Philosophy of Education 1

Philosophy of Education

Erika Villasenor

CSN, EDU 201

Author Note

First paragraph: Profession

Second paragraph: Profession (continued)

Third paragraph: Profession (continued)

Fourth paragraph: Teaching

Fifth Paragraph: Instruction

Sixth Paragraph: Future

Philosophy of Education 2

Becoming a teacher is more than just a job. We need to have creativity, energy and

passion for changing the future. Being a teacher is one of the ways to impact students lives, you

are more than just an educator, you become a mentor, a confidant and a friend. I've been working

as a teacher assistant for 7 years now and I have had a lot of good and bad experiences. Some

which made me continue doing what I'm doing and some that made me want to stop what doing

I'm doing. One of those experiences was on my first day working as a teacher assistant. I didn't

know what to expect since I had never worked with kids. My first day was tough, two of the

kids in the class had behavior problems and one of them had a melt down and basically flipped

the classroom upside down.

I was shocked and never imagined that to happen on my very first day. The first thought

that came to my head after the kids went home was “ I'm not coming back, I can't do this”. At

that time I was a support staff substitute and the teacher asked me if I would like to stay there the

rest of the week because her assistant had actually quit her position. I decided to give it another

try since it was my first day and the kids didn't know me. On Friday of my first week the little

girl that gave me a hard time on my first day told me that she wanted me to come back with a big

smile on her face. When the teacher told me the position was open and it was mine if I wanted it

I said yes in a heartbeat. I just felt that I was able to help that little girl and that she needed me.

We had good and bad days but by the time she went to middle school I have to say that her

behavior got ten times better. This is one of so many stories I have of why I love working with

kids and on why I want to become a teacher.

The Field Observations helped a lot, I took in a lot of information that I didn't know

about yet. One of them was the powerful effects of drawing on learning. They did a study where
Philosophy of Education 3

49.5% of the students actually remembered twice as much information drawing as the ones that

wrote it. Another one I found interesting was the sensory room. I feel like a room like this at

school will help us so much. I feel like spending some time in the sensory room will calm them

down and be ready to learn.

The education Philosophy and Psychological that fits close to my educational beliefs is

Behaviorism. Even though I might have experienced all of the philosophical, behaviorism is

really important. By having the appropriate reinforcements techniques, teachers can help

students reach the desired behaviors. But other than that all of them are just as important as this

one. The knowledge of philosophy helps us understand the complex political forces that

influence schools. They help us evaluate effectively current proposals for change, and to grow

professionally.

Some instructional strategies that I will implement would be to motivate students and

help them focus. I will get to know all my students and maintain consistent communication,

because they are all unique individuals so I would use that fact to build a diverse environment . I

will incorporate a center into my routine for diverse learners and sometimes let them differentiate

their own instruction. I need to understand that all students will learn differently from others,

what works for one student may not work for the other one. So I would need to improvise and try

something new until they are able to understand.

Some skills that I will need to possess to continue in this career is knowledge of teaching,

leadership skills, being flexible, communication skills and lots of patience. To meet the

requirements of the law I will need at least a bachelor's degree. I will also need to strengthen my

technology skills since everything is pretty much technology based now. I will need to obtain a
Philosophy of Education 4

license by the state to legally work as a teacher. Another requirement will be passing a state test

that demonstrates the knowledge in each core academic subject in which I would teach. Lastly is

to meet the definition created under the federal education law known as No Child Left Behind. It

takes a lot to become a teacher just like any other career but the benefits outweigh the risk.

Everything we do now will recompense us in the future.