Running Head: PHILOSOPHOICAL STATEMENT 1

Philosophy Statement

By: Monica Olmos

EDUC 201

Foundations of Education

Instructor: Dr. L. Egbert

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Philosophical Statement

According to previous teachers I have interviewed, “If I choose a job I love, I will never work

a day in my life.” This has become my metaphor when looking forward to my future. I started

substituting at the beginning of the 2018 school year and realized how much I enjoyed being

around children. Having the ability to teach them as a substitute was beneficial. It makes my

mind run with the millions of different ways I could help students once I become a teacher. In

class we had the opportunity to figure out which of the four philosophies we fell under, I was

equal in three sections, putting me under the category of eclectism.

Eclectism is a teaching style that includes the different types of philosophies and uses

parts of each to teach. The three philosophies that I had were perrenialism, progressivism, and

essentialism. Children are all different and they all think differently. I was not concerned when I

noticed I fell under the category of eclectic because it made sense to me. In order for a classroom

to be productive the child must be able to understand the way he/she is being taught.

Perrenialism teaches children to learn about ideas that are everlasting. This is taught

through art, literature or even religion. This is important to a child’s education because so many

of us are caught up in only the present and don’t take the time to learn about the past.

Progressivism states that students learn by projects and group work. The teacher’s role in this

type of classroom is to try to get the student’s to find solutions within their groups and without a

lot of her help. A child can benefit from progressivism because they are taught that someone is

not always going to be there to answer all their questions and it can help them learn to

communicate better. Essentialism is a more precise way of learning. The main goal of

essentialism is to teach the common core, in other words, what is most important for cultural

heritage.
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If I were to be placed back in a high school classroom I would want the teacher to teach

with an eclectic philosophy in mind. This philosophy gives a little of everything, so every

student can benefit. If a student does not seem to benefit from an eclectic way of teaching, as

their teacher, it would be my job to make a change. The perks of teaching is that if we do

something one year and notice it doesn’t work, we can change it the next year. My philosophy

may or may not change, but I know that I want to be able to teach children and see them grow

through their education.

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References

Marshall, Beverly. (2019, March 15). Personal Interview.

Raley, Melissa. (2019, March 17). Personal Interview.