Philosophy of Education

Supplying information is a teacher's job.
Inspiring students to learn is a teacher's passion.

- Simple Truths for Teachers

Philosophy of Education

People have many different reasons for choosing education as a profession. My own personal reason is that I wanted a profession in which I can make a difference in the lives of others. Teaching is also a profession in which I feel I have a lot to offer.

Although liking children may be beneficial for a teacher, a quality teacher should possess many other skills. I believe that motivation is one important skill for teachers to have. As teachers, we should constantly want to better our teaching methods and ourselves as a way to reach out students. We need to learn about our students’ backgrounds especially in our culturally diverse world today and their interests so that we may find ways to motivate their desire to learn as well. Being flexible is important in our approaches to teaching our students. As teachers, we may favor one way of teaching such as direct instruction, but it may not be the best approach for all of our students. Therefore, I feel that teachers need to be willing to try other methods of teaching in order to accommodate the different learning styles of each student.

Collaboration is a key skill for a quality teacher by having positive relationships with other “Professional Educators” as well as the parents of our students. I think that communication goes hand in hand with collaboration. For teachers, it is important to communicate with parents in order to try to get them involved in their child’s education. By having a good relationship with the parents, it not only informs them of their child’s progress in school, they can also inform the teacher about what goals they may have for their child’s education. However, in today’s society most parents work and find it hard to meet with their child’s teacher. Therefore, teachers need to be flexible when setting up times for meetings such as having them in the morning, evenings, or even on the weekends. I also feel that teachers should make phone calls or send notes home to keep parents better informed about what is going on in their child’s classroom.

Being a teacher is far from being easy, it requires long hours as well as having the teacher recognize his/her strengths and weaknesses. I feel that teachers must be willing to put in the extra time to research new ideas that could help his/her students’ learn better. Teachers must also be willing to place their own biases at the door so that we may form solid professional relationships with others. As teachers, we cannot allow ourselves to judge people bases on their beliefs and values especially in a world where the population is so diverse, teachers need to accept that people have different values than we do.

I also feel that being a teacher is a big responsibility, not only ensuring that students receive the best education possible, but in also being a positive role model for them. Teachers are around students for at least seven hours a day, five days a week, and around 180 days out of the year. Therefore, it is important that teachers model the behavior that they want their students to have.

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Melanie Bliss
mbliss1180@yahoo.com
Site hosted by: Plattsburgh State University
Last updated: December 2005