My Educational Philosophies

Below are the statements I identify the most with regarding my role as a future educator, what I believe education should foster in students, and what the purpose of education should be.

• Teachers create learning environments and then guide students to reflect on their learning experiences.
• Schools should promote social change more than the preservation of traditional values.
• Learning experiences should not be set before determining students’ interests.
• Schools play a role in criticizing and transforming society.
• Teachers should facilitate interdisciplinary projects.
• “Traditional values” often mask racist and sexist beliefs.
• Classrooms should be democratic so students learn how to participate in a democratic society.
• Schools should level the playing field by providing equal opportunities for all children.

John Dewey (1859-1952) is the Father of Progressive Education.
I relate best to Dewey’s educational philosophies and appreciate his thoughts about education, “[g]ive students something to do, not something to learn; and the doing is of such a nature as to demand thinking; leaning naturally results!”