Christina Gurahoo

EDCI 5060

Philosophy of Education

My content area is Social Studies and my goals are to educate

and guide students through American History in a way that challenges
their perspectives. I will foster a safe classroom where students will be
able to discuss historical topics critically and with empathy for the
tragedies and triumphs of History.
I plan to teach students that there is more than one way to
examine evidence, especially when studying history. It is critical to
understand multiple perspectives when learning new material and
drawing conclusions. I want students to critically evaluate events and
people throughout history and question historical decisions. To do so I
will introduce topics and ask the class to share their opinions about the
issue. Perhaps I will have them write their initial reactions. Afterwards,
the class will research and discover new information. Using those
sources and ideas they will challenge their ways of thinking in the
initial response to the topic at hand.
Furthermore, I will teach students how to use primary sources
and why they are so important to the study of history. Students will see
that original documents such a journals, newspapers, legal documents,
charts, maps, etc. from the given time period will provide the best
evidence to support their hypotheses. I will demonstrate how to locate
primary sources by taking them to the library, showing the class how
to use search engines effectively, seeking out authentic primary
sources, and determining if a document is not a primary source.
I would like to teach my students moral and ethical values in
addition to academic learning. Moral and ethical examples are
abundant throughout history. I believe that students should learn
values from historical events and people. I would like to emphasize
that history is continuous. The decisions and events that occurred in
the past still impact us today whether they be implicit or explicit. In
order for us to understand the world we live in, we must understand
what has shaped it this way.
In addition, I want to teach my students to be confident in their
knowledge and determined to learn. My students will learn the passion
for learning through my devotion to their wellbeing, their futures, their
skills, and their knowledge. I want to ensure that my classroom is a
safe place where we can exchange ideas, opinions, thoughts,
emotions, experiences etc. in a setting that is non-judgmental and
warm. Yet, the class and myself will be able to express disagreements
respectfully among one another, seeing that historical events often
have strong emotions attached.
 My teaching style will encourage cooperation and teamwork,
because I believe we can all learn a great deal from one another. I will
be a student as well as a teacher. Students will research, present, and
discuss issues together and they will also be given the opportunity to
demonstrate their skills and knowledge independently. The class will be
a melting pot of ideas, opinions, facts, experiences, emotions of all
different backgrounds and I want to embrace all of the above in my
classroom.