Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION STATEMENT 1

Philosophy of Education Statement

Brent Bian
EDTP 600, University of Maryland University College
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Philosophy of Education Statement

I believe that effective learning occurs when someone is captivated by something greater than

themselves. This “something” can be a number of things, from a future version of themselves that they

want to become (wealthy, athletic, spiritual, wise, etc.), to a subject matter they wish to influence (STEM,

arts, poverty, religion, etc.). From personal experience, the greatest road blocks to learning for students

are a lack of motivation and perceived relevance caused by anything ranging from boredom to more

systemic issues such as privilege. “Captivation” is a self-motivating force that overcomes these issues and

will be what ultimately drives a student to learn. As the old saying goes, you can lead a horse to water, but

you cannot force it to drink. It will only drink if it feels thirsty.

On occasion, a student will have dreams of what they wish to become or do because of something

that captivated them from their experience or something they witnessed. However, I find that to be rare,

especially when I observe cases of students when asked what they would like to do when they grow up

and a majority of their responses are some iteration of “I don’t know.” What I truly believe they are

saying, though, is “I don’t care.” Many students don’t care and often times it is because they have never

been presented with a subject in a way that causes them to care. I believe that my job as an educator is not

only to impart knowledge, but to provide a subject that captivates or opens their minds to be captivated.

As teachers in the public school system, we will only have each student for a year, maybe a few

more if we teach different subjects, and so we cannot possibly teach them everything they will need to

know in order to succeed. If we can instill a desire in students to become learners, then our influence on

them will extend past the classroom. As Les Brown (2018, April 28) puts it, “You’ve got to be hungry,”

or in other words, you have to want it, and if a student can take their education and future into their own

hands, then I believe we have succeeded as teachers. Rather than giving students fish, I am more

interested in teaching them how to fish.

I recognize the idealism in what I am saying and getting a student to this point is never easy

especially when teaching is arguably more art than science. Every student is different and I can try a

plethora of methods to convince a horse it is thirsty, but sometimes it might never understand me given
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the horse’s nature. Given the odds, however, I believe there are ways to cultivate an environment that

gives space for a student to grow in captivation in order to produce effective learning and I will be

discussing these in detail.

Love

A cliché yet baffling word. Rather than giving a definition of it, I suggest that evidence of love is

when a person makes sacrifices for the object of love. In this way, love is therefore not dependent on

situation (how I’m feeling or what I’m going through) or environment (where I am or who I am with), but

rather is an active choice. No matter the quality of the facility, the abysmal pay, nor even the behavior of

the students come into factor for love. Strauss (2011, June 17) gives a list of 12 qualities that make a great

teacher, and the top 3 are “Passion for teaching,” “Love of kids,” and “Love of their subject.” I suggest

that love encompasses passion, so in a sense, the top 3 qualities all involve love and are what I believe to

be the most important areas to love in order to effectively teach.

Passion is contagious and in practice makes things interesting. I try not to speak for others, but I

am confident enough to say we all enjoy being taught by a teacher who is passionate as opposed to one

who is not. Passion does not necessarily come out as loudness. I have had passionate teachers who I could

barely hear. Rather, if teaching lights a fire in you, students will be able to sense that. And like fire,

passion spreads. I never thought I’d care about Newton’s First Law until I met my high school physics

teacher and now I am on the trajectory of becoming a physics teacher myself.

The importance of love for the kids is it provides a safe environment. Students are allowed to

express themselves and push past their comfort zones without fear of judgment. Every student will have

their insecurities and we want to remove those inhibitors to give them the space to stretch themselves,

make mistakes, and to learn. Rather than focusing on not messing up, they are given the freedom to

dream.

Love for the subjects we teach will motivate us to be continual learners ourselves. This would be

where my philosophy of teaching applies to myself; captivation for the subject. My first year teaching I

recognize that I will not have the experience or fullness of knowledge in my subject area, but every year I
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hope to understand my subject deeper, to learn how to teach it better, and to help students be captivated

by it.

Discipline

“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.”

-Jim Rohn

One rainy afternoon, I messaged my buddy to go to the gym for our daily workout, but the

response I got was “I don’t feel like it today.” Passion and love can kick start a student’s motivation to

become intrinsically motivated to learn, however will not sustain through the long haul. Every student

will have a bad day or season and in the same way that love is a choice in the midst of a lack of feeling,

discipline must be exercised in order to develop habits. As a teacher, I would make it a point for my

students to understand that hard work is necessary and the only useful shortcuts in life are found on a

computer key board.

Discipline is self-accountability and while not something that can be directly taught like math, the

classroom setting can help facilitate that development in students. Some schools are beginning to take

homework, punctuality, and work habits out of the grading system and evaluating students purely based

on scores to determine achievement and while I understand the basis for this, I do not agree that this is

best for our students (Moriah & Donna, 2016). The message we would be sending students is all they are

good for is what they know. If our job as teachers was just to transfer knowledge, then that would be fine,

however I believe education is more holistic than this. We are developing people, not databases, ones who

can function in society wherever they might end up (at a company, in an office, a 3rd world village, etc.)

and having discipline will keep a student captivated even on days they “don’t feel like it.”

Community

From the student’s perspective, education is often viewed as an individual effort and

understandably so. Many classes are more or less lecture based, most students in grade school simply go

home after school to do their homework alone, their grades are usually based on individual performance,

and the system fosters competition between students. However, students with a healthy community are
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shown to develop better in all areas of academics, from adapting to school, to completing homework more

regularly, and even earning higher grades and tests scores (“Why Family and Community Involvement Is

Important”)

Community involves everyone including the student’s parents, friends, classmates, and other

groups the students are a part of. As teachers, we play a crucial role in cultivating the community in our

classrooms as well as being part of our students’ communities. A healthy community provides a student

the means to think bigger than themselves. They are not an isolated amoeba, but are part of a group that

will love and discipline them and where they learn to do so in kind. Being in a community also gives

students a chance to meet people who are captivated with their own subjects. Hearing other people’s

stories, experiences, questions, and general wonderings have opened up my own capacity to be captivated

as well.

Conclusions

Everyone grows and learns at different rates and in many cases it takes time for a student to

become captivated and for the fruit of that captivation to be realized. But there is an indescribable

sensation when you taste the fruit of your labor. Various students I have taught till they graduated often

times wrote me letters describing the effect and influence I had on their lives. It’s thrilling to see how they

put into practice what I teach them and even more so when I witness them loving, disciplining, and

providing community for students of their own.

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References

[Goalcast] (2018, April 28). Why it pays to be hungry | Les Brown [Video File]. Retrieved from
www.youtube.com/watch?v=xFr0FKnaLDk

Moriah, B., & Donna, S.G. (2016, July). Is it becoming too hard for students to fail in school?. The
Washington Post. Retrieved from
http://eds.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.umuc.edu/eds/detail/detail?vid=35&sid=26db5e85-dcc9-
45ce-b062-
9eb01f821819%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmUmc2NvcGU9c2l0ZQ%3d
%3d#AN=wapo.3c464f5e-3cb0-11e6-80bc-d06711fd2125&db=bwh

Strauss, V. (2011, June 17). The 12 qualities great teachers share. The Washington Post. Retrieved from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-12-qualities-great-teachers-
share/2011/06/13/AGL64fTH_blog.html?utm_term=.41653f7a27c8

Why family and community involvement is important. New Hampshire Department of Education.
Retrieved from https://www.education.nh.gov/instruction/school_health/health_coord_family.htm