Personal Philosophy of Education

A personal philosophy of education emerges from thoughtful responses to questions such as the ones listed below and from professional experience. In reflecting upon your personal philosophy of education, you should consider beliefs and position regarding the learner, teacher, classroom climate, subject matter and assessment. Keeping these topics in mind, respond to the questions listed below to help you understand your innermost beliefs about schooling, teaching and learning. Your response must be typed, double-spaced, and include a title page. The paper should be between three and four pages in length and should show evidence that you have studied the text. Please write your philosophy as an essay—not in question-and-answer format. Be certain that you address each of the points listed; feel free to add anything else that you consider important to your philosophy. Also, feel free to address each of these points in any order that allows you to express your philosophy in a coherent, well-organized manner. I look forward to reading your essays.

Points to Include:

1. In your opinion, what are the broad goals of education? How can they best be met?

2. What are your hopes for each of your future students? What do you want them to achieve, accomplish, learn, feel, etc.?

3. What kind of knowledge and skills do you believe is most important for students, and how should they gain that knowledge and those skills? What will be your role in that process?

4. Will you consciously promote certain values in your classroom? If so, which values will you choose? Why? If not, why not?

5. What kind of environment do you hope to create in your classroom? How does this relate to your basic beliefs about students and learning?

6. Given the diversity of families, how will you include them in the education of their children?

7. What do you believe about these branches of philosophy: metaphysics, axiology and epistemology?

8. Which philosophy or philosophies do you think best fit you? (See text, particularly Chapter 6).