Philosophy of Education
Introduction
The lens I view teaching and learning through is grounded in a combination of theories and theorists that anchor everything I do as an educator. Whether I am teaching pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a university classroom or primary students at an elementary school, my fundamental beliefs about learning and relationships remain the same. In the sections to follow, I describe these beliefs, and explain how they connect to the causes I am passionate about as a growing scholar in a Ph.D. program.
Core Beliefs
I identify with both constructivist as well as humanistic learning theory in that I believe a teacher should serve as a knowledgeable other in the learning process (Vygotsky, 1978) rather than a giver of knowledge who pours into passive learners. The latter, known by Freire (1973) as the “banking” concept of education, limits “the scope of action allowed to…students…only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits” (p. 72). In contrast, I believe the interests, needs, and experiences of the learners in the classroom should be regarded as central to the learning process (Dewey, 1933; Freire, 1973) and should drive everything that goes on in the classroom, both academically and relationally. I agree with Vygotsky’s (1978) assertion that prior experiences influence the meaning that is made by each individual learner, and I believe learners benefit when they are exposed to multiple perspectives and ways of knowing and seeing the world they live in.
The teacher’s job, then, is to acknowledge and leverage the meaning that individual learners make of their experiences, and weave their ideas and passions together into a multidimensional learning experience that presents knowledge as fluid and open to interpretation. No knowledge is above being challenged or refined, and learners should be taught to engage in the challenging process, instead of being protected from uncertainties or presented with unidimensional views of information.
Relationally, I borrow from Noddings’ (2013) concepts of caring, and the critical role empathy plays in education. Like Noddings, I believe the natures, ways of life, needs, and desires of individuals must be taken into consideration in every interaction between teacher and learner. I also firmly believe in the power of language to construct the social and educational worlds (Johnston, 2012) children operate out of, and to serve as a tool for building classroom culture and safe, trusting relationships between teachers and learners. Like Bakhtin (1986), I believe that no speech is neutral, so teachers must choose their words carefully and with a great sense of purpose.
Hooks’ (1994) concept of engaged pedagogy also represents another core belief I espouse as an educator: Classrooms should be places where teachers, like learners, seek personal growth and find empowerment in the process. I do not believe that fearful, unsatisfied teachers will be able to produce students who are risk-takers, driven by a personal cause to engage in the world around them. In this way, teachers serve in dual capacities as both the educator, or knowledgeable other, in the classroom, as well as one of the learners.
A Word About Teaching Adults: Pre-Service Teacher Education
Likewise, I believe that novice pre-service teachers must be taught to take risks and seek growth as one of the learners in the classroom. They must also be taught to explore the world from multiple perspectives and embrace education as a practice of freedom (Hooks, 1994) so they will design instruction in ways that make it possible for everyone to learn, instead of privileging only the social, academic, and cultural capital of the dominant group (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2012).
If pre-service teachers are not taught to think inclusively, and to advocate for causes they believe in, I believe they are vulnerable to conform to Freire’s (1973) banking concept of education. For this reason, I seek to follow traditions of critical pedagogy when I educate pre-service teachers, with an emphasis on how they, too, can use critical pedagogy in their classrooms when they teach children one day.
The Cause That Drives My Work as a Scholar: Children
In my paradigm, children are capable of much more than they are typically given credit for and are not as fragile or disinterested in world events and moral reasoning as society often characterizes them. Children should be respected and taken seriously for the unique ideas and contributions that only they can bring to the table, given their current season of life. These beliefs drive my convictions that teachers have a duty to: 1) Provide children with experiences that reach beyond their own culture and location in society, 2) pose questions that create tension in children’s minds between the status quo and what perhaps could be in the future, 3) help children generate their own authentic questions about the world, and 4) develop agency in children by positioning them as powerful and capable human beings (Johnston, 2012).
These beliefs fuel my purpose as a doctoral student. When I was a practitioner, I encountered deficit mindsets about teaching, learning, and children that visibly altered the lives of young learners and limited their capacity for growth. I believe a Ph.D. will give me a wide sphere of influence in which I can work to enlighten dangerous mindsets and promote conversations about practices and belief systems that need reexamined. The purpose of my life will always be, first and foremost, to advocate for children and give them a voice in situations where they might otherwise be forgotten or marginalized.
References
Bakhtin, M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Dewey, J. (1933) Experience and Education. Boston: DC Heath.
Freire, P. (1973). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum.
Hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. London: Taylor
& Francis.
Johnston, P. H. (2012). Opening minds: Using language to change lives. Stenhouse Publishers.
Noddings, N. (2013) Caring: A relational approach to ethics and moral education. University of
California Press.
Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. (2015). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts
in social justice education. Teachers College Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1986/2012) Thought and language. (G. Vakar, trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.
The lens I view teaching and learning through is grounded in a combination of theories and theorists that anchor everything I do as an educator. Whether I am teaching pre-service teachers (PSTs) in a university classroom or primary students at an elementary school, my fundamental beliefs about learning and relationships remain the same. In the sections to follow, I describe these beliefs, and explain how they connect to the causes I am passionate about as a growing scholar in a Ph.D. program.
Core Beliefs
I identify with both constructivist as well as humanistic learning theory in that I believe a teacher should serve as a knowledgeable other in the learning process (Vygotsky, 1978) rather than a giver of knowledge who pours into passive learners. The latter, known by Freire (1973) as the “banking” concept of education, limits “the scope of action allowed to…students…only as far as receiving, filing, and storing the deposits” (p. 72). In contrast, I believe the interests, needs, and experiences of the learners in the classroom should be regarded as central to the learning process (Dewey, 1933; Freire, 1973) and should drive everything that goes on in the classroom, both academically and relationally. I agree with Vygotsky’s (1978) assertion that prior experiences influence the meaning that is made by each individual learner, and I believe learners benefit when they are exposed to multiple perspectives and ways of knowing and seeing the world they live in.
The teacher’s job, then, is to acknowledge and leverage the meaning that individual learners make of their experiences, and weave their ideas and passions together into a multidimensional learning experience that presents knowledge as fluid and open to interpretation. No knowledge is above being challenged or refined, and learners should be taught to engage in the challenging process, instead of being protected from uncertainties or presented with unidimensional views of information.
Relationally, I borrow from Noddings’ (2013) concepts of caring, and the critical role empathy plays in education. Like Noddings, I believe the natures, ways of life, needs, and desires of individuals must be taken into consideration in every interaction between teacher and learner. I also firmly believe in the power of language to construct the social and educational worlds (Johnston, 2012) children operate out of, and to serve as a tool for building classroom culture and safe, trusting relationships between teachers and learners. Like Bakhtin (1986), I believe that no speech is neutral, so teachers must choose their words carefully and with a great sense of purpose.
Hooks’ (1994) concept of engaged pedagogy also represents another core belief I espouse as an educator: Classrooms should be places where teachers, like learners, seek personal growth and find empowerment in the process. I do not believe that fearful, unsatisfied teachers will be able to produce students who are risk-takers, driven by a personal cause to engage in the world around them. In this way, teachers serve in dual capacities as both the educator, or knowledgeable other, in the classroom, as well as one of the learners.
A Word About Teaching Adults: Pre-Service Teacher Education
Likewise, I believe that novice pre-service teachers must be taught to take risks and seek growth as one of the learners in the classroom. They must also be taught to explore the world from multiple perspectives and embrace education as a practice of freedom (Hooks, 1994) so they will design instruction in ways that make it possible for everyone to learn, instead of privileging only the social, academic, and cultural capital of the dominant group (Sensoy & DiAngelo, 2012).
If pre-service teachers are not taught to think inclusively, and to advocate for causes they believe in, I believe they are vulnerable to conform to Freire’s (1973) banking concept of education. For this reason, I seek to follow traditions of critical pedagogy when I educate pre-service teachers, with an emphasis on how they, too, can use critical pedagogy in their classrooms when they teach children one day.
The Cause That Drives My Work as a Scholar: Children
In my paradigm, children are capable of much more than they are typically given credit for and are not as fragile or disinterested in world events and moral reasoning as society often characterizes them. Children should be respected and taken seriously for the unique ideas and contributions that only they can bring to the table, given their current season of life. These beliefs drive my convictions that teachers have a duty to: 1) Provide children with experiences that reach beyond their own culture and location in society, 2) pose questions that create tension in children’s minds between the status quo and what perhaps could be in the future, 3) help children generate their own authentic questions about the world, and 4) develop agency in children by positioning them as powerful and capable human beings (Johnston, 2012).
These beliefs fuel my purpose as a doctoral student. When I was a practitioner, I encountered deficit mindsets about teaching, learning, and children that visibly altered the lives of young learners and limited their capacity for growth. I believe a Ph.D. will give me a wide sphere of influence in which I can work to enlighten dangerous mindsets and promote conversations about practices and belief systems that need reexamined. The purpose of my life will always be, first and foremost, to advocate for children and give them a voice in situations where they might otherwise be forgotten or marginalized.
References
Bakhtin, M. (1986). Speech genres and other late essays. Austin, TX: University of Texas Press.
Dewey, J. (1933) Experience and Education. Boston: DC Heath.
Freire, P. (1973). Pedagogy of the oppressed. New York, NY: Continuum.
Hooks, b. (1994). Teaching to transgress: Education as the practice of freedom. London: Taylor
& Francis.
Johnston, P. H. (2012). Opening minds: Using language to change lives. Stenhouse Publishers.
Noddings, N. (2013) Caring: A relational approach to ethics and moral education. University of
California Press.
Sensoy, Ö., & DiAngelo, R. (2015). Is everyone really equal?: An introduction to key concepts
in social justice education. Teachers College Press.
Vygotsky, L. (1986/2012) Thought and language. (G. Vakar, trans.). Cambridge, MA: MIT
Press.