My Educational Philosophy Statement

Shakespeare attributes King Lear with a brilliant lamentation; that “When we are born, we cry, that we are come to this great stage of fools.” This quote serves me in my understanding of education by sounding upon the key concept that all knowledge is unknowable and while students may grow old and reach a level some would call “maturity,” they never cease their learning. As a teacher I am still a student and I intend to point out to my future students that intellect, feeling, strength, and position in life are what you make of them.

I believe that education is a life-long endeavor of individuals to make sense of the world surrounding them and the role they play in it. Through physical, emotional, social, and intellectual experiences, the students learn about established practices, canonical thinking, and the status quo with the aid of an authoritative guide who challenges them to question every precept.

This guide, it is important to state, is aware of his own status as a learner teaching a fellow learner and is hesitant—in fact reticent—of brandishing absolute authority and wisdom. A guide is unbiased, ethical, open-minded, and always willing to help a student along the never-ending journey toward understanding. A want to improve drives all learning. A teacher strives to gain as well as give, walking beside the student in conversation and doing his best to allow progressive thought to take hold and lead the experiment toward a series of epiphanies that define the student’s individuality.

More than just preparation for the future or a ladder of achievements denoting merit and determining employment, education is a way of life. At the heart of learning is curiosity and inquiry. Learning to ask the important questions as we discover them helps us find depth and purpose in our lives. Helping students to develop a deep love and respect for themselves, others, the society as a whole and their environment occurs through an open sharing of ideas and a judicious approach to discipline. Making mistakes and understanding consequences keeps us aware of our impact on the world and the importance of constant reflection and adjustment.

Each student is unique and self-motivated. They obtain knowledge through interactions and construct curriculum from what is seen, heard, and done. A teacher actively engages students in constructivist activities and encourages discussion and cooperative learning. This teacher does not mold the students’ minds, merely helps the minds to mold themselves and define the world in their own terms. A teacher presents essential and perennial texts and allows students to accept or reject them while demanding rationale for all statements and conclusions. A teacher uses emotion, memory, reason and external stimuli to expand the students’ universe and challenge the students’ presuppositions.

I ascribe to the idea that a teacher acts as a facilitator of learning, serving as a resource guiding exploration, helping students to gather evidence and draw conclusions through the use of the main branches of philosophy. This is done in the safest most congenial manner, respecting the culture, background, thoughts, opinions, and intelligence of all students, while meeting the educational standards set forth by our society.

I feel students need compassionate, strong, and dedicated individuals who embrace the role of luminary with humility and a sense of adventure. This teacher strives to meet his students’ individual needs, works to instill a sense of purpose in their lives, and respects, above all else, the diversity of their thoughts, opinions, and cultural backgrounds. Though education may never yield a universal understanding for any of us, it is important that we strive always to better ourselves, our students, and our society through the expansion, dissemination and distilment of knowledge. I only hope I can serve as one of many teachers each of my students’ will discover through the course of their lives.