Lina Garcia

Professor ​Christensen

Edu 201-2002

14 November 2019

Personal Philosophy of Education

It’s my senior year of school, and it doesn’t hit me that this is my last year of high school.

I never focused on my future when I didn’t realize it was happening very soon. Suddenly, I

graduated, and now, I am officially an “adult.” Some adult I turned out to be since I barely

thought about what I wanted to do for my future. Thankfully things worked out and I realized

that some things won’t happen if I don’t do anything about it. I realize I won’t get what I want if

I just sit around, hoping things will land directly in my hands. This is where I began my journey

of becoming a teacher.

I started my second grade at a new school, and I left my friends behind and had to start

getting used to my new environment. I met my second grade teacher and my new classmates, and

I felt better about everything. My next year was so great to me because my entire family was

involved. All 6 of my siblings were here at this school, and my mom was volunteering. I started

to become more involved with my elementary school, making it part of my family. I feel lucky

observing the same elementary school since it feels like I’m coming back home. I’ve been

visiting even though my observation hours are over, and I learn more about working as a teacher.

As a kid, I would be involved in school activities, but coming back, I learn what’s behind the

scenes. When I get more involved with schools, I learned from both the classroom and
observation what skills and knowledge I need to be a great teacher. These experiences now and

then has inspired me to become a teacher.

When I was young, I was surrounded by people who treated me as if I was special. With

that confidence, I felt I could do anything I set my mind to. When I become a teacher, I’ll treat

my students the same. I want my students to know that they are the future, and they can rebuild

our society for the better. This goes well with my philosophical orientation: ​Reconstructionism.

We believe that schools should take the lead to reconstruct society. We also believe schools

should teach great knowledge and use it as a tool to help make a brighter future.

Events during the modern postwar era, which is in between the years 1945 to 2000,

inspire me to work harder. In 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court rejected the “separate but equal”

doctrine which has been used since 1850, finally letting African Americans go to school with the

Whites. In 1965, Congress passed the Elementary and Secondary Education Act, which allowed

schools in poverty areas were able to get the assistance they needed for a better future. These

historical events inspire me about the change we can have in our future. These past events

showed a change in their society that I strive for. We shouldn’t stop here. When I become a

teacher, I’ll never stop striving for a better future.

I’m sure every student is special in their own way, but that would make them different

from each other, meaning I can’t treat them as if they are the same. They will all have different

needs, and one way I will figure that out is by experimenting. I will use many different

instructional strategies to know which techniques work on which student so I know what I’m

working with. Some of my future students will learn better by hearing, by moving, or by seeing.

That means I have to try to teach so anyone can learn, no matter their diversity and variability.
Some examples I can use are, writing in notebooks so they can reflect on what they learn, using

experiments so they learn hands on instead of reading about it, using videos so they can see what

they’re listening to, asking questions so the students can speak their thoughts, and using audio so

the students can learn from hearing. There is so much more I can do to help involve all students.

I want to be a teacher who my students will look up to; that’s my goal. For this career, I

need to be kind, hard working, organized, motivated, patient, and share a connection with the

students. I want to treat my students as real people, not like babies, because I want them to know

that they deserve more. To become a teacher, I will need to finish my education and earn my

associates and bachelors degree. Not only that, but after I get my associates, I plan on being a

substitute teacher while studying for my bachelors. Hopefully being a sub will get me more

experience with the kids and I will learn gradually how different every kid will be. I will also

start volunteering more at my old elementary school so I can get even more experiences. These

are the steps I will take to reach my goal of being an elementary school teacher.

When I was younger, there were many things I wanted to do. Some of them even at the

same time. I wanted to be a singer, dancer, actress who is also a doctor and a teacher with great

artistic skills. Now that I’ve gotten older, I realized that my old goals were going to require many

years of work and studying. I wanted my future career something more simpler. So I took one of

those jobs that was easier to attain and something that connects to me. If you read the paragraphs

before, then you’ll know a teacher is what I planned to be. It wasn’t until my senior year when I

realize that this is what I want to do with my life. I realized that I disappointed many people

choosing this career since I’ve shown potential in “better” careers. However, I want to live my

life how I want, and the journey I’ll take to reach it won’t stop me.