Running head: DETERMINING MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY



Determining My Teaching PhilosophyElizabeth WardPenn State HarrisburgAs an educator it is important to have a solid understanding of general and educational philosophies in order to maintain and develop our own personal educational philosophy. Educationalist and certain philosophers have developed five educational philosophies over the years, while these philosophies are closely related to the general philosophies; they deal more directly with educational situations. The five educational philosophies include: essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, recontructionism, and existentialism. After studying the five specific philosophies I have a solid understanding of what I believe works best for my own personal educational philosophy. The purpose of this paper is to take a stand on my educational philosophy and provide examples to support why I believe in a balance of essentialism, perennialism, and progressivism. First, I would like to focus on my beliefs in the educational philosophy, essentialism. While I believe in a balance of three philosophies, I have rooted my beliefs in essentialism and its structure. According to Cohen (1999) “essentialists believe that there is a common core of knowledge that needs to be transmitted to students in a systematic, disciplined way” (para. 3). Apps (1973) expressed:According to the essentialists, the essential elements of education are available from historical and contemporary knowledge. This educational philosophy has roots in both idealism and realism. From the idealist’s point of view, the content of education comes from such areas as history, foreign languages, and the classics. From the realist’s viewpoint, the content of educations is derived from the physical world, including mathematics and the natural sciences. (p. 21).I believe that it is important to understand knowledge that builds our mind and spirit, based in idealism, as well as develop our understanding of the material and physical environment, grounded in realism. While an individual might have a better understanding of realism versus idealism or relate to a certain philosophy over the other, it is important to recognize that both idealism and realism have their place in learning.Another important belief in the essentialists’ point of view is the focus should be on the content, as well as keeping students on task. Cohen (1999) clarifies this idea by stating:It should focus on the facts—the objective reality out there—and “the basics,” training students to read, write, speak, and compute clearly and logically. Students should be taught hard work, respect for authority, and discipline. Teachers are to help students keep their nonproductive instincts in check, such as aggression or mindlessness. (para. 2)I feel that this is extremely important because I am a mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife and a procrastinator. While I have always had a high self-efficacy, there have been times throughout my adolescence, as well as adulthood, that I have either needed to be redirected by an outside source or make a very conscious choice to redirect myself. In a perfect world we would all do what is right and stay on task, but we are human and a little guidance and structure is necessary. With an understanding of the essentialist it is easy to move into the educational philosophy of perennialism.Apps (1973) states: The focus of learning in Perennialism lies in activities designed to discipline the mind. Subject matter of a disciplinary and spiritual nature such as the content of mathematics, languages, logic, great books, and doctrines must be studied whether used as such or not. (p. 21)I also believe that there are basic truths and knowledge from our Western civilization that we can apply to our lives today that facilitate our growth, development, and problem-solving skills. Some of the most amazing accomplishments of humankind are emphasized in the great works of literature and art, as well as the laws or principles of science. Cohen (1999) states:For Perennialists, the aim of education is to ensure that the students acquire understandings about the great ideas of Western civilization. These ideas have the potential for solving problems in any area. The focus is to teach ideas that are everlasting, to seek enduring truths which are constant, not changing, as the natural and human worlds at their most essential level, do not change. (para. 1)I am currently majoring in Secondary Education Mathematics, while my education and mathematics courses are extremely important I have found courses like astronomy and art extremely important and useful. For example, my spring 2012 semester I leaped on the opportunity to attend a course called Astro 001: Astronomical Universe. I understood that the purpose of the class was to give the students an understanding of the development of modern understanding of the astronomical universe from planets and stars to galaxies and cosmology, but what I found amazing is the understanding of our universe is based off of many ancient studies and philosophies. Philosophers like Johannes Kepler and Issac Newton developed scientific laws that defined motion and physics. These same scientific laws were directly related to another course I was enrolled in that same semester; Calculus with Analytic Geometry, which involved derivatives, integrals, analytic geometry, and polar coordinates. Other philosophies contradict my belief and say that this course could be considered useless in the broad scheme of things, but without an understanding of the great works of Kepler and Newton I would not have the opportunity to study Calculus and have a deeper understanding of its real world applications.When discussing essentialism and perennialism there is a great deal of structure and discipline. I believe that you can’t have this solid framework of structure and discipline without the balance of freedom and choice. According to Apps (1973) “progressivism is opposed to authoritarianism and favors man’s experience as a basis for knowledge. Where the essentialist and the perennialist focus on subject matter, the progressivist focuses on the learning process” (p. 22). I believe that if we plan the subject matter with our students, giving them a voice and a sense of responsibility, that we will be much more effective teachers. Allowing the students to experience and voice their opinions is one way that we can cultivate interaction and experience with subjects that can seem to be tedious and boring, but nevertheless need to be learned.Greene (1979) powerfully states:I am proposing that teachers think about ways in which the liberal learning and some awareness of the common world might permeate the schools. On reason has to do with loving our children. Another has to do with the possibility that there will be an increase in opportunities for empowering the young with skills and habits of literacy—to enable them to perceive more acutely, to listen, to read, to speak, to see. (p. 35)It just seems so simple to me that we give our children the love they deserve and empower them to be the people they will someday become. Dewey (1903) declares:If teachers are incapable of the intellectual responsibility which goes with the determination of the methods they are to use in teaching, how can they employ methods when dictated by others, in other than a mechanical, capricious, and clumsy manner? The argument, I say, proves too much. (p. 3)This powerful statement supports my belief that teachers must also have a voice in the curricula. As a student aspiring to be the most effective, influential educator that I can be it would be a shame to not be able to use my experiences, knowledge, problem solving skills, sympathy and understanding to help determine the methods of teaching. I feel very strongly that both students and teachers are important to develop effective ways to build curriculum and truly understand our core knowledge.As an educator I have the option to maintain my philosophy in many different ways. I have made the decision to select three philosophies, while I have rooted myself in essentialism and perennialism, I believe that balancing the structure and discipline of these authoritarian style philosophies is essential to being an effective student and teacher. “There are risks, but there is always a degree of hope” (Greene, 1979, p. 35). ReferencesApps, J.W. (1973). Toward a working philosophy of adult education [monograph]. EricClearing House on Adult Education. pp.12-64. ED078229. Cohen, L.M. (1999). Education philosophies. Retrieved from OSU School of Educationwebsite: . Dewey, J. (1903). Democracy in education. In C. Kridel, (Ed.), Classic edition sources: Education (4th ed., pp. 32-36). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.Greene, M. (1979). Liberal education and the newcomer. In C. Kridel, (Ed.), Classic edition sources: Education (4th ed., pp.32-36). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. ................
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