Alice Parr

ED 224
Personal Philosophy

My philosophy on education, at this point, is that of Montessoris and Deweys
ideas. I believe that like any human, children are unique and each child has his/her own
way of grasping an idea. It may sound harsh but, regardless of race, religion, gender,
or ethnicity, not all children are destined to be lawyers or doctors, and that is not to say
that they are less-than another child but each child has something to offer in his/her
way. I for one could not imagine myself as a doctor or a lawyer, I need to move and I
need to create and those characteristics are what make me unique just as any other
human. Much like Montessoris view that children need to work at what interests
them (Ornstein, Levine, Gutek, & Voke, 2011). I cannot abide by the old fashioned
views that children must memorize, listen to hours of lectures, and test their rote
memorization skills. Kids need to move, and not just because they are incapable of
holding still, but biologically children are not meant to sit in hard chairs and listen all
day. Montessoris views incorporate hands on learning and creative thinking. I cant
help but think about these words Creativity cannot be taught, but it can be killed (Zhao,
2006). If educators make the attempt to foster the creativity of children than the children
of today may come up with the answers to all the questions that remain tomorrow.
Not only is it essential to foster creativity in a child but it is absolutely necessary
to teach them literacy, mathematics, science, and the arts. Creativity may have its
place in the future but not at the cost of knowledge of the essential basics. Dewey
provides a basic model on discovery that allows students to explore an idea using
scientific methods within a group setting, which allows students to be social and get
hands on learning.
One thing that I also believe in is that of differentiated learning. Following the
uniqueness of children and their varied needs is important in keeping the idea that one
size fits all is not only false but also damaging to those who may not be
developmentally ready to learn certain concepts. Differentiated instruction not only helps
the student that may be having a harder time in learning, but it also provides more
information about a topic to other students in the class. As I have been learning about
the instruction of English Language Learning students I have been introduced to
Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol SIOP for short. (Echevarria, Vogt, & Short,
2013). SIOP follows eight components as follows;
Lesson Preparation
Building Background
Comprehensible Input
Strategies
Interaction
Practice/Application
Lesson Delivery
Review and Assessment
All the components combined create lesson plans that not only benefit English
Language Learners but also benefit the entire class, including those that may have
special needs. The SIOP model relies on teacher instruction but it asks the teacher to
make lessons relatable, engaging, and suggests several strategies for lesson delivery
that may differentiate from student to student. The SIOP model works for all subject
areas and is a method that I believe is important to make learning engaging and
comprehensible.
Children need to feel that their teachers care about them and that school is a
safe place. It is important to create an atmosphere that embraces diversity rather than
requiring students to assimilate into a Eurocentric school system. Students are unique
individuals and I am not entirely sure where the concept normal student even
arose. Children need to be taught in a comfortable environment that sees them as they
are and understands their needs and backgrounds. Students may come to school from
poverty, immigrant parents, diverse religions, and other ethnicities and it is absolutely
necessary to not only acknowledge their differences but also recognize the importance
of their life outside of the school doors.
References
Echevarria, J., Vogt, M., & Short, D. (2013). Making Content Comprehensible for English Learners, The
SIOP Model. New Jersey: Pearson.
Ornstein, A., Levine, D., Gutek, G., & Voke, D. E. (2011). Foundations of Education. Belmont, CA:
Wadsworth.
Zhao, Y. (2006). Are We Fixing the Wrong Things? Educational Leadership, p28-31.