Sasha Ilic

11/16/20

EDU 201-1001

Philosophy of Education

Philosophy of Education

Growing up as a student in CCSD, as well as being a parent of a CCSD student, and then

eventually a student obtaining my own teaching degree to teach in the CCSD district, I have a

unique perception of all sides of education. I have been able to gain experience from different

angles through different periods in my life. All of these stages have helped shape my desire to

become a teacher. I was a young child with a facial birth defect which affected my self-esteem

and confidence when it came to learning. I was also a student who required special education in

the form of speech therapy in my public school. Although I did receive wonderful speech therapy

that I am very much grateful for, I cannot help but think back on all the missed opportunities I

did not receive in terms of my education. I was a highly intelligent kid but so incredibly shy and

scared of being seen and bullied, that I rarely raised my hand. I also dreaded having to speak in

front of others. I never had a teacher connect those dots or do anything but scold me for my

shyness. They would sometimes yell at me for not wanting to attend school. I even hid in the

bathroom sometimes to avoid class but only ended up getting in trouble instead of having my

issues looked at closely. This made me realize at a young age how important it is for an educator

to really take notice of their students and pay attention to all the signs they are giving. I would

never want a student to fall through those cracks or not have their talents encouraged simply

because I was not paying attention, or they were not fully engaged in my classroom.
 Experiencing this school year during COVID, made it even more important to be a

teacher who fully engages their students, builds trust, and creates an environment where students

are fully seen. I watched, through both of my observations, students whose parents had zero

buy-in, or students who so desperately wanted to engage with their teacher and their classmates

but could not. I saw that there are certain situations that go on at home, which school is the only

escape from. It’s our responsibility as teachers to create an environment that is safe and

nurturing, and an environment where children can love learning and where they understand they

have potential to be successful and change their future outcomes. This is what I want to do for

my own students. I feel that I have the ability to see each student as gifted in their own way and I

want to encourage that and help those students understand their abilities and how great they are

at learning.

There are several complexities that we are currently facing in our schools. Currently, a

huge one is remote learning while in a pandemic. I learned that schools and administration had to

be able to think quickly and swiftly to ensure that students had a safe access to learning.

Unfortunately, they did not always have the support of their community during this transition.

This was something discouraging to see but also very uplifting since teachers were able to make

it work, while working very hard, and all while knowing they would receive very little

recognition, or appreciation, in the end. They do it because it’s what is best for the students and

that definitely inspired me. I also discovered that lack of funding is a complexity that I hope to

see overcome in the future. Education should be at the top of our priorities in America and if our

current future outlook does not include a shift in that priority, I do worry for schools that are in

more lower socio-economic areas. I also believe that in terms of special education, 100%

inclusion needs to be something that all schools in every district participate in. I have read about,
and witnessed through my disabled family members, the benefits of inclusion and I believe it

needs to be pushed and advocated for in every school moving forward.

My current belief in education is that the school needs to be a community. A safe space

where students can come and know that teachers, fellow parents, students, and administration is

there for them and working together to ensure students are reaching their goals and feeling a

sense of ownership and pride in their accomplishments. I feel that I have been shaped more as a

critical theorist through my time in my education courses as well as inspiration by past

professors and teachers who encouraged me to understand my place in the world. I was shown

that we all have a part in making positive changes to the future and our actions have an effect on

the world. I truly believe that shaping our society and repairing past damage starts in the

classroom now. Teachers have a major responsibility as we are the first adults that children look

up to as they begin their independence from their parents. We can inspire them to be

compassionate and care about others and their community. This is especially important in

schools where funding is not as abundant or in lower economic neighborhoods and

environments. Laws like the No Child Left Behind Act and the Title 1 act were the beginning

approaches in helping to ensure that these students received a fair education. But there is still a

long way to go in terms of legislation to ensure that all schools are funded equally and teachers

receive adequate pay so that more people are encouraged to go into the profession. This will in

turn help more kids who will become our eventual future leaders.

I want to implement a sense of responsibility in my classroom. I want all my students to

realize that they need to work together and have mutual respect for one another as well as for me.

I plan to show that same respect to them and not just be an authoritative figure. I feel that they

will have enough authorities later on in life and I want them to remember their time with me as a
time where they felt their opinion and their decisions really mattered. I also want there to always

be a sense of inclusion with my students. The part of living in America that I love the most is

how diverse our society is. My parents were immigrants and long ago, me and my sisters were

the only people of color in our classrooms full of white, LDS students. I didn’t know anyone else

who had the same homelife as me, filled with completely different cultures and languages.

However, that has changed so much since then. Students no longer have to feel completely

segregated because of their background. I want to ensure that everyone, from every background

or culture, understands that my classroom is open for them to be who they are without any

judgements. This especially goes for my special education students. I hope that by the time I am

in the classroom, 100% inclusion and mainstreaming will be practiced full-time. If it is not, I

want to make sure that I am as accommodating as possible, learn as much as I can about their

disability or handicap, and ensure that my classroom is filled with students who accept and love

them and treat them as equals.

I learned from my last assignment in this class how important being a hands-on teacher is

and that lessons where the teacher is involved stick out the most for students, and their memory,

later on. I didn’t realize there were so many laxed teachers who just handed out worksheets and

sat back until my own daughter got to junior high. I see her light up when her teachers really get

involved with a lesson and get out of their seats and participate. I will remember that as I go into

my own lesson planning. I want my lessons to be remembered so that it helps my students all

through life and gives them a deeper love of knowledge and learning. When it comes to

assessments, I believe I would do better observing their work and their involvement, then just

scoring sheets of paper and grading on how many problems they get correct while working on

their own homework alone. I want to involve the grading process into my one-on-one
interactions while they are involved in the lesson with me. I realize that students learn differently

and at different levels regardless of the grade they are in. I saw this happen with my 4th grade

observation. Some kids just simply do not do well on tests or worksheets and it doesn’t mean

they don’t understand or aren’t learning. So I want to make sure I have as many interactive

lessons as possible where I can assess my students in the moment as they participate and learn.

One of the biggest, and most simple, qualities you must have for this profession is a love

of kids. I thought all teachers loved kids and that's why they got into this profession. I found out

that this is not always true and that makes for a miserable, long career. These are the types of

teachers I see giving up and quitting often. You have to not only enjoy the presence of children

but have patience for their curiosity. All children are curious. They just want to learn and know

everything and we have to stop and remember that they don’t yet and be patient enough to

answer their questions and help them understand the world. As a teacher, you also have to be

accepting of all different types of kids and families. Not everyone is going to be perfect and well

behaved, and there are going to be major challenges. Going into this profession you have to be

prepared that you will face some difficult situations and have the grace to help your students and

families through anything. You also have to be prepared to work really hard in school. Although

they do not pay teachers enough, the expectations for their degree are high. So are the licensing

requirements. I learned that there are many different licenses to teach depending on the grade

level or even special subject. I am currently applying for my substitute license so I can teach

children while I finish my degree. Once I complete my bachelors, I will apply for my elementary

education teaching license. I am considering special education, but I haven’t fully decided yet.

While I work full time, and finish school, I plan to keep up to date on legislation that

affects education in this country. I also plan to remain an advocate for children with special
needs and stay on top of developments in special education. I will continue to look up to teachers

who have been mentors to me and listen to them as well as continue to show them appreciation. I

want to be able to learn from them first hand even when I am not student-teaching or doing

observation requirements. I will remain an active member of my school district as a parent and

try to see things from a teacher’s point of view, even when things are frustrating. Honestly, with

this pandemic, there have been times where I wondered to myself if this was the right path for

me. Did I have thick enough skin to work in this profession? When I observed my 4th grade

classroom and saw how much students lit up when they received encouragement or when they

fully understood something or had pride in their work I realized this was the right decision for

me. I want to see children understand how worthy they are of an education and how smart every

single one of them are. I want them to realize they are gifted they are, in their own way. I want to

contribute to the future of society by shaping youth and building their confidence. Eventually I

want to take that beyond the states and go back to my parent’s countries and teach the young

students there who don’t have the same opportunities as other young children. I look forward to

what happens next as I go into my Bachelors. I am scared of the unknown but excited to learn

more about how students learn and how I can develop unique ways to keep them engaged and

have a love of learning.