Teaching+Philosophy


 * __Philosophy of Teaching __**

A philosophy of education is essential for teachers. It makes your ideas, actions, and thoughts about teaching, meaningful, purposeful, and reasoned. Teaching without a philosophy of education is a kin to traveling the outback of Alaska without a map, compass, and the proper supplies to survive; without a philosophy of education you will not survive. Teachers who do not have a clear understanding of their educational philosophy, and unfortunately this all too often is the case struggle to find one, and thus struggle in the class room. My compass or philosophical light is grounded in the writings of Paulo Freire, John Dewey and constructivist theory.

Both Paulo Freire and John Dewey are the foundation to my philosophy of teaching in that they former seeks to unmask systems of oppression and social power structures, while the later encourages education through occupations, where the students actively engage with the material as opposed to passively regurgitating it. Constructivist theory glues the theories and ideas of Freire and Dewey together with a keen focus on student centered learning, where the students create their own learning, and the teacher merely facilitates the learning process.

 A student centered approach to teaching takes the focus away from the teacher as the sole well and generator of knowledge instead places this in the hands of the students. Student discovery and production of knowledge has far more meaning to students and is thus more authentic and important to their lives and their development as social agents. Students need to be encouraged to take risks and must be assured that mistakes and failure are not permanent or a display of their capabilities, but rather a process of growth and development of the self. Therefore allowing students to re-write tests, assignments, and exams, are imperative to their success and tear down the teacher as all knowing, and student as an empty vessel dynamic.