Description of the Philosophy
The educational philosophy entails that all the basic components of the education system must seamlessly combine to realize the intended goals of education. Human nature should be a point of consideration in developing educational policies. Similarly, the role of the school should be understood if educational goals are to be understood. The characteristics and roles of the teacher should also be outlined and adhered to so that educational goals are met. The student and the curriculum also need to be incorporated into the educational philosophy. The current paper defines the components of the philosophy of education as held in the context of the current paper.
Human Nature
Aspects
Understanding the nature of human beings has been an issue of study for many scholars in recent years. Education, psychology and neurology scholars have always sought to understand the nature of human in as much as learning is concerned. Most of the scholarly studies that have been published in authoritative platforms concede that the human nature in as much as learning is concerned is influenced by the environment (Nodine, 2013). Apparently, the type of environment that humans live in will determine what the involved learner will take in as information for their future actions. In this regard, the human nature should be understood by first analyzing the environment in which humans live in as it has been identified as an influential factor in the learning and educational ambitions of people. Effectively, the human nature is shaped by both the internal and external environments that humans live in because of the power it has in shaping ideals and cognitive development in people
Personal Reaction
Personally, I believe that the human nature involves the behaviors that a person develops as they keep on growing. The behavioral attributes that a person develops as they grow determine the intelligence and cognitive prowess that will determine their personalities. Therefore, the human nature should be viewed from the perspective of its ability to influence the way people learn. Humans always learn from their environments, an aspect which leads to the requirement that schools have to be developed to be environments that support learning ventures. Clearly, the human nature is as such that learning anywhere else other than school can be a difficult undertaking. Therefore, educational policy makers should ensure that education considers the human nature, the environment and the behaviors of learners when developing learning curriculums. In this context, the human nature should be at the center of every educational undertaking if it is to realize the success it is intended to attain.
The School
Purpose
Often, school is considered as a place of undertaking educational activities. It is set as a learning institution and emphasis is given to meeting the demands of the established curriculum. The school is organized in a way that various stakeholders play unique roles aimed at influencing the capabilities of learners in a particular way. The school is significantly a place of developing the cognitive abilities of learners so that they can have higher intelligence levels on specific subjects. For a long time, school has been thought to be an institution of enhancing the discipline and integrity of learning and enhance the ability to solve common place problems. Largely, schools play the role of enlightening the public on various educational, social, economic and political issues. An effective school should churn out complete learners in a way that they can undertake their civil and social duties with the integrity and intelligence that is required. It is in schools that the society is supposed to fight off illiteracy, an aspect that is considered one of the common challenges to modernity and civilization.
Personal Reaction
Personally, I believe that the real role of the school is to enhance all-round educational activities. In this context, I believe that modern-day schools have deviated from their actual roles of improving the personalities of the learners who go through them. Schools have to develop individuals who can solve social and economic challenges on their own. However, modern schools have failed in capturing their roles of churning out an all-rounded educated individual. Today, schools over-emphasize on the classroom learning aspects and have abandoned the important role of developing all-rounded learners. The schools is an institution that is supposed to develop learners cognitively, physically and intelligently with the aim of enhancing the ability of learners to deal with all the common place problems that have made it difficult to develop modern societies. Going forward, the school should change its tactics and adopt strategies that enhance their abilities to solve social challenges. Apparently, the buck stops with the school and it should take all the blame when society fails in dealing with all the social and economic challenges that have remained persistent in the modern society. Therefore, the policies controlling the operations of schools should focus on developing vibrant schools that are able to meet and solve the challenges of today.
The Teacher
Characteristics and Functions
A teacher has the mandate of nurturing and helping students go through the learning process successfully. They are supposed to motivate learners to go through the education activities that are aimed at meeting the objectives and aspirations of the modern society. Therefore, the basic roles of a teacher is to change the way the learner views the common place challenges from negative to positive (Liston, Borko, & Whitcomb, 2008). If teachers were to hold on to their basic roles, it is no question that all the challenges of the modern society can be eliminated in an effective way. Besides, teachers should possess basic characteristics that should define the kind of work they do. Apparently, teachers should be intelligent and creative so that they are able to create positive influence in the learners under them. A teacher should be a positive role model who is able to enhance the ability of learners to go through their daily activities. It is the role of teachers to ensure that students develop positive attributes and enhance their ability to overcome the social and economic challenges that define the modern society. The teacher is always at the center of blame in the event that persistent problems in the modern society fail to find sustainable solutions.
Personal Reaction
I believe that teachers are among the most important individuals in the modern society. Personally, I hold that teachers have the key to the solution of almost all the challenges of the modern society. The teacher, as I believe, should nurture positive practices among their learners. I also believe that teachers should be individuals of the highest moral fabric. The teacher should be viewed in the positive light and anything negative that could define the teaching profession should be eliminated at the earliest instance. Additionally, teachers should be allowed to work in an environment that complements their functions. It is my belief that teachers should be able to educate not just the learners in the school setting but also the general society at large. By so doing, the teachers could have attained the maximum that is expected of them.
The Student
How Students Learn
The student is the individual whom the entire learning process is developed to serve. Teachers exist with the aim of educating the student in a way that they are able to overcome social and other challenges in the modern world (Carpenter & Pease, 2013). Primarily, the student learns from their environment and that which affects them directly. The student develops their behaviors from the experiences that they have of the daily issues they undergo in their lives. The teacher plays an important role in the ambitions of the student. Students look up to teachers as role models and it is important to understand that teachers influence the way the student learns.
Personal Reaction
The student should be allowed to learn in an environment that supports learning. In most cases, the student is the vital part of the entire learning process. Therefore, all the policies that are developed to support the learning processes must by far support the interests of the student. The student needs to be understood, and supported literally to overcome the learning hurdles that riddle the learning process. The student should not be coerced into doing something that they are not comfortable doing. However, some reasonable coercion should be initiated to ensure that students develop some expected levels of integrity.
The Curriculum
The Aspects
The curriculum is basically the system adopted to control the entire learning process. It should be developed to cover the basic concepts that understood to cover the educational activities. In this context, the curriculum should be understood to be made up of three main aspects; making and doing, history and geography and organized sciences (Dewey, 2015). Dewey argues that the three aspects should be incorporated well so that it is possible to develop a positive learning environment.
Personal Reaction
I believe that the curriculum should meet the three aspects that Dewey advocates in their publication. A good curriculum should put both the teacher and the student at the center of their aims and objectives. It is vital that the curriculum focusses more on the specific needs of each students as it is apparent that different students have specific needs in as far as the learning process is concerned.
References
Carpenter, J. & Pease, J. (2013). Preparing Students to Take Responsibility for Learning: The Role of Non-Curricular Learning Strategies. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 7(2). http://dx.doi.org/10.3776/joci.2013.v7n2p38-55
Dewey, J. (2015). Democracy and education. Brooklyn, NY. Sheba Blake Publishing
Liston, D., Borko, H., & Whitcomb, J. (2008). The Teacher Educator's Role in Enhancing Teacher Quality. Journal of Teacher Education, 59(2), 111-116. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0022487108315581
