MY CONCRETE EXPERIENCE

This activity will enable you to ask yourself about the different future practices or actions
that you will do in teaching. You may not have done it yet, but if you become a teacher what
would be your response to each item? Your answers will identify what your philosophy of
education is all about.

Answer each item on the Survey Questionnaire very honestly. There is no right nor wrong
answer for each item. After you have answered each item, record your answers and look at the
interpretation at the back of this work text.

After you have answered the questionnaire yourself, you are to ask two teachers to do the
same activity.

Name of the Teacher: __________________ School: _________________________

WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION?

(bases on Sadker and Sadker, 1998 Teachers, Schools and Society)

Each of us has a philosophy of education or a set of fundamental beliefs regarding how

we think schools should be run. What is your philosophy of education? To find out, read each of
the following statements about the nature of education. Decide whether you agree or disagree
with each statement. Use the following numbers to express your response:

4 Agree strongly 2 Disagree

3 Agree 1 Disagree strongly

________1. The student learning should be centered around basic subjects such as reading,
writing, history, math and science.
________2. The school subjects should focus on the great thinkers of the past.
________3. Many students learned best by engaging in real-world activities rather than
reading.
________4. The students should be permitted to determine their own curriculum.
________5. Subject matter is taught effectively when it is broken down into small parts.
________6. The school subjects should be determined by information that is essential for
all students to know.
________7. Schools, above all, should develop students’ abilities to think deeply, analytically
and creatively; than develop their social skills or provide them with a useful body of
knowledge about the ever-changing world.
________8. Teaching should prepare students for analyzing and solving the types of problems
they will face outside the classroom.
________9. Reality is determined by each individual’s perceptions. There is no objective and
universal reality.
________10.People are shaped much more by their environment than by their genetic
dispositions or the exercise of their free will.
________11. Students should not be promoted from one grade to the next until they have read
and mastered certain key material.
________12. An effective education is not aimed at the immediate needs of the student or the
society.
________13. The curriculum of the school should be built around the personal experiences
and needs of the students.
________14. Students who do not want to study much should not be required to do so.
________15. Programmed learning is an effective method of teaching information.
________16. Academic rigor is an essential component of education.
________17. All students, regardless of their ability, should study more or less the same
curriculum.
________18. Art classes should focus primarily on individual expression and creativity.
________19. Effective learning is unstructured and informal.
________20. Students learn best through reinforcement.
________21. Effective schools assign a substantial amount of homework.
________22. Education should focus on the discussion of timeless questions such as “What is
beauty?” or “What is truth?”
________23. Since students learn effectively through social interaction, schools should plan for
substantial social interaction in their curricula.
________24. The purpose of school is to help students understand themselves and find the
meaning of their existence.
________25. Frequent objective testing is the best way to determine what students know.
________26. Countries must become more competitive economically with other countries hence,
schools must bolster their academic requirements to facilitate such competition.
________27. Students must be taught to appreciate learning primarily for its own
sake, because it will help them in their careers.
________28. Schools must place their own emphasis on teaching about the concerns of minorities
and women.
________29. Each person has free will to develop as he or she sees fit.
________30. Reward students well for learning and they will remember and be able to apply what
they learned even if do not understand why the information is worth knowing.
________31. Philippine schools should attempt to instill traditional Filipino values in students.
________32. Teacher-gained discovery of profound truths is a key method of
teaching students.
________33. Students should be active participants in the learning process.
________34. There are no external standards of beauty. Beauty is what an individual decides it.
________35. We can place a lot of faith in our schools and teachers to determine which student
behaviors are acceptable and which are not.
________36. Schools must provide students with a firm grasp of basic facts regarding the books,
people, and events that have shaped the Filipino heritage.
________37. Philosophy is ultimately at least as practical a subject to study as is computer
science.
________38. Teachers must stress for students the relevance of what they are learning for their
lives outside, as well as inside the classroom.
________39. It is more important for students to develop a positive self-concept than to learn
specific concept.
________40. Learning is more effective when students are given frequent tests
to determine what they have learned.