Teaching Philosophy

The role that education plays in our society is always evolving over time. The only constant is
the belief that education is the foundation of how we live our lives. How we create a solid
foundation has been the goal of educators for years. This is why school curriculum has offered a
wide range of subjects to students which have allowed them to access different types of
knowledge and information. It is the only way to give them the opportunity to pursue their own
goals and to help positively contribute to society in their own unique way. This means educators
have a professional responsibility to get students not just to know the material, but understand
it as well. The best way to do this is through a combination of student engagement through
hands on activities, content explanation, and making the material entertaining. This is all
important when considering that the experiences they have in school will affect how they think
of themselves and the world for the rest of their lives So that is why that my personal philosophy
believes that the aim of education is to teach a student how to become a well-rounded and
critical thinking person.
Todays world is becoming increasingly globalized. Students need to be prepared for this
reality as they will come into contact with a large number of cultures and ideas. As Hytten
(2009) explains this new age requires people to be able to adapt to the interconnectedness of the
world. Knowledge about trade, communication, tradition, information and much more is now a
necessity for someone to find their place in this new post-modern epoch. In my opinion to best
prepare students for this new world requires schools to not only help students find out what
their interests are and what they excel at, but also expose them to all types of subject material
and different ways of thinking. Todays schooling focuses on the hierarchy of subjects believing
that classes are more important than others. Society does not just need those who are strong in
math and science; it needs individuals who are talented in other areas as well. Learning a wide
range of school subjects are a good starting point for exposing students to different themes while
developing different skill sets. By having students work in a number of different classes that
promote different ideas, teachers can focus on having students work on different types of
thinking and allowing them to cultivate critical and creative thinking and self-awareness.
Developing these traits is important because it provides the foundation of what makes us a
unique person as well as making us well-rounded individuals that have gained a bit of
knowledge from a number of subjects.
Just presenting students with different classes though does not do enough to help them
shape into critical thinking individuals. Student engagement and critical thinking are important
components as well. The goal of education is not to force students to remember all sorts of
information in hopes that they will find something they like, the goal is to have students
experience different ways of though and to familiarise them with other types of thinking and
other points of view. We want to encourage a student to branch out and see if he or she enjoys
one subject more or less than another and she or he can discover what they are good at and what
they want to pursue after they graduate, but also be able to gain a little bit of knowledge in every
subject. A student should leave school knowing a little bit of everything and ready to learn a lot
about something. Different opportunities can arise for a student after graduation because they
can apply the different skills sets they have learned to their hobbies and jobs when they finish
school. Education should be a process of humanization as well, not just about storing

information into students. According to Firere (1970) it is important to realize that the action
and reflection of men and women upon their world [are] in order to transform it. And that how
through communication students can develop authentic thinking and how teachers cannot
impose their own thoughts into their students. (pg. 79) Even though we are exposing a student
to a wide variety of subjects, they need to take something away from it. Students should be
gaining the types of understanding that they can be applied to their lives after they graduate.
The best way to do this means that we as educators must find a way to make the material
engaging, relevant, entertaining while at the same time pushing content. By finding a balance of
teaching knowledge and understanding, we can help students develop the different types of
critical-thinking skills that they will need in their lives.
Being exposed to different subjects and different ways of thinking is important because it
gives a student the experiences that help us strive to become a better person. Bailin and Sigel
(2002) explain how critical thinking is necessary for people to respect one another and that to
acknowledging each other as equals we must recognize that we are all individuals. (pg. 189)
Schools need provide a student with different types of experiences and thinking so that he or she
can become better a person. I make the distinction between person and citizen because a person
is also more likely to be critical of his or her surroundings while a citizen is encouraged to trust
that the government has their best interests in mind. The qualities you receive when someone
thinks of themselves as an individual rather than a civilian can also carry over into democratic
life. Being critical, caring about yourself and those around you, even making smart economic
choices are all good decisions that can be made for the advantage of society. Students can only
achieve these ideas if schools can provide them the different academic experiences that will help
them develop how to be a person and how to think critically.
My belief is that the aim of education is to help transform a student into a well-rounded and
critical thinking person. A student should leave school having been exposed to a variety of
experiences and interests as well as a little bit of knowledge from all sorts of subjects. Students
should also be able to creatively and critically think by break down problems and issues and
have a real understanding of how to solve them. But most importantly, they should leave school
thinking of themselves as a human being first. In my opinion students need to know a little bit of
everything in the fast pace world of today. The focus of elementary and secondary schooling
should be on personal growth, not the specialization of a single skill set. Students also should be
able to critically think of problems and issues that they will be faced with society and creatively
come up with solutions to them. But in the end school should be focused on turning a student
into a good person who is ready to rise to the challenges that the world will give them.

Bibliography
Friere, Paulo. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York: Herder and Herder, 1970
Siegal, H and Bailin, H. A Companion to the Victorian Novel. Blackwell Publishers Ltd. USA,
2002
Hytten, K. Deweyan Democracy in a Globalized World. Department of Educational and Higher
Education Southern Illinois University Carbondale, 2009