Jenny Lo 1 ED-412 Philosophy

Educational Philosophy
I remember saying that I love children that is why I am going to be a teacher. One of my instructors told me that its not just our love for children that makes us want to become teachers but what we want them to have and take from us that makes us want to become teachers. Its the feeling of achievement and the feeling of confidence that will make me able to teach these children. I want to be the teacher that the students will come back to in a couple of years and remember how I taught and what I taught. I believe every child deserves to be in a good classroom environment which is safe and comfortable with high expectations; that can be reached through learnable objectives, and is child-center based for their benefit of learning. Students need support that will encourage them to start learning and continue learning. I will be working on my philosophy as I examine those of others that will support my point of view and how students can and will learn through the system that is created in the classroom through the goals of the teacher. I believe that students need a safe and comfortable classroom environment to learn. They need the foundation of learning and this all comes from the classroom that the student is in. Students should feel safe to express their emotions in the classroom. This will let the students express their feelings freely so when they do struggle with learning, they know that they can consult me when needed. Students should feel comfortable in the classroom. It should not be tense and uptight all the time. Set high expectations but let the students know that it can be reached with help so they dont feel so much pressure on themselves when reaching those goals. When students feel that they can learn in the classroom they will start

Jenny Lo 2 ED-412 Philosophy

learning. This is how I will treat my students in my classroom. I know once they feel its safe to talk to others and me, they will come to me for help and when they are comfortable they will make the classroom their home and do the best they can to learn with my help and encouragement. Another part of the classroom environment is supplies and materials. It should have books for students to read and to look at. If there are books in the classroom, during play time or even free time, the students would choose a book if they find one thats interesting. The book also lays down the foundation of reading for students. Some students dont have books at home, so they look forward to the ones in the classroom to read and to learn from. The classroom should have posters and other materials up on the walls and boards to remind students of the expectations in the classroom. There can also be resources like a word wall up for students to help themselves when they are stuck on a word. All of this makes the student see that they dont have to do the learning alone because there are resources to help them. I believe that students should be taught in a classroom that focuses on them. Like John Dewey, he believed and advocated for a child-centered and community-centered curriculum in the classroom (Oakes and Lipton, 2007). Dewey emphasized that children learn best through common activities, which are more likely appropriate for the children and they learn better from those activities. He also focused on a community-centered curriculum which emphasized on multi-cultural learning. Even immigrants or students that speak English as their second language should not just be learning and adapting to American culture, they should be preserving their culture as well.

Jenny Lo 3 ED-412 Philosophy

Similar to Dewey, I want the lessons and the materials I teach to my children to be appropriate for their learning styles and levels. As each individual child is different, so is the curriculum. It should fit their needs and their wants so that they can learn. Once they are able to do something better we can give them something that is a little harder so that their learning can increase. Students at younger ages also dont like a lot of writing and listening so it should be a lot of hands on. Students learn by doing it with their hands and seeing others do it. The curriculum should be engaging and promising for the students. I will implement this child and community-center based curriculum in my classroom so that students can learn through engaging and hands-on projects that will enrich their learning experiences.

Jenny Lo 4 ED-412 Philosophy

Citations
Oakes, J. & Lipton, M. 2007. Teaching to Change the World. (3rd Ed). New York, N.Y.