The Key to Success in Education :: Teaching Education Philosophy

A Mixture of Progressivism and Behaviorism is the Key to Success in Education Lee Beck, a teacher of thirty years, is my hero. Lee has an intense passion for teaching and an equal passion for children. It is this overwhelming passion and satisfactions in helping children excel in academics and in life that have inspired me to become a teacher. Pursuing a career in Education has led me to different philosophical perspectives of education that will be utilized in my future classroom. Behind every educational facility and educator lies a value system and set of beliefs that influence their philosophy of education. My educational philosophy and goals are influenced by a combination of both progressive and behavioral aspects. Most imperative is the characteristics of progressivism that appeal to my values and belief system. The purpose of education is to enable a child to become more efficient and achieve goals in their life. An equally important purpose is to expose children to different values and beliefs that are used throughout the world. Education indirectly provides teachers with the opportunity to touch the lives of children and have a positive influence in their lives. I desire to be capable of touching a life and making a difference. It is important for me to know that I have encouraged children to feed the hunger of their minds. One aspect of progressivism to be integrated into my classroom is cooperative learning activities. Progressivism teaching methods recognize cooperative learning activities as a practical method of instruction. Working in groups was not always part of my previous education. Normally working independently has left me feeling uncomfortable and untrusting of others when working in groups. It has also left me intimidated by my peers with different racial and ethnic backgrounds. I feel that if students are frequently exposed to cooperative learning activities that they will be more trusting and more group oriented toward a unified goal. My first cooperative learning experiences in college have taught me in a short period of time that just because someone is different, does not mean that they are incompetent; additionally, learning from students is an important part of being a teacher. It is important for children to learn this lesson early in life, not until their college y ears.