My philosophy of education 1

Philosophy of Education
Maricsa Cabrera
Western Nevada College

My philosophy of education 2
Education is the most powerful weapon which can be used to change the world. This
quote comes from Nelson Mandela. Education is very powerful and has different meanings.
What it means to me could mean something totally different to someone else. Many people think
that being educated means how much schooling one has behind them, what degree they have,
and what title they have. Education should mean so much more than that. Today children are
being sent to school to get an education but they are not really truly learning. Currently the
educational system we have is not what children need. All children are different from one
another. They all learn different. In order to have a successful educational system schools need to
focus on every kids learning abilities, stop with all the meaningless testing, and stop being such a
government oriented school system.
Every student learns differently they do not all learn the same, and that is one of the
problems we have today. Today schools teach all students the same. They teach every kid
equally. What is being believed is that if all kids are being taught at the same speed and same
ideas that they will learn equally; but that is not the case. All kids are kinesthetic learners. Some
students are visual learners. They need images to be able to process what is being taught. They
need different techniques so that they can see how to get results. Other students are auditory
learners they do not need to see images or learn different techniques they can learn through
listening. They use hearing and speaking as their way of learning. They tend to have trouble with
reading written instructions. So they usually speak it so that they can have a better change at
learning. Then we have the reader and writers that use this skill to learn. These students tend to
learn more if they have the lesson or instructions printed out on ink and paper. It is easier for
these types of learners to learn and process the information if it is written or typed down. Some
students adapt on rather quickly to their learning style but others do not. As teachers it is our job

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to know what works with out students and what does not. Detect when students are not learning
and fix the problem. Figure out what, as a teacher the student needs but it can be very difficult to
teach all students in their own different way when currently in today schools systems teachers are
more worried in teaching the kids how to pass all the tests.
From the first year children start school to the last year before graduating kids have to
pass all kinds of tests in order to be able to pass. Testing is a big part of our students lives
because it is what they are doing most of the time. And when not, they are preparing for tests.
Our students and all of our teachers are being told that the Untied States ranks low in education
against the rest of the world. But that people do not think about is where these people get their
statistics. We might not rank the highest but that does not mean a thing. That is one of the biggest
problems the United States has with education right now. We need to stop worrying about how
much smarter the rest of the world is and start focusing on the students. Maybe if we would stop
and focus on teaching our students meaningfully we would be at the top, but until we start paying
more attention to our students that is not going to happen. In our elementary schools kids each
year have to be tested to make sure they are learning. When they are tested they are being told if
they exceeding, meeting standards, or low. When kids are told they are meeting standards or
raking even lower that makes them feel like they are not smart. The children start to loose
confidence. When in reality those tests do not mean a thing. When kids are getting ready to
graduate it does not matter what their grades are. Students need to pass a series of test. If those
tests are not passed he or she cannot graduate. The historical timeline figure 5.3 in the text
becoming a teacher, states that not students will leave high school college or career ready
(Parkay, 2013, P.170). That is a goal that is not being met. Students leave primary knowing how

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to take tests. People need to learn that tests are not given to student for their sake, but more so for
the government.
Today our schools are focused more on the funding that they get from the government.
Schools get that funding based on how intelligent their kids are. If a school has intelligent test
passing students the government funds them more money then those schools that have kids that
do not meet their standards. The government needs student to rank higher then other countries in
all these tests because they need to prove that we are a smarter nation then anyone else. That is
how it has been for a long time now. For example, during the 1950s the United States was in a
competition against the Soviet Union because the Soviets sent a satellite into space first. The
government felt that all fault laid on our educational system. Improvements that the government
felt necessary were made to the kids education. The federal government appropriated millions
of dollars over the next decade for educational reforms that reflected the importance of teaching
knowledge and skills that were viewed as essential for adult life (Parkway, 2013, P.165). They
wanted engineers and scientist made out of the student and for a while they had support. But
after a while all support ended, as it did not bring the positive result everyone hoped for. That is
exactly what will continue to happen if we continue to give the government all this power. When
children are not doing well in school and the teacher has to send home their reports home their
parents are not happy. They immediately start blaming the teacher. Teachers are told what the
standard are by the government and they have to meet them. Parents need to understand that all
the power and decisions come from the government. Schools listen to the government because
they need the funding; if schools say no to them, the government can and will pull the funding.
This needs to stop. Schools need to be more student-oriented rather then government oriented.

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Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. Indeed
it is but sadly education if being thought as just knowing information to pass a test. What is
worth knowing is not taught. Currently students are being taught to be successful. But even
success is how much money they make and what degree they have rather than what is truly
important- happiness. Teachers need to teach students how to learn what truly is worth knowing.
What will students really need to be college and career ready, because after all those years of
cramming information to kids will not matter when they are living their success.

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References
Parkay, F. W., (2013), Becoming A Teacher, 9th Edition, Pearson Education