Veronica Lund

Assignment 3
12/7/2012
When I began my education in Early Childhood, I had no idea how I would meet the
demands of the job while also staying true to my personal philosophy on teaching. The current
climate in public schools is one where teachers are under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, and
staying true to what one believes is best for their students is hard to do. This class has exposed
me to many different philosophies and approaches to teaching, which in turn has helped me form
a more firm idea about my own philosophy. I feel this is the first step in being able to stay true to
oneself when entering into the profession.
To start, I will discuss how I view the role of the teacher. Deciding what your role will be
and how this will impact the children in your classroom is an important step in becoming a well
prepared teacher. I believe teachers should take on an active and prominent role in the classroom.
They should be actively engaged in the childrens learning, guiding them through lessons and
activities. This is opposed to a more passive approach, where teachers step back not wanting to
interfere with the childs learning. Children spend so much of their time in school that I believe
having a prominent role in their lives is beneficial to their emotional development.
Understanding the social and emotional needs of the children in your class is one of the most
important aspects of teaching. I believe this is achieved through careful observation of the
children in your class, which brings up the important role of the teacher as a researcher. Viewing
yourself as a researcher is important so that you can gather as much information about the
children in your class to further better their education. Finding out their interests, strengths,
weaknesses, interests, friends, family, etc are all important and can be found through observation
and taking on the role of a researcher. These roles have been greatly influenced by the
philosophies of John Dewey and the Child Study movement. These philosophies have helped me
understand and articulate my own philosophy on the role of the teacher.
How you set up your environment is another important aspect of teaching. I firmly
believe that your environment should be well organized, clutter free, and set up in a way that
makes it your co- teacher. I also believe that the classroom should have a very home-like
atmosphere so that children can feel safe and free to take risks. Having a large enough area for
group time is also important to me. Group time areas bring a sense of community to a classroom,
which I strongly believe supports a childs emotional development. To support the social needs
of children, having tables rather than desks is a great way to promote language and friendships in
your classroom. I am still uncertain as to if I see myself more as a preschool or elementary
teacher, and I realize that whichever I choose will impact the type of environment that I have. I
believe the philosophy on environment that I have described could be applied to either one,
which will be beneficial when I enter the field. These views have been influenced by many of
the philosophies we have discussed in class, and are intertwining with my own ideas in order to
create a solid philosophy on environment.
My perspective on children is one that believes children are active learners and that this
should be supported in the classroom. Children need to be provided opportunities to explore and
invent in order to support this belief. I also firmly believe that children learn through play, and in
order to be developmentally appropriate, opportunities for play need to be present in the
classroom. This belief will also be affected by my choice in preschool or elementary, and I am
aware that this could be a struggle if I choose elementary. Writing my philosophy has helped me
visualize what I find important, and what I know I need to do to stay true to my beliefs. I also
believe that viewing children as creative, competent, and special is important in developing the
type of environment I want in my classroom, and also my role as a teacher.
I have to admit that when I imagined myself as a teacher, I never took into consideration
the role of the family before this class. There was always a disconnect in my thinking between
school and home, and I am now aware of the important in making that connection and involving
families. This was greatly influenced by the Portage Model. I dont believe their idea that an
education should take place entirely in the home, but their basic premises line up with what I
believe. Teachers need to realize that families want the best for their children, and involving
them in the education of their child is beneficial for everyone. I believe home visits are important
in order to build stronger bonds with each child in your class. Home visiting and the Portage
Model have also been strong influences on my philosophy of special education. I believe home
visiting is especially important in special education so that you can see that child in their natural
routines. Working in an inclusive classroom is definitely a possibility and I believe all teachers
should think about special education regardless of what their license will be. Even if you plan to
be a regular ed teacher, having children in your classroom with special needs is always a
possibility and teachers should not ignore this. Developing your philosophy on how you view
special education and inclusion will better prepare teachers for when they enter the field.
Curriculum is another aspect of teaching that will differ depending on which setting I
decide to teach in. If I end up in a preschool classroom the curriculum will consist of primarily
social and emotional development, creativity, literacy, and time to learn through play. The
amount of freedom teachers have with curriculum is not the same in elementary. There are
standards and packaged curriculum that teachers are required to follow. In order to stay true to
my philosophy, being creative with how I meet the standards will be needed. I believe using a
combination of the Project Approach and Pyramid Model as guides; the standards can be met in
a developmentally appropriate way, staying true to my philosophy.
When Norma came to lecture our class last semester, it became apparent to me that
teachers have a much bigger job then just teaching their class. With the current climate in
schools and the amount of standardized testing, teachers are pressured to get test scores up and
teach to these tests. Developmentally appropriate practice is being pushed aside in elementary
schools, and I believe this to be detrimental to children. I believe it is the job of teachers to
become politically involved in this movement, and fight to keep school appropriate. School
should be a place where children are challenged to think critically and question about the world,
not a place that teaches children how to take tests. I worry what the outcome of this kind of
education will have. Will our society become one that is absent of abstract thinkers and
creativity?
My philosophy is always changing with each new experience I have, or with each new
thought that I am exposed to. I believe that the development of ones own teaching philosophy is
a process that needs to be consciously thought about and worked on. Even though this
philosophy can always be changing, there are still core beliefs that will stay the same. Your
philosophy will reflect these core beliefs, and also be reflected in your teaching. I am excited to
start my career, and this initial philosophy will be a resource to reflect back on if I ever feel I am
drifting from my beliefs.