Introduction
Most teachers, who seek after wisdom, truth, ideals, equality, and so forth, have their own philosophy of education. A philosophy of education examines the aims or purposes of education, schooling, students’ diversity, and a lot more. A good dose of a philosophy of education makes people to ask the most relevant questions concerning education. Examples may include: Why should a person become “educated?” In the first place, why should an individual even think of being educated? Other than for literacy and numeracy’s sakes, educated persons are better and more equipped in thoughts, hearts, minds, decisions, and actions. In this paper, I believe that my educational philosophy offers an adequate explanation to the most pressing views, issues, and problems that confront many people, particularly in areas such as purposes of education and schooling, student diversity, educational equality, individual uniqueness, curriculum differentiation, multiculturalism, and so on.
Purposes of Education
Throughout human history, people have continuously searched for the true purpose of education. Educated and talented individuals have come up with a variety of philosophies, disciplines, creations, inventions, etc. Humankind keeps growing to meet its needs by connecting with their lives the importance of education. Education, for me, is the sharing of worthwhile activities to students to become productive citizens for the common good. Hence, an educated person is someone who knows how to apply educational theories meaningfully in his/her daily life.
In educating an individual, my goal is to develop a certain kind of person using his/her own free will and judgment. Although students need guidance from teachers to learn new things, as well as, understand, transform, and present their own viewpoints concerning issues and challenges that affect them and society as a whole, they have to be independent/autonomous, critical thinkers and higher-emotive beings. This is because the kind of person our educational system aims toward producing are critical minded, lifelong learners, productive citizens, respectful of the rights of others, and so on (Tozer, Violas, & Senese, 2012). When a person becomes educated, the kind of person s/he should be is someone who has integrity, dignity, honesty, and other virtues.
Purposes of Schooling
Schooling has various purposes and that” [u]ltimately classroom instruction is the single most direct factor that affects student learning” (Tozer, Violas, & Senese, 2012, p. 440). For Freire, schooling should involve changing the class structure of society instead of maintaining it. For Dewey, schooling should be focused on critical thinking rather than simply transmitting pre-determined knowledge.
The purpose of schooling, for Freire, is change the class structure of society through problem-posing in order not to maintain an oppressive status quo. This is to say that a person who studies and manifests his/her abilities should gain benefits from his/her undertakings. At school or workplace, any active participant who performs to his/her best for the betterment of his/her fellow human beings is suitably promoting authentic contributions to society. This sort of participatory exercise every day will later on transform learners and/or citizens not to mere performers of a particular academic and/or societal task faster– but of placing foremost due regard to an individual’s innate worth as a person. However, the latter statement does not posit that learners should not have a certain level of literacy and mastery of the basics of education; but more so, consider the larger benefits education has to offer them to become truly free, authentic and educated human being.
On the other hand, Dewey believes in schooling that engages students into intellectual conversation, creative thinking, and analytical skills. Schools, as among one of the many “agenc[ies] of socialization,” should equip students with the requisite skills, knowledge, values and attitudes as they progress in life (Tozer, Violas, & Senese, 2012, p. 292). Education should focus on higher-order thinking rather than mere knowledge acquisition because students should apply what they learned in their everyday lives and future chosen endeavor. For example, those who are majoring in math should learn the relevance of the subject in real-life situations; they need computation skills to match predetermined mathematical concepts in actual life scenarios. They need to be able to add, subtract, multiply, divide and do other tasks while dealing with their finances. Thus, learners should be able to make connections between knowledge, critical thinking and real-life applications; otherwise, education will simply be the passive transmission of inert information.
The aforementioned educational philosophers’ views of schooling, impacted not just the U.S., but other educational systems the world over. For me, the two prominent figures in education are right concerning the purposes of schooling; however, may I add that schooling is more than formal training, that is, acquisition of knowledge, values, skills, etc. Schooling, for me, is giving value and due credit to an individual’s contribution to humanity; for instance, even by “ordinary citizens [who] can rescue the schools from [] corruption” (Karp in Tozer, Violas, & Senese, 2012, p. 295). Anyone who values schooling values the person, irrespective of race, wealth, gender, age, and so on. Thus, I think that my role as a teacher in society is to keep on inspiring the younger generations to value people, as they are the most matter in life.
Diversity
The beauty of life is in its variety. To make up for students’ diversity (e.g., racial, familial, socioeconomic, intellectual, and other personal backgrounds), I should exercise utmost discretion in respecting, tolerating, etc. individual differences. Students should follow their inclination, that is, their preferences where they are particularly good at. Since no person possesses all the best qualities one could possibly imagine, putting students at the center of the educative process will prove more beneficial to them. Concisely put, students should have a wholesome learning environment no matter what their backgrounds are.
My own backgrounds, as a teacher, may be reflection of one or many of my students’ backgrounds. My own background may impact on how I experienced schooling myself and the way I teach my students. Given such an instance, I should not tolerate discrimination in any form, but foster multiculturalism, understanding of other people’s mode of thinking, and so on (Salas in Tozer, Violas, & Senese, 2012). To address differences and similarities in cultural backgrounds, I should teach students the significance of learning from other peoples’ culture. I should not make favoritism (that is, giving more and quality attention) to members of a particular ground by reason of their culture, gender, abilities, etc. Doing so would avoid conflict in interest, preferences, and related issues. I strongly believe, like most people do, that every student wants to be treated equally by their teachers. As free individuals, students may be encouraged to assimilate to some norms or opt to enjoy the pluralism in class/school/community.
Why and to What End Do I Teach?
My educational philosophy attests to why I teach and to what end would I teach. It is manifested in the way I value people, which include my knowledge of education, schooling, and diversity. Although other people have their own way of looking at things (philosophical perspective), I learned how to live harmoniously with different types of learners and people. I have learned to respect their freedom and other rights because I also felt the way they respect mine. Thus, as a properly educated person, I become tolerant of other people’s differences and similarities.
Finally, whenever I think of education, schooling, and learning, I observe how learners are eager to learn from the teachers who efficaciously manage their class. Teachers who know a variety of teaching strategies, methods, approaches, techniques, and so forth are more efficient and inspiring teacher-leaders. Therefore, as much as I could, I try to combine educational theories and practice appropriate in various teaching-learning endeavors.
Reference
Tozer, S., Violas, P., & Senese, G. (2012). School and Society: Historical and Contemporary Perspectives. New York: McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
