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Philosophy of Education

Jacob Howell

Paris Junior College

EDUC 1301.200

Dr. Marian Ellis, Instructor

3/25/20
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Philosophy of Education

When I was in school, I always enjoyed it the most when teachers would go outside the

box when teaching. By that I mean when they wouldn’t just stand in front of the class and give a

bland lesson with no real emotion. I always liked it when they used emotion or gave it their own

personal touch. It also helped when they let us work in groups, as I felt that that gave us the best

opportunity to learn. When a teacher goes outside the box and adds his/her own personal touch, it

can help resonate with the students. It helps them do their jobs, and helps us become the people

we are meant to be in this crazy world we live in.

Many of the teachers I had in school would use our opinions to help them be better

teachers for us and would frequently try to learn more about us. I agree with this philosophy

because it helps the teacher understand the student and can be beneficial when they are planning

their lessons. I plan on using this when I eventually become a teacher and this could also help

while I am coaching. This is an idea that I have truly come to respect after seeing it used all these

years, and I hope to utilize it someday.

People don’t just become teachers because they like a certain subject. While that does

play a big role in it, most people do it for a more important reason than that. People become

teachers because they want to help the next generation of students. We do it because we want

help these kids realize their full potential and truly become what they were meant to be in this

world. Not only do we want to help them reach their full potential, but we want to help them

avoid making the mistakes that we made when we were students. There’s a quote that says

“Failure is the greatest teacher” (yes I know it’s from star wars, but it still has a lot of meaning).

While we will be teaching in the class room, we can also teach lessons outside the classroom.
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That might be the most important reason many of us have decided to teach. Helping the younger

generation is truly the biggest responsibility that we have.

I believe that every teacher should have their own method of teaching. Not that they

should all be completely different, but there should be key differences. Since I’m planning on

being a government/history teacher, I plan on using current events and asking my students

opinions on the events. This will help them stay up to date on current events and help them form

their own opinions on the subject. I plan to use student involvement as much as possible. Getting

the students involved makes sure that they are at least trying to pay attention and could help them

retain more information. I plan on using group projects to ensure that everyone gets involved and

to teach them to use teamwork. I also plan on having them do projects by themselves to make

sure that they study and actually do the work. Doing the work themselves can also help build

confidence in the students. It can make them proud of their work and make them feel

accomplished. That will be my goal when I become a teacher.

I want my students to be able to stay awake in my class. When I was in school, many of

my teachers had extremely bland classrooms that made it very hard to stay awake. I want it to be

lively and feel somewhat alive. I also had teachers that had classrooms that were too lively,

making it almost impossible to pay complete attention to the lesson. That is a big concern that I

have. It needs to be lively, but not too lively. That is something that I will need to pay close

attention to.

I said earlier that I wanted to make sure that my students are paying attention and

learning the lessons. To do this I will use tests to evaluate how they are doing and if I might need

to change certain things to help make sure that they are learning. While I personally couldn’t
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stand tests when I was in school, I do understand the meaning of them now. So yes, I do plan on

using them to help me teach my students.

Being a teacher is one of the most difficult jobs to do in America. Not only will you have

to deal with some bad students, but there are also times that you might doubt yourself. But it is

also the one of the most important jobs in America. Being a teacher is a more than just a job. It’s

also a responsibility. Good teachers bring the best out of their students, and that is what I hope I

can do.