Rachel Burns

Educational Philosophy

“I always get to where I'm going by walking away from where I have been.” These

delicate words come from the loveable huggable Winnie the Pooh. While they are not the words

of a wise philosopher, they have always rung true to me. They are words that I will post in my

classroom because I want my students to look at them and to think that no matter where they are

coming from in terms of home life, previous academic records, or even just a bad day, they can

always get to where they want to be. I am constantly reminding myself that I can keep moving

forward from bad things in the past, whether they be mistakes, times I’ve been hurt, or times that

I have failed. I know that I will keep moving on and reach the goals that I have set for myself in

life. I want my students to follow that same path.

I decided that I wanted to be a teacher early on in life. I skewed from it here and there but

it is the profession that I have always been pulled back to. My younger brother has Autism and

he is my inspiration. As a kid, I wanted to help him grow and learn. I would try to teach him the

alphabet on our blackboard, I would try to read with him, but most importantly I was the one to

try to sit with him and calm him down when his emotions were overwhelming him. I believe that

the focus I had on his emotional wellbeing was the first inkling of my teaching philosophy.

I believe strongly in two theorists: Piaget and Maslow. When I first learned about

Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs the memories of the focus I had on my brother's emotional

wellbeing flooded my mind. I realized that even from my childhood, I have recognized the need

to ensure a child’s most basic needs were met before I could teach them. I believe that students

can not and will not learn from our teaching if we don’t make sure that their most basic needs are

met. We need to make certain that our students’ needs for safety, nutrition, esteem, and their
sense of connection are met before, during, and after their time in our classroom. I know that I

will always keep snacks in my classroom to ensure that my students are not going hungry. I will

create a safe and nurturing environment where friendships can be created and students can feel

that they will not be judged. No one, especially young students, can learn if they need to be

focused on ensuring that their own basic needs are met. We can not change what is going on in a

student's home life, but we can make school the best and most comfortable part of their day. We

are not in the classroom to just teach and go home. We are in the classroom to inspire, make

connections, and help grow a strong and intellectual next generation. I truly believe that once

those needs are met, the constructivist theory of Piaget allows us to teach children concepts in

the most well rounded way. Everyone builds off of previous knowledge. In our early years, we

build schema through discovery and what others teach us. It is from there that we learn more and

more information and fit it into the folders that we have created into our mind. Sometimes we

need to create new folders and I believe that educators need to really focus on this because if a

student can’t make sense of new material, it will not fit into an already created schema and they

won’t be able to create a new one. It simply causes confusion and in turn, frustration. As

educators, we need to be understanding of and work with constructivist theory to make sure that

students are making connections between materials and previous knowledge so that they fully

understand the concepts we are teaching them.

Once I get into my own classroom I will keep this philosophy in my desk so that if I ever

find myself straying from it, I will be able to pull it out and remind myself of what I believe and

what I am in the classroom to do.