Educational Philosophy

      Everyone has their own beliefs, values, methods and goals in regards to teaching within their own classrooms, which helps to make up their educational philosophy. There are many different educational philosophies out there. Some teachers are focused on behavior and how that influences education, while others are progressivists, which means they believe the child should be the focus, not the subject matter. Recently, I took a quiz, titled Educational Philosophies Self-Assessment, to see what type of educational philosophy I had, and the results said that my philosophy is humanism.
      The humanistic philosophy focuses on children becoming the best they can be, as well as the student's potential for growth. The results of this quiz said that some of the beliefs of within the humanistic philosophy are "human beings can control their own destiny, people are inherently good and will strive for a better world, people are free to act but must be responsible; behavior is the consequence of human choice; and people possess unlimited potential for growth and development." Although I don't believe all of these, I agree with most of them. Most of the time, I like to think that people are inherently good, although that is not always the case. I also agree with the fact that people are free to act, but must be responsible. I am a huge believer in students taking responsibility for their own actions, rather than blaming someone else or trying the change the story, simply to avoid the consequence.

      I think out of all the beliefs the quiz results listed, I believe that "the people possess unlimited potential for growth and development" the most. I think that this relies heavily on their environment, who they are around, who they are influenced by, and whether people take the time to listen, care, and understand them. People, especially children, can and only will soar when they are in the proper environment with proper guidance. One of the self-assessment statements was "if encouraging and nourishing environments are provided, learning will flourish naturally because all people have an inherent tendency to learn," and I believe this wholeheartedly. I have seen students thrive in the classroom settings throughout my times of observations. With the right role models, educators, etc., students will have a motivation to learn. Another statement on the self-assessment was "the role of the teacher is to help create a nurturing atmosphere for students and promote the growth of the whole person," and I think that it is extremely important, and I hope I can do this for all of my students in the future.

      The results of this quiz were extremely accurate, and I see many of these characteristics in myself already during observations, and as a babysitter. I am a very nurturing, loving and understanding person, and I think that I will continue to possess these qualities as a teacher in the future as well. I like to see the good in everyone, although it is difficult in this day and age, rather than the bad. I think everyone has the potential to do anything their heart desires, as long as they are guided, positively influenced, and that they are in the proper environment. I suggest that every teacher, current or future, takes the Educational Philosophies Self-Assessment and learns about themselves and their philosophies within the classroom setting.

Inclusion and UDL

In this day and age, it is extremely important to include all students and make sure they are learning properly, which can often be a struggle for teachers. There are hundreds of ways to include students, some of them being more simple than others.

Changing the time of day that something is taught or even the seating arrangement or space a student works in can make a big difference. A huge difference for many learners also regard the methods and materials used. Sitting on the rug versus sitting at their desks, using props and charts, and standing in a different part of the class are all examples of these, and although they may seem minor, changing how the lesson is delivered can make a big impact on some kids. Another change that I read about and found interesting was changing the teacher, and having another staff member or parent teach it. It might be a little more complicated to arrange than the other examples previously listed, but it could be fun and would be interesting to see.

Another HUGE thing that can be used so that a teacher can assure that all students are learning properly, regardless of disability or not, is through UDL. Before we get into that, I want to first mention IDEA, since they are closely related.

IDEA stands for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act Amendment of 1997. Before this, students with disabilities could be discriminated against, and could be denied a public education. After this act was passed, all students, regardless of disabilities have the right to an equal education. After this was all said and done, students were still being discriminated against because of the curriculum, causing UDL to be created.

You might be thinking, what the heck is UDL? UDL stands for Universal Diverse Learning. The goal of the program is to include all diverse learners in the classroom, since after all, one learning style does not meet the needs of all students. Some students are visual learners, while other are kinesthetic or auditory learners. Some students also have disabilities that affect the way they learn. However, UDL provides many flexible approaches and methods to meet the needs of all students. Through UDL, all students work together.  When teachers are using UDL, they must be open to adapting their approaches so that all students can learn properly, which might seem difficult, but will be best for the students in the end.

The Goals of UDL according the the UDL Website

In conclusion, it is extremely important that all students receive an equal education, thanks to the IDEA Act of 1997, and this can be done through inclusion and the UDL curricula. To read more about UDL and its benefits, visit the the National Center On Universal Design for Learning.

Multicultural Education

Today's classrooms are becoming more and more diverse by the second, and it is important that this is recognized by educators, both current ones and those of the future. Wanting to be a teacher in the near future myself, multicultural education makes me wonder one thing: What can I do to make my classroom a culturally responsive classroom?

There are hundreds of things that I should -- and should not -- do to make this classroom successful. One of the most important things that I will to first do is understand all of my students and the different perspectives they might have. By different perspectives, I mean that they might be immigrants, non-English speaking, have different sexual orientations, or might have exceptionality. Regardless of how different each student is, in my opinion, a teacher is only successful when they understand their students. Students should be taught that one culture is not superior to each other -- they are all just as important and equal to one another. If they are taught this young enough, it might eliminate further stereotyping and bullying as they get older.

There are five approaches in multicultural education, but I believe that the human relations approach is the most important. This approach tries to help students from different backgrounds accept, understand and relate to each other. With this, I think it is important that emphasis is put on cultural similarities students (and I) have with each other, rather than focusing on the differences, which is what typically happens. Another approach that I feel I will use in my own classroom in the future is the multicultural approach because it really promotes the importance of family and languages, and it makes students think from other people's point of views, rather than just their own.

Something else that I will do to run a culturally diverse classroom is potentially have some parents or guest speakers in the classroom to speak about different cultures. To me, this would definitely be interesting and it would be different than me just telling the students my knowledge because the parents would have first hand, accurate knowledge.

Another thing that will make myself successful is being informed about a multitude of cultures, rather than just my own. In order for this to happen, I will have to read and research about other cultures, and maybe even incorporate materials that will engage the students and expand their knowledge. I think that engaging projects about foreign countries could be eye-opening and fun for future students, and I say this because of experience. In middle school, my 7th grade world geography teacher assigned partners a country and together the students did a project about the country's values, history, culture, etc. Although it was a little different than how I might do it in the future, I think it was a good project and I took a lot away from it.

Like I stated before, it's not just about what I should to do to make my classroom culturally responsive; it's also what I should not do. RaceBridges For Schools provides an excellent list of things that should be avoided, including focusing only on one culture, and providing students with things that are stereotypical or wrong about certain cultures.

Overall, it is extremely important to assure that your classroom is culturally responsive for students. It will benefit them not only for that school year, but for their entire life ahead.