Teaching Philosophy

John Dewey writes, give the pupils something to do, not something to learn; and the
doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking, or the intentional noting of connections; learning
naturally results (Dewey, 1916, March, p. 181). As a pragmatist and progressive, Dewey was
dedicated to putting the student first and having them transact with the world around them.
Students dont always need the strict guidance of an elder or teacher, for humans are naturally
engaged in the world around them. Through my twelve years of pre-collegiate schooling, I can
attest that many of my school days were sitting in the desk while the teacher lectured. My
personal teaching philosophy is similar in the ways of progressivism and pragmatism because I
want to create a rich, secure, and intrinsically motivating classroom that centers on my students
and their fulfillment of experience and success in education.
The role of education should be a shared experience between the student and the teacher.
One shouldnt do more work than the other, but instead they should work together in order for
the student to progress. Teachers should be continually mastering their content area the best they
can, not to simply pour knowledge into the minds of their students, but rather to guide the
students through the schooling process. Allowing hands-on assignments and group work will
encourage the students to socially interact with the world and people around them. In my own
educational setting, I want to be able to encourage students to interact with the concepts of a
lesson and understand that each concept has relevance to their futures outside of schooling. Too
many times in my educational career have I heard, Why are we learning about this? I wont use
it outside of school. I want to be able to show a clear understanding of why and how the
curriculum is of importance for the students. One way I will accomplish that task is by

incorporating the moments when students can transact with the curriculum using the world
around them and their background knowledge. Each child will walk into my classroom from
different ethnic backgrounds, socioeconomic backgrounds, and simply background knowledge of
the world around them. It is my job as an educator to meet every childs needs by scaffolding my
teaching ways. It doesnt mean I will like a certain type of students over another type, but it does
involve that one student may need more one-on-one time over another student. The final task for
meeting my students needs is to make my classroom a place that is safe and secure for students
differences. They should be able to be themselves in the classroom and in doing so they will be
comfortable and potentially excel to their maximum potential. With the help all of the
incorporated tools and techniques listed above, my overall goal for my teaching career is to help
instill a sense of intrinsic motivation for each of my students. This is a very difficult task to
accomplish because some students simply dont enjoy the educational setting. Using the
pragmatism and progressive ways of incorporating the world around them into the classroom
will be a useful tool for connecting a disembarked student and their eagerness to learn.
References
Dewey, J. (1916, March). Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of
Education. Published book. The Macmillan Company. Norwood, Massachusetts.