Nicole Lopez

Philosophy of Education paper

Roster #12
Through my experience in this course, this semester, and my earlier stubborn

experiences, I have always seen that in order for students to succeed and achieve their

goals, they must have discipline, responsibility, and self-motivation. Alongside that, I

have seen educators with organized lesson plans, never-ending compassion,

encouragement and determination for their students, and acknowledgment for the

personal needs and individuality of every student. I strive to be that type of educator

who guides and assists future students in reaching their personal and academic goals. I

believe attention should be given to students’ personal needs, goals, and ideas,

because just as a child is a student at school, they are also a student outside of school,

learning from family members, friends, and outside encounters. As a future educator, I

feel that we must teach students the importance of using the discipline, responsibility,

and self-motivation learned in class, outside of school as well, and in everything they

do. That way, they not only progress academically but outside school as well, in their

personal life.

I am currently a student at the College of Southern Nevada, majoring in

Secondary Education, specializing in art. Throughout my years as a student in

secondary school, I came across different types of educators and observed the different

types of effects they had on students. The way they taught, communicated with

students, and guided them to perform their best stood out to me. I noticed the impacts

they had on my classmates. The organization and control a teacher have in the

classroom allows for focus and concentration. The one-on-one talk with students
invokes trust and motivation, but lack of care and communication causes careless

students. At home, my parents are my educators, and I, their daughter, am their

student. I’ve paid attention to the way they have nurtured and aided me and how it has

contributed to make me the person I am today. Now I am a student in college, learning

from professors remotely. A very new experience, I have seen their approaches to this

unfamiliar environment and how it has affected me and other students. My education

class has taught me that an educator is always there to help students, especially in

times like these. These experiences in different environments with different educators

and different classmates and their effects on each other has allowed me to visualize the

type of educator I want to be and how to positively affect future students.

A career in fine art is what I have always strived for. I find visual fine arts to be a

fantastic way to express one’s self and left out repressed emotions and stress. As a

student in secondary school, my learning style was visual. Presentations, images,

diagrams and more visual tools helped me understand and take in the material I was

learning. In all the art classes I have taken, all assignments and projects given have

been hands-on. No book work or paperwork. Concepts are learned through practice

instead of reading and defining. I find this method extremely helpful as it allows students

to show their understanding of the concept in a unique and individual way. You get to

see how each student makes something special and has their own take on the

assignment while still doing it correctly. Art classes have helped the way I learn, as I

have been taught to practice, make mistakes and correct them, and have determination

to make a product not just for the grade, but also for my own personal gain.

In five years, I hope to be a fine arts teacher in a middle or high school. I will be

continuing my education to earn a master's degree while teaching.

 As a future educator specializing in art, I have come to feel that one of the best

learning styles for students can be visual and physical learning, also known as visual-

kinesthetic learning. I believe every student is unique and different; seeing, feeling, and

creating things in diverse ways based on what they learn and how they learn it.

Therefore, what they produce in class, especially in an art class, results in different

outcomes; as an educator, I would welcome this diversity. This learning style allows

students to take responsibility for their learning in order to create something unique and

well made, something to be proud of. Their product should reflect what they were taught

but be visually unique. This hands-on learning allows student to feel motivated to create

something for themselves, not just for a grade.

I believe this style of learning can be more accommodating to students

academically and personally. It lets students express themselves and not feel restricted

to a specific rubric. I feel that as the educator, I can view and decipher what students

produce. I can physically see if the students understand and if this style of learning is

efficient. But I will also be able to see the creativity, the emotions, and the effort that

was put in the art. I can see if the student was motivated, if there was growth and

discipline, if they genuinely wanted to understand the concept and make something

meaningful out of it. If students are accomplishing all that, then I know I am

accomplishing as an educator. I hope for students to benefit from the class, my

teaching, and the style of learning.

What most people forget is that we are all human living normal, complex lives.

Teachers and students are not robots or perfect. We are human before anything.

Teachers and students each forget that the other is not flawless or perfect. We need to

understand that we have lives outside of school. We must respect that and do the best
we can to show that we do. Acts of kindness, compassion, and understanding towards

each other in class helps both, teacher and student, minimize stress and worry less

about the pressures of work and school. A good teacher must recognize that they are a

mentor, a coach, and a guide for students. A good teacher knows what it was like to be

a student and must help the students the way they wished they would have been

helped. Being a teacher should feel less like a job and more like a calling or a fulfilled

purpose because that’s what it truly is.