Philosophy of Education

I believe an education should prepare students to become productive citizens of society by promoting action fueled by knowledge. An education prepares people for the world around them, equipping them with a variety of tools to assist in their success. Success is not determined by any specific achievement. An education enables the student to choose what success means to them whether it be fixing cars or running a corporation. Students must be able to connect their education to the real world and an educator should help guide students to utilize their wealth of knowledge by applying it to everyday situations. Knowledge is wasted if it is not connected to action. With a constantly evolving education students can explore and understand their own potential and achieve it.

The foundation that an education requires is the desire to learn. The student is the key contributor to his or her own education. Educators must fuel the desire to learn and teach with the intent of extracting the student’s current knowledge and helping them add to it. Literacy is an essential tool that the student can utilize; an educator holds the responsibility of promoting functional literacy to aid the student’s growth. In academic literacy, reading and writing serve as the vehicle to excel. Reading leads to the discovery of new knowledge and activates prior knowledge. Writing as a form of thinking achieves the same result. By utilizing reading, writing, peer collaboration, teacher instruction and critical thinking, an education is endlessly constructed. Building understanding is much like building a house; it happens in stages, takes many different materials, and requires some hard work and motivation. Brazilian Educator Paulo Freire states, “Knowledge emerges only through invention and re-invention, through the restless, impatient continuing, hopeful inquiry human beings pursue in the world, with the world, and with each other.” With the right foundation students can relate to current situations and thus contribute to their own education and ultimately, society.

A literate student can then access endless amounts of knowledge as well as express his/her own ideas. The student must understand how to gain their own knowledge and the teacher acts as a facilitator in this process. Bias thinking is practically inevitable as educators are only human. It is crucial to relate information in a way that maintains neutrality, however, encourages a student to ponder subjects and create their own views. Directing the student through their own collective journey and helping them build on their foundation of knowledge is the ultimate goal of a teacher.