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Bretten Allen

My Philosophy of Education

Purpose of Education

Education is without a doubt the most influential component of a persons life. The time a

student spends in the classroom has the capability to impact them for the rest of their lives.

Although this can be an intimidating concept to process, teachers need to be able to think about

how each lesson could improve their students skills and knowledge now and in the future.

Education should be able to teach them about themselves, what their purpose is, what the world

has to offer, and basic skills that they can take with them and improve upon throughout their

entire career as an academic. There is also a lot of social importance when it comes to the

environment that we are supporting our children with. It is a time to create, sustain, and deepen

relationships with peers. Students need to be able to develop these influential bonds and an

educational setting can be an amazing place to facilitate that.

View of Learners

I have a very strong belief in the idea that students will come into my classroom with an

entire life history and a culturally influenced fund of knowledge. Their minds are not blank, nor

are they up to a certain standard just because we would like to believe they are. It is important to

remember that not every child has had the same types of enriching activities, life lessons, or

discussions filled with the same vocabulary. This is why assessing prior knowledge will be such

an imperative operation; I have to find out how much my students know before I can begin

teaching. Providing concrete materials and activities along with detailed visuals will be useful in

attempting to bring all of my students to a similar level of basic knowledge before moving
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forward and deepening their understanding of a topic. There should be a give and take between

my students and myself. They will be teaching me concepts I am not familiar with that they may

have a lot of experience with because of their background. In this way they will be enriching my

views of the world and I hope to do the same for each of them.

Determining Curriculum

It is critical to understand and follow the Utah Core Standards when determining learning

guides and units that I will be teaching in my classroom. I do believe it is important to meet

certain criteria and guidelines of curriculum in order for my students to be successful in a group

of their peers. However, I would love to be able to incorporate personal stories and interactive

lessons that can accomplish these key goals, while at the same time modifying and expanding on

the provided information. Current events that are happening in our communities as well as topics

my students find interesting are ideas I want to weave into my lesson plans. Curriculum is

crucial, that is true; however, I believe that the way an educator teaches, whether or not they

consider their students interests, and how they use their philosophy to implement these state-

wide objectives is what makes the difference between successfully reaching these goals.

Pedagogy

As I have discussed previously, it is important to me to bring personal aspects of my

students lives into my teaching. I think that this can be done in a very structured way that allows

students to get to know each other all while learning key pieces of information that coincide with

the core curriculum that has to be implemented. I want my class to be very interactive with hands

on experiments, different centers throughout the room for self-directed discovery, accessibility to
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technology, and one on one teaching opportunities. I want my students to be aware of how the

world works and what they can do to better themselves, their communities, and beyond. I will be

implementing a mix of progressivism and reconstructionism as my philosophies. Progressivism

and reconstructionism are similar in the fact that they aim to be student centered, culturally

diverse, and use hands-on experiences to allow students to develop well-rounded, real-world

knowledge. I think this will prove to be the most effective way to include all students and shape

their learning while allowing them to grow as individuals.

Equitable Education

I am on the path to becoming a special educator of students who may have quite severe

disabilities. Providing an equitable education not only for people who have different abilities, but

for those of all different cultures, races, religions, sexual orientations, gender identities, and

differing socioeconomic statuses, is something I am going to strive for during my teaching

career. The best way that I know how to do this is to get to know and develop personal

relationships with each and every student. I want to know what is happening in their life, what

they think they are good at, what they think they need to improve, what their likes and dislikes

are, and what their culture and home-life is all about. The first step in providing an

individualized, equitable, and thoughtful education, is by knowing who my students are as a

whole. Providing extra supports for those who need them are also a key factor in providing an

education on an even playing field for all. A few example of these supports include translators,

paraprofessionals, and one-on-one tutoring sessions. My biggest goal in life is to create a positive

impact on everybody who enters my classroom and I believe this will play a large part in

accomplishing that.