(Repost from my forgotten Multiply account Aug 22, '09)
Truth is “it’s not that easy to make your own educational philosophy”. I had been browsing all over the net, scouting for any idea on how I think I can make my own philosophy in teaching. I have read about tons of reflective blogs and journals telling their own tales of how difficult it is to make one. As a student taking up an early childhood in education degree, one can’t help but ask his or her true purpose on why he or she took a path on a start of a “possible teaching career”. I mean ever since I was young, I never had in mind the idea that I would be even a teacher, it was only later that I realized that I wanted it so badly. Perhaps answering my purpose on why I have taken up this path can shed some light on what my aim is as a teacher and what my educational philosophy is.
I had taken up a degree first on mass media; Philippine in Mass Media to be exact. In one of my English Communication course, I had a chance to write an essay about something I REALLY want to discuss. It was like everything under the sun can be talked about. It was a final essay paper to complete a portfolio (much like this one). Picking on a subject, I thought it would be easy for me since we were allowed to make a choice. At the end, it as if I had fallen into discussing the topic about how media affects children. Having to (supposed to) have focused on media, I have taken instead my whole essay into an area I was not interested my whole life--CHILDREN. Of course everyone knew the importance of children, how they are said to be the future of our country and all those colorful set of clichés found on the net—those are true. I began on setting my course of researching about children since then on. Just to finish my first story, when I was able to pass my final essay paper on how media affects children it was as if it turned to a paper about how children are important in our society. Making that classic mistake of morphing my true objective in writing that paper, I saw the paper as a failure in writing (well not actually in class) but also on the other hand as another way of finally knowing what I really want to do—TO TEACH. Having to know how important children are, I understood the importance of children’s formation especially in their early years; thus, resulting to me having to shift college and course.
Knowing now the reason and purpose why I shifted can perhaps now help me form my own educational philosophy. My purpose is to help children make their full potential. And how can I do this? Through education.
In my early weeks of being part of the whole early childhood program, various lectures from different Major courses (such as ECEDCHD, ECEDSPD, ECEDFND and ECEDLAN) have summed up the importance of school. “Success in school=Success in life”. Perhaps this is what early childhood education really is all about. While it is for children their first time to enter in school, at this time, we are introducing them various possibilities of successes in their life. But as teachers, what are the different educational philosophies that do you think we can consider in helping make success in our kids’ life possible?
As we’ve discussed weeks ahead (or let’s just say based on what I’ve understood in class), There are three streams of educational ideology—these are namely Romanticism, cultural transmission and progressivism. If I was to choose, I would probably be the teacher who would follow a progressivism educational ideology. Besides from the child developing higher thinking skills through an experimental environment, the child has the opportunity to explore his surroundings and by having the opportunity means the ability to choose. Thus, everything around a child that is not forced can be interesting. I believe that making things interesting for a child enforces the idea that whatever he or she is doing is fun. As a result, the child enjoys the idea that learning can fun. I do think that this should be the way lessons especially in an early childhood setting schools are ought to be taught. If I was to be a teacher in this kind of setting, I would enforce an environment that children won’t be afraid to ask questions not only to the teachers but also to each and everyone around them. In a true community, the members of the group strive to work toward a greater goal, whatever that may be—to do together what is necessary for the betterment or sustainability of the community. Members of a community find success when they treat each other as equals; communities succeed because each member plays more than one role within the community, allowing for multiple modes of interaction and the sharing of knowledge and ability when needed. In this view, each member of the community (students) is both a learner and teacher. Each member has an opportunity to share his/her strengths, as well as the opportunity to learn, whereas in the factory, the product, once produced, is likely to be unchangeable without being broken.
I believe that the most salient and rich learning experiences come from cooperative discovery and challenging subject matter. I see students as capable of much, much more than rote memorization and repetition. I see the role of the teacher as guide, not god. I believe that if we treat the school as a community (and follow through on that statement) we will create lifelong learners, cooperative workers, competent teachers, and critical thinkers willing to adapt to a changing world for the betterment of the larger community.
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