Metz Branch

EDUC.1301
Dr. Ellis
November 23, 2015
Philosophy of Education
There are five different philosophies of education. They are essentialism, perennialism,
progressivism, social reconstructionism, and existentialism. The philosophy of education I stress
is existentialism. Existentialism is a student-centered philosophy that places high authority on
students directing their own learning and understanding of their purpose in the classroom and
their environment.
Of the five philosophies of education, my developing teaching style leans towards
existentialism because, as an art teacher, my role is to push the students to express their personal
emotions towards the world. Normally, parents do not fully understand the pleasures of art,
although the art class has many of values, one of which being student expression. The teachercentered part of existentialism is very small compared to the student-centered portion. The
teacher is essentially a great tool used to accentuate the feelings of the student's place in the
world. My teaching position in existentialism is to highlight the importance of every student's
stroke of a pencil or mark of a paint brush as an emotional and personal understanding. My job is
to make sure that the students realize that they can come into my classroom and be safe and be
recognized for their individualistic artwork that portrays the artist that is themselves.

The student-centered portion of the existentialist classroom is widely important. The

object of 'roles' has been de-glorified and each student becomes a living, breathing body with
individual interests and dislikes. The students pace themselves during their art projects with
individual contact with the teacher for guidance. Students discover to make their own decisions
to incorporate into their compositions that will mirror their original thoughts of expression.
Existentialism is a philosophy that allows students to find their meaning in their
environments, whether it be in the classroom or as they go out into the world. In my classroom,
pupils will be allowed, even urged, to bring headphones to listen to music while they work. This
will allow them to sink into a temporary personalized environment in order to feed them with
ideas and creativity. Students will be provided with all of the essential tools for each project but
will be able to access them at all times during school in order for them to have the opportunity to
be creative at any moment. My students will be assessed on the involvement of their art project,
the overall composition, and how it reflects the artist. The things that I see in the art is what the
pupils want to hear because it is the student's personal highs and lows of the project and is what
sets them apart from the rest of the class, which also keeps them set apart and idolized for their
strong suits.
My philosophy of education is wrapped around existentialism because of the
environment I tend to make my classroom. I want the students to find their purpose in life and
essentially put it onto a piece of paper for everyone to see and feel the same as the student does.
Artwork is beautiful as is the student who creates it no matter what where they come from.