Reflection 8: What is your Educational Philosophy?

Every teacher has their own individual way in teaching just as every person is unique. According to a survey taken, my philosophy of education is constructivism. Philosophy of education is to study the main objective, nature, process, and the ideals of education. It is to use the more traditional fields of philosophy and include its approaches, to confront questions in relation to human development, education policy, curriculum theory and more. There are six educational philosophies and they are perennialism, essentialism, progressive education, existentialism, social reconstruction, and pragmatism or experimentalism. To use these approaches in philosophy of education is to be diverse.

To each teacher is a philosophy that suites them best, due to their teaching style which is based upon their beliefs and what they feel is important to their students in learning. Within this reflection we were told to take survey giving our opinion on what we strongly agree to what we strongly disagree on based on the statements given. After the survey was submitted results were given showing the philosophies of education and which suites personally you. My philosophy of education came out to be constructivism. Constructivism was developed by Jean Piaget. It is the theory that others learn based upon their own personal experiences. This philosophy was not always taken serious, back in the day, it was seen as "children's play". Constructivism views the learner as a unique individual. It encourages learners to combine their own culture and their previous knowledge with what is being taught. Social interaction is very important. When one is being sociable they are exercising their "people skills". The students are also learning from another, they are learning another's cultures, hearing out others point of views. This is important at a young age because within the real world students will come across different people from different cultures. They will be faced with conflicts of different opinions. Constructivism also supports active learning, to have the student being actively involved in the learning process. When students are learning themselves they are better understanding what is being taught. The more the student understands the better the student is learning and is able to take that experience with them long term. The role of the teacher within constructivism is to be a facilitator, guiding their students. The facilitator simply helps the students get their own better understanding of what is being taught. In conclusion I agree with the results I had received in based upon what would be my philosophy of education because I personally feel every students is a unique individual and every students learn best when they themselves understand what is being taught. Like stated earlier once the student fully understand then it is something that they will use long-term.