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Annie Kissinger

Franciscan University of Steubenville

PSY 301 OL

5 May 2019

My Philosophy of Education

Psychology, meaning the scientific study of the human mind and its functions, especially

those affecting behavior in a given context, plays an important role in not only what we do on a

day-to-day basis, but also how individuals learn in educational settings. Educational psychology

involves, “the study of how people learn, including topics such as student outcomes, the

instructional process, individual differences in learning, gifted learners, and learning

disabilities.” As a future educator, it is important to understand that the manner in which

children learn and incorporate information is directly influenced by psychology. Understanding

how individuals learn and internalize new information is a key component in the teaching

process that can help us better understand our students and develop positive educational

practices. My philosophy of education is that ​I’d like to provide a healthy environment for a

child to grow, not only as a student, but as a whole in regards to social, emotional and mental

growth. Every child, no matter the differences, deserves the opportunity to become an active

learner and critical thinker by being heard, accepted, empowered, and feel meaning and value in

his/her life. In order for this to occur, as a future educator, I need to be well versed on the

psychology behind development, practice intentionality, allow for students to play an active role

in their learning process, reinforce good behavior, address every child’s individual needs and be

open-minded.
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First and foremost, teacher efficacy is a vital first step in being a proper educator. This

belief of a teacher that his or her actions will make a difference in a child’s learning process is

the core aspect of what it means to be an intentional teacher. When a teacher believes in his/her

efficacy, they become better planners, embrace challenges, continually put in effort, and strive

for the betterment of their students. In my educational practice, I will strive for efficacy by

continually seeking collaboration among peers, acknowledging hardships and obstacles to

overcome, assessing the results of my instruction, constantly researching educational practices

and utilizing resources such as books, the internet and workshops to strengthen my teaching

skills. Along with individual teacher efficacy, collective efficacy can also drastically improve

student achievement. An example of how I will implement this into my educational practice, will

be by constantly striving for teacher collaboration. Whether I would be working together with

individuals teachers and receiving necessary feedback or pushing for more teacher conferences, I

hope to raise awareness of the beneficial effect of teacher efficacy on students.

Before any type of learning can occur, students need to have certain needs satisfied.

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs theory discusses the idea that needs that are on different levels and

are of more importance than others. In his theory, there are 2 types of needs, deficiency needs

and growth needs. “Deficiency needs (physiological, safety, love, esteem) are those that are

critical to physical and psychological well being. In contrast, growth needs, such as the need to

know and understand things, to appreciate beauty, or to develop an appreciation of others, can

never be satisfied completely.” (pg. 250 ​Educational Psychology​) This theory pertains to

education because student’s need to be fed first and foremost as well as feel loved and have a

healthy self-esteem. In my classroom, I want to make my students feel accepted, safe, and
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respected as individuals. If these needs are addressed, students are more likely to have a desire to

learn and be open to new ideas. I would like to create a classroom that is conducive to all types

of learning. I will make sure my classroom has set rules, allows for creativity, models kindness

and is organized well for movement and interaction.

Once a child’s needs are met to the best of the teacher’s ability, they must continually

strive to better understand the cognitive, social, emotional and mental development of their

students. When studying developmental theories, they provide a framework for thinking about

human growth and learning. They give us a better understanding of the reasons behind different

levels of cognitive, emotional, physical, social and educational growth that children go through

from birth to adulthood. Piaget, a famous psychologist known for his Cognitive Developmental

Theory, proposed that, “a child’s intellect, or cognitive ability, progresses through 4 distinct

stages. Each stage is characterized by the emergence of new abilities and ways of processing

information.” (pg. 25 ​Educational Psychology​) This theory suggests that development precedes

learning. Despite the attention of this theory, I would not use this information to analyze my

students’ growth. This is because there is a lack of operational definitions, an inaccuracy of stage

theory, a lack of enough evidence for the qualitative differences in cognitive abilities between

different stages in children and the dismissal of cultural influences on cognitive development.

Instead of using Piaget’s developmental theory, I believe Vygotsky’s view on cognitive

development is a better framework for understanding educational growth in individuals. The

major difference between Piaget and Vygotsky would be that Vygotsky proposed that cognitive

development is strongly linked to input from others. Unlike Piaget, Vygotsky believed that

learning precedes development. He emphasized that, “learning involves the acquisition of signs
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by means of information from others and deliberate teaching.” (pg. 33​ Educational Psychology​)

Vygotsky’s sociocultural approach is based on two key ideas, that intellectual development is

only influenced by historical and cultural contexts that children experience, and that

development depends on the sign systems that individuals grow up with. The sign systems refer

to symbols that cultures create to aid in thinking, communicating and problem solving. In this

theory there is an emphasis on self-regulation, private speech, the zone of proximal development,

mediation, scaffolding and cooperative learning.

I would like to apply this theory in my classroom due to the focus on students playing an

active role in their learning process. Allowing students to have this role gives them a sense of

value and empowerment that children desire. When organizing classroom activities, I would like

to put this theory into practice by scaffolding and creating cooperative learning activities. Within

scaffolding, I will provide support during the early stages of development and decreasing that

support as the child becomes more and more self-regulated and responsible. I will create

cooperative learning activities to allow for students to learn from one another use their inner

speech when interacting with others.

As teachers, it is very important that we teach to our best ability, but what students learn

is not always what we intend to teach. Learning takes place in many ways and a challenge

teachers face is how to help students learn particular information, necessary skills, and concepts

that will be useful in their lives. Based off B. F. Skinner’s work that focuses on the relationship

between behavior and its’ consequences, we get the most important principle of behavioral

learning theories; behavior changes according to consequences. “Pleasurable consequences

strengthen behavior and unpleasant consequences weaken it.” (pg. 101 ​Educational Psychology​)
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The pleasurable consequences are called reinforcers which is only a reinforcer if there is

evidence that the behavior is strengthened. These consequences can fall into 4 different

categories, positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, removal punishment or presentation

punishment. In order to implement this learning theory into a classroom, teachers need to

reinforce any behavior they wish to be repeated.

In my classroom, I will first decide what behavior I want exhibited from the students and

reinforce them when it occurs. Secondly, I will make an effort to voice to my students what

behaviors I want to see, through a set of rules posted in the classroom or a rubric used for

evaluating their work. It is also very important that I explain why I want my students to behave a

certain way so that they better understand why that behavior is desired. Lastly, I will make an

effort to reinforce the right behavior as soon as possible after it occurs. I can do so by immediate

appraisal for a behavior or immediate feedback on tests, worksheets or assignments.

One of the most important principles to remember about teaching is that we as teachers

cannot just give student’s knowledge we wish them to know. We must give students the

opportunity to use their own strategies for learning and apply information themselves. Theories

that relate to this principle are called constructivist theories. Similar to Vygotsky, these theories

involve the idea that individuals must internalize and discover on their own. This applies to

classrooms because it allows for a shift in focus giving students’ a more active role in their

learning process. Some of the key components of constructivism is top-down processing, peer

interaction, discovery learning, self-regulated learning and scaffolding. This student-centered

instruction is an approach I would like to implement into my classroom. Examples of how I

would create a classroom based off this theory, would be by encouraging students to be active
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participants of their own learning and modeling how to think, instilling responsibility, allow for

student choice and autonomy in regards to projects and classroom assignments, using

open-ended questioning techniques, encouraging student collaboration, creating individual

self-paced assignments and encouraging student reflection. With these techniques implemented

into the classroom, student achievement and motivation increases dramatically.

Beyond a good lesson, there are other elements that can add more to the information

presented. One of those elements is technology. Technology has transformed many aspects of

our lives and can be largely beneficial by positively enhancing lessons. It can help teachers keep

students more engaged, excited to learn and motivated. The use of technology in the classroom

allows for children to freely explore interactive appropriate media, incorporates assistive

approaches on different websites/apps, enhances the fun in learning, better prepares students for

the future, can increase retention of information and allows for self-paced learning. One of the

main reasons I find it to be beneficial is because of this aspect of self-paced learning. As a

teacher, it can be challenging to adjust to the different paces of learning in each student and assist

every student in every lesson. Technology allows for students to receive necessary feedback and

help when a teacher isn’t always available. In my future classroom, if available from the school,

an example of how I will utilize technology in the classroom is by allowing the use of school

Ipads after specific lessons. Students can use a variety of applications on the device that pertain

to the specific lesson as I move from student to student to give feedback and see which

individuals are struggling with the information presented.

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In conclusion, as a future educator, I need to be well versed on the psychology behind

development, practice intentionality, allow for students to play an active role in their learning

process, reinforce good behavior, address every child’s individual needs and be open-minded.

There are many different factors that influence a child’s ability to are in out of our control. The

best way to address these is to continually strive as educators to understand every individual

student and guide them to the best of our ability. Psychology is an intrinsic part of education that,

when understood, can be used to create a classroom that is conducive to social, emotional,

mental and cognitive growth. As educators it is our responsibility to meet every child at their

needs and cultivate a desire to learn.

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Works Cited

1. (Educational Psychology Definition)

https://www.verywellmind.com/what-is-educational-psychology-2795157

2. Slavin, Robert E. ​Educational Psychology: Theory and Practice​. Pearson (page 25, 33,

101, 250), 2018.

3. (Criticisms of Piaget's Theory)​,

www.massey.ac.nz/~wwpapajl/evolution/assign2/AWarren/crit.html​.