Educational Philosophy Background 1.

Core beliefs: Culture-The way that my culture has influenced my beliefs as a teacher is in a way that I want to try to rid myself of, my culture has taught me that tests and grades are the way to judge intelligence. I believe that this is an ineffective way of measuring what a person knows. However I do understand it is a necessary evil that I will be forced to deal with and I need to find a healthier attitude towards it. I also believe that the American culture that surrounds us is one that tells us that we are to be passive, unquestioning, consumers, not only of products but also ideas. One of my goals as a teacher is to undo some of the damage that this culture has imparted on children. Family values and beliefs-My family valued reading and exploring. This has affected me in that I believe the best way to learn something is to discover it on your own. My father was very smart, he was the type of guy that could absorb everything he heard and put ideas together quickly. My mother was not as book smart, she was very caring and kind but her specialty was art (http://namethatkid.net/) Through this I learned that all kinds of intelligence is important and that some people are just talented in different ways. To apply the same standards to everyone does not seem to be effective. As a teacher I will always try to find the individual talent of the student and focus my lessons to suit them. Politics-I believe that we are losing the principle in democracy and that people are becoming lethargic when it comes to government. I want to help teach students to become more active and take more control over their lives and country. A core political belief I have is that the most important part of politics, no matter what ideology you subscribe to, is to be informed. I think education is important because it not only informs us about the world around us but it helps pattern a way of thinking and looking at the world. Religion-I was raised in a religious home, where my parents were big on the God is love side of religion. This has influenced me in that we are all equal; this has also helped me gain a sense of patience and forgiveness. The other way that religion shaped me is that I questioned a lot of what I was taught and always met with resistance from my church leaders, if they had been more patient and accepting towards my questions I would have respected them more and probably been closer to their beliefs. This is important because as a teacher I need to remember that just because a student may seem like they are rebelling does not mean they are not interested. Education-I barely graduated high school and showed little outward interest in class, but I was interested and learned a little bit. Looking back I realize that the teachers I learned the most from were the ones that treated us most like adults and gave us the most academic freedoms. I spent the last two years living in my car and at my girlfriends house. I spent a lot of time talking with my teachers after classes about books, politics, etc. since I did not care about grades I was freer to learn what I wanted to learn and I think this was more beneficial than any education they could have given me through standardized curriculums. Personal Experiences- The main thing I have learned through personal experiences is that all life is a continuous process of learning, everything I thought I knew 5 years ago is the opposite of what I know now. I have learned that any truths are much more complex than we can imagine, for example; growing up I went through a Limbaugh phase, truth was black and white and people acted in defined ways because they were a certain way. A year and a half later I moved in with my girlfriend and her single mom (the dad was in jail) every perception I had was blown out of the water and I had to learn to look at things completely different. The reality of where they were and why they acted like they did was nothing like Rush taught me.

2. A. It is too difficult for me to choose just one philosophy since I believe that there are so many parts of each that are true and need to be learned from. If I am to narrow it down to which is the most important, the flour to my philosophy cake, I would have to say existentialism. I do not believe that there is one ultimate truth that I have the authority to pass down to the children; I believe there are patterns to be found in history but that these patterns can more complex than we make them out to be and that truth is much more complex than any one person can grasp, much less teach. I believe that the process of education is a personal one. I may be confusing the philosophical ideals of existentialism and the educational goals but that is because I am more familiar with the philosophy. My older brother is an agoraphobic and for 5 years spent his days in our library at home studying Kierkegaard, The Stranger was my favorite book during high school, Kafka is one of my favorite authors today (I made a myspace page for Gregor from Metamorphosis, if you have read the book and enjoy irony you may find it somewhat funny.. .http://myspace.com/ malakafka.) I live in the same apartment complex as my brother and he often comes over often and we discuss things of this nature. B. The influence that this will have on me as a teacher will be complicated; classrooms are not really set up for existential type learning to happen. Even the presence of a teacher and a classroom setting seem contradictory to existential ideals. The best thing I can do is to try to incorporate small pieces of the philosophy into my teaching; my classroom will be set up more towards the individual learner and I will focus on a more Socratic method of teaching. Discussions will be an important part of my lessons with the students helping to uncover different layers or views of what the truth is. My role as a teacher will not be authoritarian, I will not act as though everything should be believed only because I say it or it is written in a book. C. I expect that the students will learn subjectivity, that nothing is as simple as it looks. I want them to learn how to become more independent thinkers and to question things. I want them to get to the point where they are questioning what I present as the truth and showing me different sides or different angles to look at it from. That is the ideal, but a more tempered realistic view considering the way the schools are set up and that they will have had 8 years in the system by the time I get them and they will have 6 hours in the day with other teachers to my 45 minutes, I hope that they will start to understand not to take things on authority, that truth can sometimes be objective. If they can understand this even in the slightest, than I will feel like I made a huge difference in their lives. PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION STATEMENT