Education 200 - Philosophy Essay

Philosophy Essay

Education 200

11/23/2015

School was tough for me growing up in the way that I struggle to understand the material and it takes longer for me to work on tests and quizzes. Therefore, I hated school growing up because it wasn’t easy for me in the way of my studies it would always take double time to get assignments done and in general needing to work twice as hard as some people. I would always get so frustrated with myself because I couldn’t understand certain things in class and it brought tears to my because I wanted to be in my eyes “normal”. To define normal as to what it means to me is being able to understand material/curriculum and to be able to work at a regular pace like the others and not have to have extended time for certain things. Therefore, when I got to high school, I was homeschooled by my stepmom until I graduated and that was because I needed the one on one attention in my studies but I also had the opportunity to work as fast or as slow on my studies. I would mail in my tests and quizzes while having the use of textbooks to read as my lecture. Through explaining this reason, I have chosen Progressivm philosophy of education in that it is student led learning. I love to work at my own pace and take as many or as little classes as I want and even in college. I have always been one to set my mind to something and finish my goal. So, student led learning is perfect for me.

First, my philosophy of education would lead me to want to get my students actively involved in the activities and lessons. If I put myself in the position of an American History teacher, I will have to make the learning actively fun and exciting which will make the students want to learn. Such as hands on games and other activities. Organization is a plus when it comes to being a teacher to be prepared. In my thinking, I would try to refrain from talking too much and let the students give feedback. Also anything that is visual helps as I am a visual learner myself. So, in other words, I would begin with the visual aid and then use certain questions in a specific way that the students can relate to the topic being taught to their life. This particular discovery “increases (students’) motivation, which ultimately in increased learning” (Kauchak and Eggen, 2014, p. 369). I would like to have lesson related crafts ready to do and other hands on things that get the students’ mind actual learning.

Second, based progressive educational philosophy, I would seek and try to make knowledge available to my students. One way to accomplish this in an American History classroom that is full of students whose attention span is lacking a lot is by somehow mandating the historical aspect. Kauchak and Eggen (2014) list “Personalizing content in the real-world