Rachael Brudnok

Philosophy of Education

My philosophy of education is that learning takes place through student interest,

collaboration, and a positive environment. I can envision my future classroom now; there
are meaningful conversations going on, students are arranged in groups or tables, and
students are pushing each other to do their best. Learning through student interest,
collaboration, and a positive environment helps students grow socially, emotionally, and
academically.

Learning through student interest can completely transform a classroom. In terms

of academics, I have been in a classroom where students were much more involved in a
lesson because they were curious about the topic or because students wanted to take the
lesson a different direction than I had planned. When students are interested in a concept,
learning occurs naturally. They are asking questions or having in-depth conversations
about the concept they are interested in. Learning through student interest helps students
grow socially and emotionally as well. Students can grow socially by contributing to group
conversations and being able to give a strong presentation on the concept they are the
most interested in. Emotionally, learning through student interest allows students to
remove the 50-pound weight that some concepts carry. Students might not feel as
pressured to do well when they are wanting to learn more about a concept that is
interesting to them.

Learning through collaboration allows for students to create a sense of community

within the classroom. All throughout my educational career I have been told to “use my
resources.” I always assumed that meant using the internet, books, or teachers for help. It
was not until I started student teaching that I finally realized a resource can easily be the
person sitting next to you. I think it is very important for students to be able to collaborate
with each other. Naturally, we use the people around us as a resource for our everyday
problems, for students, they can use the people sitting around them to decide which way
they are going to solve a math problem or why a character might have been acting a certain
way. Collaborating with one another allows students to practice working in groups, but also
using social skills to be able to communicate with a partner or group. I have found that
when students work in groups or with a partner, they feel more confident in the work they
have done because it was a team effort.

One of the most important pieces of my philosophy of education is learning through

a positive environment. In creating a positive learning environment, I hope to instill a sense
of confidence in students and confidence in each other. Playing sports almost my whole
life, I know how encouraging it feels when people believe in you and want you to do well. As
others start wanting you to do well, you start to believe in yourself and gain a sense of
confidence in yourself. When students do not have any confidence in themselves or their
learning environment has a negative feel, students are not going to perform well or want to
learn. Students cannot receive the best education or maximize their full potential without
feeling confident in the work they do. I plan to create a positive environment by checking in
with students often about how their day is going or how they felt about an assignment. I
will also remind students how proud I am of the work they are doing. I hope to get students
to be able to have conversations like that with each other, too.

To conclude, I want to provide students with the opportunity to learn through their
interests, collaboration, and a positive environment. One of my goals as a teacher is to
make each day as engaging and interactive as I can. I feel that I can successfully do that
through student collaboration whether that is through centers, a Jeopardy game, or as a
whole class activity. However, I understand that as a teacher, I will be learning just as much
as the students and that education is always changing. I am always looking for ways to grow
as a person and educator so that I can give my students the best education possible.