C Participation and Teaching Assistantship

LEARNING EPISODE 2 – THE TEACHER’S PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

Introduction
You have been acquainted with various philosophies. With which do you identify yourself? What is
your personal philosophy of education? You are expected to formulate it in this second lesson.
Your philosophy of education is your “window” to the world and “compass” in life. Hence, it may be
good to put that philosophy of education in writing. You surely have one just as everybody has only that
sometimes it is not well articulated. Your philosophy of education is reflected in your dealings with students,
colleagues, parents and administrators. Your attitude towards problems and life as a whole has an underlying
philosophy. In this lesson, you will articulate your thoughts on how you perceive the learner, on what are the
right values, on what and how you must therefore teach. If you articulate your philosophy of education, you may
find yourself more consistent in your dealings with other people, in your actions and decisions.
In modern times there are opposing views about the practice of education. There is no general
agreement about what the young should learn either in relation to virtue or in relation to the best life; nor is it
clear whether their education ought to be directed more towards the intellect than towards the character of the
soul and it is not certain whether training should be directed at things useful in life, or at those conducive to
virtue, or at non-essentials. There is no agreement as to what in fact does tend towards virtue. Men do not all
prize most highly the same virtue, so naturally they differ also about the proper training for it.
Behind every school and every teacher is a set of related beliefs – a philosophy of education that
influences what and how students are taught. A philosophy of education represents answers to questions about
the purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, and what should be taught and by what methods

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this episode you will gain competence in clarifying your values about teaching, and in
articulating and demonstrating one’s personal philosophy of teaching. The end goal is to be a positive role
model for students.

Specific Tasks
For you to be an effective teacher in the future it is important to first start with an awareness of your
values about teaching and then write your mission statement or philosophy that you will uphold with conviction.
To reach your target, do the following tasks:

1. Visit a school and interview some of the students, pre-service teachers, and in-service teachers about
their philosophy in life.
2. Based on your interview among the students, pre-service teachers, and the in-service teachers, formulate
an educational philosophy of a teacher.
3. Observe a teacher and identify the actions that would match the educational philosophy.
4. Analyze the values and philosophy behind the teachers’ beliefs.
5. Reflect about your own values and philosophy about teaching.
6. Express these values and philosophy in your own mission statement.

TEACHERS’ INPUT: PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION

I believe that education is an individual, unique experience for every student who enters a
classroom. In order for children to benefit from what schools offer, I think that teachers must fully
understand the importance of their job. First, I believe that teachers must consider teaching to be a

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lifestyle, not a mere forty-hour-a-week job, because a teacher's goals for his/her students encompass
much more than relaying out-of-context facts to passive students. As professionals entrusted with the
education of young minds, teachers must facilitate learning and growth academically, personally, and
ethically. By providing a quality education to each individual in one's classroom, a teacher equips
children with the tools necessary for success in life.
In order to accomplish these lofty goals, I think it is important first to establish a mutually
respectful, honest rapport with students — a relationship in which communication is of the highest
priority. Through this relationship, a fair, democratic environment based on trust and caring can be
established in the classroom, making it possible to interact confidently and safely in an academic
setting. Once this foundation is established, the educator has already accomplished a major goal: the
ethical characteristics of equality; open, honest communication; and trust have been emphasized and
put into practice without having to preach to students. Demonstrating these ethically correct behaviors
in the classroom and expecting students to model them prepares them for adult interaction and survival
in the future.
Academic learning must begin with motivation and inspiration. Students deserve an educator's
passion for both the subject at hand and learning as a whole. Teaching and learning become a
simultaneous journey for both the teacher and students when students' energy is aroused by a teacher's
genuine intensity for learning, because everyone is ready and willing to participate in active learning.
To achieve active learning, a teacher must demonstrate enthusiasm and express confidence in the
students' abilities to learn and be successful. Employing constructivist methods of teaching in one's
classroom forces students to take an active role in their education by making choices and assuming
responsibility for intelligent inquiry and discovery. For instance, discussions, projects, and experiments
ensure student achievement and allow students and the teacher to discover individual student's
preferences and strengths. This approach facilitates differentiated activities for each student's
distinctive ambitions, making the subject more relevant to every student's life. 
Personal growth is accomplished when a teacher adopts a mentoring role. Displaying warmth
and compassion shows students that teachers love them and are empathic, feeling human beings. One-
on-one mentoring involves personal conversations about goals, and taking time to share ideas and
experiences. To be a mentor to every student, a teacher must project positivity, exhibit flexibility and
confidence, set high expectations for oneself, and demonstrate fairness and consistency. In doing so,
students can see appropriate adult behaviors first-hand and begin to emulate them as they mature.

I believe that all children have the ability to learn and the right to a quality education. All
youths, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, and capabilities should have the opportunity to learn from
professional, well-informed teachers who are sophisticated and knowledgeable, both in their area of
expertise and life. Certainly, every child has different learning styles and aptitudes; however, by
having a personal relationship with every student, a teacher can give each an equal chance of success.
By recognizing every student's potential and having separate, individual goals for each, a teacher can
accommodate personal needs and abilities and encourage the pursuit of academic aspirations.
I think that teaching and learning are reciprocal processes. When teachers nurture individual
talents in each child, educators can build self-esteem and may encourage a lifelong skill. By supporting
these special abilities, teachers can, for example, guide students' research, and students can, in turn,
enlighten teachers about subjects in which they may not be as knowledgeable. This mutual respect for
individual skills cultivates a professional academic relationship, leading to a give-and-take educational
alliance. This liaison allows students to feel that they are on equal intellectual ground with their
teachers, thus creating a strong academic atmosphere.
In addition to having a reciprocal relationship with one's students, it is vitally important for
teachers to form partnerships with fellow educators. Solid communication among teachers will

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promote the sharing of ideas and methods and provide a network of support. By working as an
educational team, teachers will continue to develop their craft and give the best education possible to
their students.
In choosing to become a teacher, I have made the commitment to myself and my future
students to be the best academic, personal, and ethical role model I can be. It is my goal to have a
mutually enriching teaching career by keeping an open mind and continually communicating with my
peers and students. I am prepared to rise to the challenges of teaching in the 21st century, and I
promise to try to provide an honest, well-rounded education to every student I encounter.
There is a reason or explanation for every person’s behaviour. This reason or explanation is
anchored on the person’s philosophy of life.
A teacher’s philosophy of life includes his/her philosophy of education. His/her philosophy of
education governs how he/she teaches, relates to his/her students, colleagues and superiors, and how
he/she handles teaching job.
It is important that you have your own philosophy of education and that philosophy of
education of yours must be clear to you. This becomes your governing principle, your light in moments
of darkness, your guide in times of confusion and your strength when you feel like giving up. In short,
your philosophy of education enables you to become consistent and therefore genuine and authentic
from Monday to Sunday, twenty-four hours a day inside and outside the classroom.

My Concrete Experience:
This activity will enable you to ask yourself about the different future practices or actions that
you will do in teaching. You may not have done it yet, but if you become a teacher, what would be
your response to each item? Your answers will identify what your philosophy of education is all about.
Answer each item in the Survey Questionnaire very honestly. There is no right or wrong
answer for each item. After you have answered each item, record your answers and look at the
interpretation at the back of this work text.
After you have answered the questionnaire yourself, you are to ask two teachers to do the same
activity.
WHAT IS YOUR PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION?
(Based on Sadker and Sadker, 1998: Teachers Schools and Society, 2nd Edition)

Each of us has a philosophy of education or asset of fundamental beliefs regarding how we

think schools should be run. What is your philosophy of education? To find out, read each of the
following statements about the nature of education. Decide whether you agree or disagree with each
statement. Use the following numbers to express your response:
4 – Strongly Agree 3 – Agree 2 – Disagree 1 – Strongly Disagree

2 1. The student learning should be centered on basic subjects as reading, writing, history, math, and
science.
2 2. The school subject should focus on the great thinkers of the past
4 3. Many students learn best by engaging in the real-world activities rather than reading

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4 4. The students should be permitted to determine their own curriculum.
3 5. Subject matter is taught effectively when it is broken down into small parts.
3 6. The school subjects should be determined by information that is essential for all students to know.
2 7. Schools, above all, should develop student’s abilities to think deeply, analytically, and creatively; than develop their
social skills or provide them with a useful body of knowledge about the ever-changing world.
4 8. Teaching should prepare students for analyzing and solving the types of problems they will face
outside the classroom.
3 9. Reality is determined by each individual’s perceptions. There is no objective and universal reality.
3 10. People are shaped much more by their environment than by their genetics dispositions or the
exercise of their free will
4 11. Students should not be promoted from one grade to the next until they have read and mastered
certain key material.
1 12. An effective education is not aimed at the immediate needs of the students.
4 13. The curriculum of a school should be built around the personal experiences and needs of the
students.
1 14. Students, who do not want to study much, should not be required to do so.
2 15. Programmed learning is an effective method of teaching information.

4 16. Academic rigor is an essential component of education.

3 17. All students, regardless of ability, should study more or less the same curriculum.
4 18. Art classes should focus primarily on individual expression and creativity.
2 19. Effective learning is unstructured and informal.
3 20. Students learn best through reinforcement.
2 21. Effective schools assign a substantial amount of homework
4 22. Education should focus on the discussion of timeless questions such as “What is beauty?”
or What is truth?”
3 23. Since students learn effectively through social interaction, school should plan for
substantial social interaction in their curricula.
4 24. The purpose of school is to help students understand themselves and find the meaning of
their existence.
3 25. Frequent objective testing is the best way to determine what students know.
4 26. Countries must become more competitive economically with other countries hence
schools must bolster their academic requirements to facilitate such competition.
4 27. Students must be taught to appreciate learning primarily for its own sake, because it will
help them in their careers.
4 28. Schools must place more emphasis on teaching about the concerns of minorities and
women.
4 29. Each person has free will to develop as he or she sees fit.
2 30. Reward students well for learning and they will remember and be able to apply what they
learned, even if do not understand why the information is worth knowing.
3 31. Philippine schools should attempt to instil traditional Filipino values in students.
3 32. Teacher-guided discovery of profound truths is a key method of teaching students.
3 33. Students should be active participants in the learning process.
4 34. There are no external standards of beauty. Beauty is what an individual decides it to be.
3 35. We can place a lot of faith in our schools and teachers to determine which student
behaviours are acceptable and which are not.
3 36. Schools must provide students with a firm grasp of basic facts regarding the books,

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people, and events that have shaped the Filipino heritage.
3 37. Philosophy is ultimately at least as practical a subject to study as is computer science.
3 38. Teachers must stress for students the relevance of what they are learning for their lives
outside, as well as inside, the classroom.
2 39. It is more important for a student to develop a positive self-concept than to learn specific
concept.
3 40. Learning is more effective when students are given frequent tests to determine, what they
have learned.

Educational Philosophy Score Sheet

Now that you have responded to all the items, write the number of your response to each item/statement
in the matrix below. Add the numbers in each column and put your sums in the bottom row to determine your
attitude and those of the two teachers toward key educational philosophies. Then indicate your rank order for
each column.

Essentialism Perennialism Progressivism Behaviorism Existentialism

Item S T T Item S T T Item S T T Item S T T Item S T T
1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2 1 2
1 2 2 2 2 2 3 3 3 4 4 3 4 3 4 3 5 3 4 4
6 3 4 3 7 2 4 3 8 4 4 3 9 3 3 4 10 3 3 4
11 4 4 4 12 1 1 1 13 4 4 3 14 1 1 2 15 2 3 2
16 4 4 4 17 3 2 4 18 4 4 3 19 2 1 3 20 3 4 3
21 2 1 1 22 4 4 3 23 3 3 3 24 4 4 3 25 3 4 3
26 4 4 3 27 4 4 4 28 4 2 4 29 4 4 3 30 2 1 2
31 3 4 3 32 3 3 4 33 3 4 4 34 4 4 4 35 3 4 4
36 3 3 3 37 3 3 4 38 3 4 4 39 2 3 2 40 3 2 2
TOTA 2 2 2 TOTA 2 2 2 TOTA 2 2 2 TOTA 2 2 2 TOTA 2 2 2
L 9 6 3 L 2 4 6 L 9 9 7 L 3 4 4 L 2 5 4
RANK RANK RANK RANK RANK

Once you have finished this exercise, look at the types of philosophies heading the columns on the
survey response sheet to find out what types are compatible with your beliefs and approaches.

My Observations:
Visit a teacher in a school and observe what school / classroom activities reflect his / her
philosophy of education while she is teaching. Identify and describe teacher’s action or behaviour and
match each with the identified educational philosophy.

1. Observed actions of a teacher who is a progressivist:

A progressivist teacher’s actions are seem to be positive about everything and giving inspirational
speeches or quotes to students to live their lives to the fullest. They are often to be the bubbly ones,
those who believe that learning comes through answering questions and that experiments should be
used to test concepts.

2. Observed actions of a teacher who is a behaviourist:

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DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
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While I was at school, I have noticed that lower years elementary teachers like kindergarten teachers
use this philosophy often since it shows students should behave and react to various stimuli to
routinely remind students of the behavior a teacher expects, this must be done repeatedly. In the
behavioral learning hypothesis, positive reinforcement is essential.

3. Observed actions of a teacher who is an essentialist:

An essentialist teachers are teachers that are driven to give knowledge to students. These teachers just
give then the students take but essentialist teachers give room for students to have a personal
development. An example for this is when a student’s sit and take notes in a classroom while the
teachers lectures in the front.

4. Observed actions of a teacher who is a perennialist:

Perennialist teachers are teachers who is pretty much just like essentialist teachers but they do not give
room for students development because they believe that education should be centered on concepts that
have persisted for generations. They think the concepts are still valid and significant today as they
were before. They advise pupils to gain knowledge through reading and evaluating the works of the
greatest writers and thinkers in history.

5. Observed actions of a teacher who is an Existentialist:

Existentialist teachers often ask students how they feel about certain things and making them feel like
they can study what they want to. Teachers like these are flexible to their students since some students
needs to be taught or wants to be taught in a certain way, so the teacher adjusts.

My Reflections:

Based on your concrete experience and the action of the teacher you have observed, how
important is your philosophy of education to your future career as a teacher? How would your
experiences and observations contribute to your becoming a teacher?

We teachers like what the readings above have said, we teachers have different kinds of philosophy in
our teaching and this philosophy is important because it is somewhat the one that is driving us or
motivating us to teach in some way. In our philosophies in teaching or in education is important
because I believe that philosophy will help the students to learn more and the teachers to be consistent
in their teaching career. Before we decided to be a teacher, we have our own ideals why we want to
teach

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and I believe philosophies come into that part. We have an ideals of teaching then the philosophy of
how we teach. Understanding my own philosophy is a very important step to be a teacher, this will
help me to figure out what type of teacher do I want to be in the future. Having my teaching
observation, I will be open in my own mind in the teaching world.

My Affirmed Concepts:

Identify at least three concepts learned in your previous topic like the Teaching Profession
which are related to the Belief /Philosophy of Education that are confirmed or affirmed in this activity?
Enumerate.

1. Teachers have their own teaching philosophies that they probably want to have when they were
a student. That’s why they want to become a teacher to share their belief in teaching that; that’s
what or how the student needs to learn.
2. Teachers can still learn or apply other philosophies even if they have already believed in one.
After learning another philosophy, they can adapt to it and can apply to their students or to
themselves.
3. A teacher that knows what teaching philosophy they have or want to apply will be easy to them
to teach students.

My Future Application:

Using the first hand experiences in this activity, how will I use these when I become a teacher in the future?

 Not every student will fit in my believed philosophy under some circumstances so I willing to adjust to
the students who are in need. I will be sure that my students are able to move on or learn.
 Like I have said above, teachers have different philosophy when in teaching in the future, I will not
think highly that my philosophy is better than other teachers to the point where I bash them. I will not
do that, I will be very respectful.
 Even if I have a philosophy in mind, I know after having actual experiences in the field of teaching. I
believe my philosophy will be more tough or it will probably change.

CHELSIE Y. CARVAJAL
NAME & SIGNATURE OF PRE-SERVICE TEACHER

4TH YEAR BEED LANGUAGE EDUCATION

DEGREE PROGRAM & MAJOR

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DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION
C Participation and Teaching Assistantship
11/06/2022
DATE ACCOMPLISHED

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DEPARTMENT OF PROFESSIONAL EDUCATION