Running Head: PHILOSPHY OF EDUCATION 1

Philosophy of Education

Chin Alice Kim

Azusa Pacific University

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Philosophy of Education

Goal of education for an individual is to give empowerment. I believe that the

knowledge is power; more power the individual posses, more they can accomplish for

themselves. Having the empowerment and the self confidence is important for any

individual’s life and through education, individual can learn the tools and the methods to

become a self-sufficient person in the society who can be a productive and contribute

positively to create healthy society. The school is a place for an individual to gain the

necessary tools, knowledge and methods needed to expand the empowerment. However,

school needs the support from the government and business for guidelines and monetary

support. Guideline should be placed by government to have validation on each school. It

also needs indirect guidelines from the business to consume the individual into their work

force after completion of education. However, I think the families are the most crucial

part in individual’s education. Without support from the family, it is almost impossible

for an individual to understand the importance of the education. Family members’

support, both financially and morally, are important in obtaining an education by an

individual. The church’s role has dwindled in our education considerably but I believe

that it needs to be reinstated to instill moral and ethical values to the individual and it

should be the church that needs to stand up to reinstate God in our classrooms.

My views on student is that they are still innocent and I am one of the influential

people in their life to mold and shape their morals and future. All of them need education

but some of them need nurturing at the same time. I might be the only adult in their life

to hear what they have to say and offer a helping hand. I want all of my students to
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accomplish their individual education goal. I understand that each and every student has

different capability. It really does not matter what kind of grade they get but I want each

and every student to excel themselves to reach their full potential. Many of my students

are under-privileged and English learners as I was. I want my students to know that they

do not need to inherit their parents poverty and that they could live more comfortable life

of having financial freedom by getting higher education. I understand that getting “A’s”

in school does not guarantee one’s happiness in life. However, I want my students to

understand that they need to invest their time now, in education, to have more doors

available for them as they search for their careers, happiness and success. When students

take full responsibility of his/her education, the learning becomes effective and engaging.

I believe the role of teacher is to facilitate learning. The learning can take place in

many different forms and context based on student’s learning style (Armstrong, 2010).

Each student is unique and they have their own personal learning style and teacher has to

foster and facilitate all the different learning styles of students and try to delivering the

lessons in different formats to accommodate each and every individual student as much

as possible. Learning can also take place at different levels based on students’ ability

(Bravmann, 2004). Some student might not have the ability or the capability to reach to

the level of another student. As a teacher, I need to differentiate learning based on

individual needs of the student. By using different formats in lesson delivery and using

differentiate instructions to accommodate students in need can create an atmosphere that

could promote learning.

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Primary responsibilities of the teacher are to provide an atmosphere that is conducive

to learning. First, I feel that teacher should provide safe and secure place for students to

learn. Teacher should create an environment that is free from racism, intimidation,

oppression and persecution where a classroom should be free from the cruelty of the

society. Second, teacher’s responsibility is to make the learning fun and exciting process.

Making the learning more exciting can be done by using different modalities of teaching

and making the class more a student-centered (McMahon and O’Neill, 2005). Students

are more engaged and absorbed in learning if they are the ones directing their own

learning. Finally, teacher’s responsibility is to give students empowerment. Through the

learning process in school, I want students to know that they have power to change their

lives and have confidence to take charge of their future. As a teacher, I would not

consciously promote my religious values or my personal beliefs; however I would

consciously promote certain social norms. Social norms are more of a value that are

appropriate for the society and could result in punishment if not followed.

My philosophy of education is a student-centered where the teachers are facilitator

instead of information dispenser (McMahon and O’Neill, 2005). I believe in focusing on

individual needs and involving students in the process of their learning. I also believe

that the instruction should be differentiated depending on students’ level and needs.

Another philosophy of education I favor is the constructivism. I believe students learn

best through experiences such as hands on manipulative or the laboratory experiments

(Hein, 1991). When learning becomes meaningful by tying it to the real-life experiences,

students will retain the contents longer. With student-centered and constructivism
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philosophies combined, my classroom is constantly doing collaborative activities with me

on the side-line being their facilitator.

I really like the idea of the State Content Standard. I like it because we have some

common framework between classrooms and between schools. Every teacher has their

specialty and their special interest and with the State Content Standard, we have set

contents that we have to deliver for the subject. How we deliver is up to the styles of the

teacher but we all given same content to deliver and get tested at the end of the year to

monitor students’ progress of mastery as well as teachers’ progress of delivery. Having

set of standards and following it allows validity and legitimacy to what you teach when

compared to other classrooms of same curriculum.

Most schools, the curriculums are already decided by the district personnel and the

board members. The most common curriculums for any school are English, Math,

Science, PE and History. I do not have any problem with current curriculum because I

agree that they are the fundamental knowledge needed by an individual. However, to

add, delete or modify current curriculum from the school, I think teachers and students

opinion should be considered in implementing changes.

I think the classroom organization should be conducive to learning. It should have up

to dated and relevant curricular materials and sample students’ work posted on the wall.

Classrooms should allow an environment which would make students to want to learn or

at least create an environment that tells students that the learning would take place. It

also has to be clean and organized. Having an organized and conducive environment for

learning makes the management of the classroom to be much easier. I believe that the
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classroom management plant has to be maintained in order for learning to occur. When a

student violates the management plan, teacher has to implement proper discipline and

follow it through. I do not believe in corporal punishment but I do believe that there has

to be some sort of discipline like detentions or suspensions. I could be accepting and

loving teacher but there has to be some sort of negative reinforcement for improper

behaviors. Sometimes, teaching students that there will be negative consequences for

improper behavior can become vital in developing the student into a person of integrity.

Teacher should monitor student’s progress on daily basis to reflect on their own

teaching. The measurement of the progress does not have to be traditional assessment

like the test but it can be in form of authentic assessment where students are asked to

perform real-world tasks that demonstrate meaningful application of essential knowledge

and skills (Edutopia, 2008). It can also be as simple as asking questions for choral

response. When students did not master the concept, teacher can revamp and rebuild the

lesson for the next day. Students and parents should be aware of their progress and the

reporting of the progress should be done on regular basis. It can be in a formal report like

progress report or a report card but it could also be informal by posting the grades or

emails. By reporting students’ progress to the students and the parents, it allows them to

be more involved and responsible in their education.

Educators should be able to adapt to the varying needs of the society and the

technological advancements, and should always be willing to change. We should always

challenge the students to be familiar with most current up-to-date technologies. I believe

that the educators themselves should be life-time students themselves because we need to
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constantly learn and implement new ideas, technologies as well as teaching methods

because my number one goal in education is student’s success.

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References

Armstrong, T. (2010). Multiple Intelligences. Dr. Thomas Armstrong. Retrieved by

http://www.thomasarmstrong.com/multiple_intelligences.php

Bravmann, S. (2004). Two, Four, Six, Eight, Let's All Differentiate Differential

Education: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow. New Horizon For Learning. Retrieved

from http://www.newhorizons.org/strategies/differentiated/bravmann.htm

Edutopia. (2008). How Should We Measure Student Learning?: The Many Forms of

Assessment. Retrieved from

http://www.edutopia.org/comprehensive-assessment- introduction

Hein, G. (1991). Constructivist Learning Theory. Institute for Inquiry. Retrieved from

http://www.exploratorium.edu/IFI/resources/constructivistlearning.html

McMahon, T and O’Neill, G (2005). Student-Centered Learning: What Does it Mean

for Students and Lecturers?. AISHEE Reading Retrieved from

http://www.aishe.org/readings/2005-1/oneill-mcmahon-Tues_19th_Oct_SCL.html