How Does My Educational Philosophy Apply to My Practice or Beliefs of Teaching?

 

How Does My Educational Philosophy Apply to My Practice or Beliefs of Teaching?

Author: Santosh Kumar Biswa, Sr. Teacher, Damphu CS, Tsirang, Bhutan

 

An educational Philosophy is purely the vision of the teacher that serves the purpose of education in fulfilling the role he plays in the classroom in preparation for anyone’s life through the passing of varied contents and skills. It is the process that facilitates teaching and learning through varied means in which the learners can acquire values about life and skills for life to become complete human beings. It depends on how a teacher reflects on his beliefs about the way he teaches and promotes learning. In the learning process, students are engaged in acquiring new concepts and relating them with their familiar concepts. In my understanding, the learning process requires activities and creativity.

My educational philosophy is clear and is focused on student-centered philosophies that provide students with hands-on practice to acquire knowledge, values, and skills in all aspects. It basically focuses the teaching method on learning by doing whereby the teacher’s role is just to facilitate the learning processes in the classroom. They share the common principle of achieving the complete development of a child whereby planning, teaching, and assessment are carefully considered and revolve around based on the abilities and needs of every learner (Brown, 2008).

After going through the various philosophies, I realized that transformation should ultimately take place in the learners during the course of their learning. I mostly believe that students learn better if they are made to take part in the activities through peer or cooperative learning. In my classroom, most of the time students are engaged in learning by doing whereby they are involved in inquiry learning, research, and finding the solutions and then share in the classroom through presentations for comparing with the other’s findings and contrasting to make meaning out of their own findings with reasoning. It is purely based on the philosophies that I have learned from the course about student-centered philosophy. It basically focuses the teaching method on learning by doing whereby the teacher’s role is just to facilitate the learning processes in the classroom. They share the common principle of achieving the complete development of a child whereby planning, teaching, and assessment are carefully considered and revolve around based on the abilities and needs of every learner (Brown, 2008). As stated, in my classroom, I act as a facilitator to promote learning, and yes, it has proven its worth at the national level too when compared with other schools in the country.

According to my beliefs, I personally think that the world is changing rapidly and digital technology is ruling over it, the purpose of education should be based on the demands of the 21st century. It should be something that must train students to be quick like the computer, resolute characterized by firmness and determination, and creative and effective thinkers who are more efficient so that they are able to achieve the legitimate goals of their life (Luther, 1947). Therefore, Dewey's concepts of experiential education, democracy, humanism, and pragmatism have influenced my teaching strategies at present time. My classes are mostly interactive whereby I act as a facilitator, facilitating the class during the learning process. I engage my learners more in inquiry learning, cooperative learning, learning through research, drawing conclusions, role play, project writing, portfolio maintaining, reading logs, etc. focusing purely on the wholesome development of a child. However, after going through the educational philosophies, I felt that I needed to do more than what I had been doing with clear objectives in mind. Now, I realize that the ultimate aim of education should not be simply about teaching the content for academic excellence in the classroom, but the creation of complete human beings through continued education for capacity building and mindful growth (Dewey, 1916/1980). My teaching is aligned with the perception of Dewey as the sole purpose of education should prepare any individuals for immediate life through self-realization through the practical life of the learners is related to education (Shawal, n.d.). Moreover, his emphasis on equipping learners with critical thinking skills that are integrated as a constituent of the questioning, excelling mental habits, and eradicating false beliefs and illusory ideas bequeathed by society so that each learner can harness their natural ability (Popova, n.d.).  Mostly, I allow my students to think independently in the class to come up with the concept and then collaborate with others in the class to come up with the concrete concept. It is evident that what I have been doing in my classroom so far is all based on the student-centered philosophies that include Progressivism, Existentialism, and Social Reconstructionism which are very essential for any kind of educational process for achieving the intended educational goals.

More than anything, after going through the educational philosophies, I genuinely realized and feel that learning by doing should not be based on acquiring only the content knowledge but should promote positive changes in the learners. Moreover, I realized that I should make my students better problem solvers in life than academic achievers. I should not be content-oriented, but I should be focused more on creating their learning outcomes based on their focus on reality and the present situation creating them to be more judgmental to easily identify right and wrong or good and bad (Sadker and Zittleman, 2007). Passing the exam should be my primary objective whenever I go to the class but it should be something more than that, students should be prepared as tools to overcome some of the social problems and prepare them to be productive leaders and citizens of the country. Now I realize that each student should be well educated about life, not simply to achieve good marks in their academics, but also to be a good human being so that they value cultural differences, religious differences, poverty, respect for others, etc. (Lynch, 2016).

 To conclude, I take the stand to subscribe to all the educational philosophies because they are equally important to make our students the complete ones. We are paid by the government to not simply go to the class and explain the text but to do something extraordinary for a better outcome. Progressivism is important because it gives students hands-on experience to work independently in the future. Moreover, skills and knowledge are important aspects of life and it is through essentialism that students get to identify themselves better which is very important. On the other hand, simply having knowledge and understanding about oneself is not enough in anyone's life, one needs to understand the system in the society, the problems in society, and acting wisely is pivotal in life. Therefore, social reconstructionism is also a very important aspect because moral values are what matters for a better society to mend. Finally, in Bhutan, a small country situated between two giants India and China, nationalism in education is very important. We need to preserve our culture, customs, traditions, and identity to exist independently forever. Therefore, students should be aware of all those things. And it can happen only through the teaching philosophies that we adopt wisely. I also should not forget that I am preparing my students to face the challenges that they are going to face soon and it is only through having clear philosophies in our mind we can make the differences in the class that we go extraordinarily. For this, I should also be determined, dedicated, and hardworking.

 

Reference

King, M. L., Jr . (1947.). The purpose of education. Retrieved February 28, 2018, from http://okra.stanford.edu/transcription/document_images/Vol01Scans/123_Jan-Feb1947_The%20Purpose%20of%20Education.pdf

Dewey, J. (1916/1980). Democracy and education: An introduction to philosophy of education. In J. A. Boydston (Ed.), The middle works: 1899–1924, volume 9, 1916 (pp. 1–370). Carbondale/Edwardsville, IL: Southern Illinois University Press.

Shawal. M. (n.d.). 4 Main Aims of Education as Advocated by John Dewey. Retrieved June, 19, 2021, https://www.yourarticlelibrary.com/education/4-main-aims-of-education-as-advocated-by-john-dewey/69151

Popova. M. (n.d.). John Dewey on the True Purpose of Education and How to Harness the Power of Our Natural Curiosity. Retrieved June, 19, 2021,  https://www.brainpickings.org/2014/09/19/john-dewey-purpose-of-education/

Sadker, D. & Zittleman K. (2007). Teachers School and Society: A Brief Introduction to Education. 207-217. Retrieved Retrieved July 8, 2021 from http://education.com/reference/article/Ref_Teacher_Centered

Lynch. M. (2016). Philosophies of Education: 3 Types of Student-Centered Philosophies. Retrieved July 3, 2021 https://www.theedadvocate.org/philosophies-education-3-types-student-centered-philosophies/