Melanie Monnier

Philosophy of Education

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I didnt expect to go into a career in teaching. Teaching is a great profession, but I was

quite surprised when it became my dream. As I grew older, my goals started lining up with those

of teachers who were important to me. The reasons that I decided to become a teacher are pri-

marily that I love helping people grow and that I want children to be provided with adults that

they can trust and depend on. As Ive continued to immerse myself in the teaching program at

Northern State, Ive found that the three things that are most important to me as a teacher candi-

date are instilling in children a love of learning, a positive code of ethics, and the skill set neces-

sary to experience success.

Holding a love of learning is important for enjoying life. Our human curiosity has been

shaping beliefs, knowledge, and advancement since the dawn of our race. Unfortunately, this ex-

citement to learn new things is taken away from some children by lack of success or unreason-

able homework assignments. If a student is never given success, they will not have the confi-

dence to be wrong. For these children, school becomes a place where they fell inadequate, and

they try to avoid answering any questions unless they are completely sure they are right. They

learn to associate learning with their negative feelings of school, and suddenly, they arent excit-

ed to learn about the world and our place in it. Conversely, some students do come to school ex-

cited to learn and confident in their abilities, but when they have hours of homework they dont

understand, school becomes an imprisonment by keeping them away from beloved activities. As

a teacher, I will fight these barriers to learning by giving students success opportunities through
explicit instruction, and only giving them homework that they have learned the skills by which to

accomplish it.

The opportunity to help students develop a positive code of ethics is one of the greatest

affordances of being a teacher. While concepts are important to learn, I feel that becoming a

great person is even more important. The content may be forgotten, but the life lessons my

teachers taught me will stick with me forever. I wont force my beliefs on my students, but I do

have the opportunity to encourage striving for goodness. If they come out of my class with a de-

sire to be good, I see that as success.

Most important to me as an educator is being able to give students the tools they need to

be successful. In the beginning of my career, I will be teaching special education. I am excited to

teach students with disabilities, because I want to be able to help them to overcome their circum-

stances and find success. I know that people with disabilities will always have some things that

are more difficult for them, but to see them find success in spite of their barriers humbles me. I

know that teaching special education will be trying at times, but giving students tools to succeed

is what makes the job worth it.

My philosophy of teaching is characterized most by a desire to give students tools for

success, a positive set of ethics, and a desire to learn. By focusing on these three aspects of

teaching, it is my hope to set students up for an enjoyable and purposeful life. While I did not

originally want to be a teacher, I have found that there is nothing that I could do that would be

more fulfilling, and I hope my contribution makes a difference. Thank you.