Charly Liss

My Philosophy of Education Paper

12-3-15

I. The Purpose of Education

In the future when I become a teacher, I want my students to leave my class

feeling empowered by what I have taught them. The most important take away that

I want my students to have is to know that their voice carries power. What they have

to say is significant. I also want my students to be able to create and brainstorm

solutions to the worlds problems, not just learn them from a textbook. Going along

with that, I want my students to be able to work with others, as it is valuable in life

outside of school. Similarly to working with others, I want my students to

collaborate with each other in creating solutions and expand their ideas and better

their understanding of different viewpoints. By collaborating with others in creating

solutions to problems, I hope my students feel as if they have the ability to

reconstruct society into a more just social order.

My ideas for what I want my students to learn in my classroom are based on the

philosophy of Social Reconstructionism. George Counts, who was influenced by the

events of the Great Depression, introduced this philosophy. He proposed that school

should focus more on reforming society, rather than just teaching the problems.

Other societal problems like the ignorance towards racism, sexism, and AIDS

influenced educators as well. They wanted their students to be enlightened. The

historical events that transpired sparked an opportunity for educators to make a

change. They saw that they had a unique opportunity, being able to positively
influence students (Sadker and Zittleman, 2012). Teachers were able to give the

tools of change to students.

On the scale of teacher- centered to student- centered, I am on the student-

centered side. Teachers are supposed to provide an environment and opportunity

for students to grow. Teachers have already gone to school, now it is time to focus

on the students. Without the students, there would be no need for teachers. School

is supposed to be a place to foster education for the next generation. This would

also make me lean on the side of existentialism. Focusing on students is essential to

knowledge. Different students require different needs. It is important to allow

students to become individuals, allow them to garner their own strengths, and find

out who they are. Students spend a good amount of their developmental years in

school. Schools are really where students find out who they are. That is where they

make friends and enemies; realize their passions and their dispassions. It is

important for schools and teachers to focus on the idea of self and individualism to

allow students to explore who they are. Being a student- centered, existentialist

relates to Social Reconstructionism because the goal for teachers is to inform and

provide skills to the students. Social Reconstructionism is meant to teach students

about the worlds inequalities and allow them to make their own opinions and

solutions. This philosophy is truly what the students make of it.

II. Curriculum

As a History major with a Secondary Education minor, my goal would be to teach

history to middle and high school students, my preference being high school

students. As a future history teacher I think encouraging collaboration, as a skill is

important. Solving or trying to solve inequalities is best done through collaboration.

Working with others allows the students to think about things from a different

perspective and combine ideas. The basis of Social Reconstructionism is justice.

While justice is not typically seen as a skill, the act of being just is. Confidence is a

skill not commonly thought of as being important. Teaching this skill makes a huge

difference in a students life. Having confidence allows students to try new things,

experiment, because they believe in themselves. Reasoning is another skill that I

believe is key to the curriculum I want to teach. Being able to reason is vital to social

reconstructionism. Students need to be able to think of reasonable solutions to the

worlds problems. While believing anything is possible is great, it is important to

also think on a smaller, more feasible scale. Being compassionate for others and

their sufferings motivates students to make a difference. What gives meaning to this

philosophy is not just bettering our society because it is the right thing to do, but

rather bettering our society because you can see and feel the struggles.

To better aid the race/ethnicity diversity in classrooms, specifically concerning

Black students, there needs to be an increase in multicultural education aimed at

educational practices. There has been a proven positive effect when students are

given the opportunity to explore the history of their ethnic- racial groups. Teachers

can do this by teaching from a viewpoint other than the Eurocentric view most

commonly used in schools. Teachers racially diverse curriculum can include

teachings of collectivism, Pan- Africanism, and Black Nationalism (Aldana and Boyd,

2015). The most important take away is to teach students culturally relevant

information.
 Increasingly, the LGBTQ community has also grown more prominent inside of

schools. To welcome the diversity in classrooms, teachers can teach students about

prominent LBGTQ figures from the past and present. In Language Arts classrooms,

teachers can incorporate literature with LGBTQ characters. For example, Langston

Hughes, who happened to be gay, was a prominent figure during the Harlem

Renaissance with his written works. Including Hughes and other LGBTQ people

opens the door for conversations about diversity and differences. These

conversations helps question the binary norms that are given by society and can

lead to opportunities to self- reflect on who they are (Hermann- Wilmarth and Ryan,

2015).

III. Nature of the Learner

Students should be responsible for their own education in terms of making sure

they truly know the concept, not simply having it memorized. The teachers

responsibility is to teach the concepts the best way possible, while providing extra

support if necessary. Teachers and students both have an equal role in education,

they need each other. Students should stay after school and likewise, teachers

should provide after school support. Students should make genuine efforts in their

homework and their teachers should recognize the effort put forth and offer

constructive criticism.

Students interactions with their fellow peers should have a good flow to it.

Because Social Reconstructionism has a heavy emphasis on collaboration, students

should have a good flow. In this situation, having a good flow means students

should feel comfortable enough around each other to be able to have natural,
organic conversations among each other. Students, if with no one else, should be

able to feel like they can have open and honest conversations between them. The

interaction between students and teachers should be honest/genuine. Something I

have noticed between students and teachers is the students lack of honesty. In my

classroom I want students to be honest and genuine with me. If a student was not

able to do their homework on time, I would rather hear the real reason why than a

lie. I also expect my students to be genuine with their work. I want them to make an

honest attempt on assignments, both in and out of class. If they make an honest

effort, it would be much easier for me, as a teacher, to see where I need to spend

extra time. Lastly, the interaction between students and administration should be

comfortable and relaxed. A lot of the times with authority figures, like a principal,

students have a tendency to tense up and not be themselves. Having interactions

with administration should be more comfortable. Students should not feel on edge

around their principals. Being comfortable and relaxed around the administration

could make for an easier path for communication between the two groups.

IV. Effective Classroom Environment

Classrooms should be welcoming, organized, and clean. They should also be a

place where students are motivated and encouraged to do well. In my future

classroom, the desks would be organized almost like a Christmas tree. The desks

would be split up into two sides, with four rows on either side, all at an angle,

somewhat facing each other. I would try to avoid separating the class into groups

because it limits them to only their group. Having the room divided on either side
with them facing each other at an angle, would be conducive to collaborative

discussions because they would be able to see each others faces as they spoke.

The whiteboards in the classroom would also be done in a certain, organized

way. On one side of the board, the homework would always be listed, along with the

daily agenda and objectives. This part of the board would also include upcoming

due dates and important announcements. This could be seen as coddling the

students but I would rather everyone know what is going on so that later, there

would be no excuses. Because I want to celebrate students achievements, on the

other side of the white board, there will be a space dedicated to students work. Any

student who wants to put their work on display is welcome to. I believe by giving

the students an opportunity to display something they worked hard and feel good

about will boost their self- esteem. I have normally seen this idea in elementary

school classes, where the teacher would choose the worthy works. My idea is

different because it is completely up to the individual, they should not depend on my

approval to feel validated as a student. The dry erase markers I will use in class will

be bright and colorful. Having bright colors will make it easier to highlight and

emphasize parts of the lesson or to show differences, like in a Venn diagram.

The organization of my classroom would include a little station in the corner of

the room with extra pens, pencils, and paper just in case a student forgets anything.

In an ideal world, I would love to provide notebooks or binders for each student so

that they do not think less of themselves if they do not have the nicest supplies, but

unfortunately that requires more money than I have.

 There would also be a tray for students to turn in any assignments and when the

class ends, I would move their papers into a folder designated for their class so that

nothing gets lost when I go to grade it. For the fun part, my room will have fun,

colorful, and inspiring posters on the walls. I do not want a room with nothing on

the walls; I want my room to feel welcoming and cozy and having posters on the

walls would reach that goal.

Even if a classroom has everything a student would need to do well in school,

having an effective teacher is the most important. To be an effective teacher I

believe teachers should expect that all students will succeed. How can we expect

students to believe in themselves if the people teaching them do not have confidence

in them? This creates a self- fulfilling prophecy. At a certain point, if students are

repeatedly told they are going to fail, eventually the student is going to stop trying

and fail, fulfilling the prophecy. It creates a cycle of students who no longer believe

in themselves. A teachers attitude towards the subject they are teaching can also

determine their effectiveness in the classroom. In my case, I need to be enthusiastic

about teaching history to my class. Thankfully, I am passionate about history and I

want to spread that passion with my future students. My hope is that I teach history

in an exciting enough way where the students are actively engaged and excited to

learn about what happened next. Lastly, making sure my students have academic

engaged time throughout the whole class is important to being an effective teacher.

Academic engaged time is having the students engaged in learning from the start to

the end of class. Because time is so valuable, making sure the students are learning
as much as they can in the time allotted is essential to both my success as a teacher

and theirs (Ryan, Cooper & Bolick, 2016).

V. The Role of the Teacher

Teachers should have a welcoming relationship with their students. I believe

that teachers are more than just teachers; sometimes they end up being more.

Having a welcoming relationship with their students means they are open to having

talks outside of the normal class discussions. Of course there has to be boundaries

between teacher/student relationships, but I do believe there is a lot of space for

them to get to know each other. Students should feel comfortable enough to talk to

their teacher if they are going through a rough time or just need someone else to talk

to. Having this type of relationship allows for better understanding between both

parties.

Teachers should also feel as if they have an ally within their students parents.

Having a relationship with the parents is important because if anything were to

happen, teachers could contact the parent. It is more than just having an emergency

contact on file, if parents are involved in a students life, the student is more likely to

do better in school. The teacher is the bridge between the parents and students.

With their fellow co-workers, teachers should be open to working with each

other and sharing ideas. Especially from what I have experienced in college, it is

important to learn using different perspectives. Not everything is one- sided, so to

work with teachers who may see things differently can help expand not only their

understanding, but their students understanding as well.

 Teachers should respect their administrators because they are their superiors.

However, they should also be able to defend themselves or their students if

something were to come up. Because the teachers are the ones in the classrooms

doing the teaching, they have a right to speak up and say something if they see

something that is not working.

I want to promote respect. I think all values and behaviors fall under respect.

Under respect falls: honesty, integrity, commitment, and basic common courtesy.

My job as a teacher is to teach and be their supporter. I think some people think

that being a teacher is just teaching, but I truly believe that it is much more than

that. I think being a teacher includes being their supporter, encourager, sometimes

even their friend. Because students spend so much of their time in school, it is

important for teachers to recognize that, and be willing to help and talk to their

students.

VI. Ongoing Professional Development

I can start brainstorming ideas myself on how to improve the world. Put myself

in their shoes. I can learn more about the world and think about ways to improve it.

I can self- reflect and ask my self why I think what I believe in is important. I can

take challenging courses, challenge myself to think in new and creative ways so that

in the future, I can pass on the skills I have learned to my students.

I should start by learning more about the world around me and consider

solutions to problems that are affecting the things I am passionate about. I should

stop focusing on the what ifs and if onlys. I need to remind myself that I can do
something and if I work hard enough, I will. And lastly, I need to continue with my

determination and continue with my dreams.

 Reference List

Aldana, A. & Byrd, C. (2015). School ethnic-racial socialization: learning about race
and ethnicity among African American students. Urban Review, 47(3), 563-576.

Hermann-Wilmarth, J. M., & Ryan, C. L. (2015). Doing what you can: considering ways
to address LGBT topics in language arts curricula. Language Arts, 92(6), 436-
443.

Ryan, K., Cooper, J., & Bolick, C. (n.d.). (2016). Those who can, teach (Fourteenth ed.).
Boston, MA: Cengage Learning.

Sadker, D.M. & Zittleman, K.R. (2012). Teachers, schools, and society. (3rd ed.). New
York: McGraw- Hill.