Take Control of What You Can

Educational Philosophy

Let's Begin at the Beginning

An educational philosophy is a very personal thing. It is influenced by beliefs, ideals, and life experiences. A strong philosophy provides a solid direction in pursuing one's place within the field of education. It helps maintain a center when the day-to-day grind tries to wear you down. It offers a tangible touchstone to remind you why you chose to enter the world of education in the first place.

I believe that many educators compose their philosophies during their pre-service years filled with hope, passion, and idealism. Unfortunately, after a few years, many have forgotten these feelings. The truth behind the bureaucracy of the system, the pressure to achieve high test scores above all else, and the battle against poor public perception simply erodes their beliefs and ideals.

According to an article by Claudia Graziano on edutopia, "Every year, U.S. schools hire more than 200,000 new teachers for that first day of class. By the time summer rolls around, at least 22,000 have quit. Even those who make it beyond the trying first year aren't likely to stay long: about 30 percent of new teachers flee the profession after just three years, and more than 45 percent leave after five."

Credit Mark Wagoner

I would say this proves that the bloom is definitely off the rose. Now I'm not saying that I believe anyone can be a teacher because I don't; but when nearly half of the people entering a profession are searching out a new career within five years, I have to believe that there is a major problem somewhere in the system.

Now, we can argue about what is causing this crisis in teacher retention from now until the end of time. Teachers are under-paid and over-worked. They are disrespected, blamed for everything by everyone, and expected to work miracles in classes that are too large with little support, poor resources, and few materials. These are all valid points; however, short of massive reform and a miraculous change in funding and public opinion, these are things that will not change overnight, if at all. Is it tragic? Yes, of course it is, but why spend time and energy lamenting situations that we have no control over? And before I get jumped all over, I am not advocating we give up on working for change in education. In fact, I believe it is the duty of every educator to stand up and do everything in their power to influence those in power to reform our system of education and to put our students first for a change.

What I am saying is this - when we begin to feel that we have no power left, we should remember that we always have power over ourselves, our attitudes, and our beliefs.

This is where our personal educational philosophies come in. While being an idealist can lead to great disappointment when the reality doesn't match the dream, I believe that keeping a certain amount of idealism alive is necessary to successfully remaining an effective educator. So, go dig out your philosophy, remember why you chose the field, re-energize your psyche, and get out there and keep trying to change lives!

My Personal Philosophy of Education

Here is my own personal educational philosophy. I keep it handy because reading it does help me focus on the big picture and exactly where my values lie.

I believe education should be focused on the needs of the child above all else. Therefore, John Dewey’s educational philosophies of progressivism and pragmatism have had the biggest effect in the construction of my personal educational philosophy. Dewey’s The Child and the Curriculum has been particularly influential. Learning should place active participation in the highest regard. Human beings are social creatures by nature and I feel that interaction between my students and me, as well as each other, will foster creativity and a true passion for learning. In turn, this will provide a foundation for life-long intellectual, as well as moral, growth in my students. All students are unique individuals with inner strength and various talents. It is my privilege to be involved in their lives and to help provide them opportunities, challenges and encouragement to help them release those qualities and nurture them on their way to becoming intelligent, well-spoken, productive citizens of the world. I want to prepare my students not only for further academic success, but also to make informed decisions about all that life has to offer them in a way that best serves their individual interests. Using a wide range of learning resources and a flexible curriculum, I want to encourage my students to learn both independently and in a group dynamic setting, focusing on collaborative class projects, as well as independent study projects. I want them to develop their own beliefs and convictions and also understand the importance of respecting others beliefs especially when they differ from their own. I plan to have a democratic classroom by having multiple projects integrated into my lesson plans to enable flexibility and the opportunity for students to choose between lessons based on what is of interest to them. I will maintain a strong emphasis on critical thinking and problem solving. We will not only discuss lessons, but gain a deeper understanding of the concepts through role-playing exercises, individual reflection writing and group projects. In my classroom I want each person to feel respected and valued. I want them to learn to form relationships governed by honesty and respect. I want to instill a sense of community in my classroom and an understanding of the rights and needs of others. Creating opportunities for moral and social growth will allow the students to develop self-discipline and self-control.

My greatest hope for all of my students would be for them to grow into respectful, empathetic adults with the intellectual capabilities to live a fulfilled life and to affect powerful, positive social changes to the world around them. Any role I can play through educating and mentoring these young adults will truly be my greatest reward.

Is this idealistic? Perhaps. Overly simplistic? Maybe. Measurable through data? Not really. Aligned with the standards? Nope. The evidence of success is purely anecdotal, but I know it when I see it and that is why I got into education in the first place.

Bad Kids Versus Bad Decisions

Over the past week, there have been a couple near tragedies in my community – two separate car wrecks involving teenagers and alcohol that could have very easily been much worse than they were. We will not have to bury any young people this week, and though some of them suffered serious injuries, they are all alive. I am thankful for that. I have lost too many young people from my life through poor decisions.

In the aftermath of these events, I became disturbed by the amount of disparaging comments being made about parents and the blame being thrown around about the behavior of “kids today.” Phrases such as “not in my day,” “media influence,” and “poor parenting” were bandied about with no one giving a voice to a realistic explanation of these kids’ behavior.

These exchanges, largely posted in the social media, reminded me of something one of my former students once asked me. I was working in a classroom of high-risk students with a variety of academic and behavioral issues. On one particularly difficult day early in the semester, one of my boys asked, “Ms. R, how do you put up with us bad kids?” I answered him with complete honesty, “I have never met a bad kid.” He and most of the other students in the room regarded me with suspicion. “Never?” he asked. I laughed and looked out at the faces of these kids looking back at me. Kids who have been told they are bad so often in their lives that they truly believe that label embodies who they are. My answer to them was this: “I have met kids who make bad choices. I have met kids who make poor decisions and believe they are doing the right thing. I have met kids who don’t understand how the choices they make now will affect them in the future. But no, I have never met a bad kid.” I truly believe that this was a turning point in the relationship between me and a number of the kids in this class. I’m not going to pretend they became model students (they didn’t, but a majority of them did improve) or that I did not still have to occasionally head-off a fist fight between students (I did). However, as a whole, the demeanor of the class changed after that day. I spoke to these kids honestly and from my heart, and they knew it. They believed that I did not see them as bad kids, and in turn, they could begin to see themselves in a different way.

With the memory of this exchange in my mind, fueled by the judgmental comments I was seeing on the web, I decided that someone needed to interject as the voice of reason and honest experience. Typing my response to all the negativity and “head in the sand” mentality, yes, I’ll admit it – I went on a bit of a rant. . . and here it is. . .

“Kids will make bad decisions and stupid mistakes. That is part of being a kid. As adults, all we can do is protect them for as long as we can, try to teach them the best we can how to be good people and keep themselves and those around them safe, and hope that is enough. Eventually we have to turn them loose, let them make their own decisions, and deal with their mistakes.

As a parent and a concerned adult in the lives of many kids, I have learned a couple of things. First, I find that being honest is the best policy. I remember being a teenager; I made poor decisions and did things I knew better than doing; I have never pretended to have been a perfect teenager because kids see through that crap in about half a second, and it teaches them nothing except to lie and hide things from you. Second, when kids do things they are not supposed to do and make decisions we know are bad, it usually has nothing at all to do with the parents or their parenting skills - the majority of parents do their best to do right by their children - and the majority of teenagers are only thinking about themselves and what they want when they are driving the adults around them crazy and worrying them to death - that's just basic adolescent psychology.

I guess my point is this, be honest with the kids in your life and with yourself as well. Don't pretend you were a saint and don't fool yourself into believing the kids are saints. Adolescence is difficult enough without subjecting children to a perfect ideal that the adults in their lives believe they should hold themselves to, or worse yet putting them in a situation where in their still-developing brains, lying to the adults who care about them seems better than letting them down.”

Being honest and open with the kids in your life will not guarantee they won’t still make bad decisions. In fact, I can almost assure you they will, but they will be more likely to talk to you about what’s happening in their lives and to confide in you when they are struggling with decisions. Listen to what they have to say, give them straightforward answers, and try your best to guide them in the right direction. Don’t be offended or disappointed if they still decide to follow a different path – it is just the egocentric nature of adolescence, not a reflection on you. And above all else, remember this – there are no bad kids, they are all just kids.