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College of Southern Nevada

Philosophy of Education

Breana Zavaleta

EDU 201 – 1003 Fall

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It is a commonly known aphorism that teachers shape our future, this idea has a strong

impact on the decision I’ve made to become a teacher. I began my journey at a young age, when

a divorce relocated my family to Nevada, and to our first day care. I was eight years old, and I

quickly became “teachers’ helper,” playing hangman on the white board, helping pass out snacks

and doing cutting projects for scheduled activities. When I turned 15, I was hired as support staff

this same day care. It was a great experience; I worked as a kindergarten aide and got the

opportunity to teach the preschool kids certain lessons assigned to me. They were generally

simple lessons, but these small assignments pushed toward a great passion. This was the only

experience I’ve had with teaching, as my life took me to a place where I had children and

required me to opt for a job with a higher salary. However, I have never let go of this ambition. I

believe my passion for working with children has only increased since the start of this course.

The observation portion of this course has given me a more in-depth perspective of the way a

classroom is structured. I’ve loved working with the students, and during this experience I took a

considerable amount of pleasure in seeing these students succeed at a lesson. I imagine that being

a helping hand in that success offers great emotional reward. The classroom observation has

given me more concrete evidence that I should continue to reach for a career as a teacher.

The many educational philosophies have left me feeling very indecisive and in the seam

of essentialism and progressivism. From college to job applications, it is apparent that a person

can be greatly judged by numbers. Grades and scores are a first glance at a person, and this pulls

my educational philosophy choice to essentialism, as I feel it is important to provide students

with the necessary tools to succeed in the way the world will measure them. This requires a

teacher to follow a very strict curriculum that will help them “pass the test” or “get the highest
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grade.” Though essentialism appears to steer students away from progressive mindsets that will

be beneficial to them later in life and leaves little room for educational exploration. My highest

beliefs are more geared toward progressivism. I believe attention to the entire child should be

given. This ideal strongly considers experimentation, self-awareness, critical thinking, and

problem solving. These are all aspects that children will require in their futures as adults.

It is my intention as a teacher to have each child feel they are of great importance if not to

anyone but themselves. In a world of substantial diversity, I strongly believe that every child no

matter their background or culture should be taught to love themselves and others and learn to an

extent that bears no bounds. With this, I would very likely implement activities of mindfulness

in the classroom. I observed lessons in mindfulness with children in my son’s preschool. They

were always so calm once the lesson concluded. Even if the day was heavy, they came out of a

three-minute mindful session feeling better. Crying children would wipe their tears and children

with more energy than others would settle.

I thoroughly find comfort in using a think-pair-share intellectual strategy. This learning

strategy caters to both my essential and progressive philosophical orientations, by allowing

children to form their own ideas based on a certain lesson and share their thoughts with their

classmates. During this activity I believe assessment by the teacher can also be done, by

evaluating their discussions and perhaps offering a written lesson to conclude the assessment.

Further, I would love to offer a variability of lessons that offer the opportunity to learn in several

styles.

Currently, I am still mapping out my journey to become an educator. I believe that I

would need to have more concrete teaching skills. I have not yet had the opportunity to learn

how to teach certain curriculum-based lessons that fit the needs of most students nor lessons
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which cater to students with different learning styles. I plan to do this while attending college

courses and before I receive a degree by teaching courses at a local recreation center. It is my

hope that this opportunity will show me skills that I am able to carry into a classroom. Teaching

students is not a career which to be taken lightly and I plan to do what is required of me to be a

successful and more importantly, an impactful teacher.