacher is to enter into a dialogue with the learner, trying to understand what is the

student needs.

References

Atherton, J. S. (2009). Learning and Teaching: Constructivism in Learning. Retrieved

June 28, 2009. Web site:

http://www.learningandteaching.info/learning/constructivism.html

Educational Broadcasting Corporation. (2004). Constructivism as a Paradigm for

Teaching and Learning. Retrieved June 28, 2009, from Concepts to Classroom Web

Site: http://www.thirteen.org/eduonline/concepts2.class/constructivism/index.html

Flores, David (2009). Education 501 Lecture, June 23,2009.

Huitt, W. (2004). Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Retrieved July 1, 2009, from

Educational Psychology Interactive. Valdosta, GA: Valdosta State University web site:

http://www.chiron.valdosta.ed/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html

Oakes, J. & Lipton M. (2007). Teaching to Change the World. New York: McGrall-Hill

Standridge, M. (2002) Emerging Perspective on Learning, Teaching, and Technology.

Widdowson & Savignon (1990; 1997). Techniques & Principles in Language Teaching.

Diane Larsen-Freeman and Marti Anderson

Oxford University Press 2011