Philosophy of Education
Education is a tool to help students become aware individuals, socially active/justice and autonomous beings. I believe that education has the power to create individuals who can and will become citizens of their world and citizens who will understand their values and their power to impact our world.
In order for my students to develop a sense of value for others, they work in cooperative learning groups. These groups not only serve as a tool for students to interact and exchange ideas, but it provides a ground base for students to re-create their knowledge with other beings. Students value the opinion of their classmates and are more likely to ask each other questions. Students learn from their peers and this is a valuable resource, which I use in my class on a daily basis. Lev Vygosky views learning as a cognitive process, which can be developed through social interaction and dialogue. The value in learning comes from students being able to make their own discoveries or having groups make those discoveries together.
The class serves as a place to explore and uncover new information. In my class, students understand that knowledge is re-creator with the aid of their classmates and of me. Freire (1992) writes, teachers and students (leadership and people), cointent reality, are both Subjects, not only in the task of unveiling that reality, and thereby coming to know it critically, but in the task of re-creating that knowledge (69). An advantage of being co-creators of knowledge is knowing that through these actions my students become reflective individuals, but they also comprehend the role that they play in their own education; “as they attain this knowledge of reality through common reflection and action, they discover themselves as its permanent re-creator” (Freire, 60). I believe strongly in students taking active roles in their own development as learners; I try to enforce this ideal through the use of group work and relevant literature.
As teacher, I feel that literature has the ability to profoundly affect anyone. In order to create citizens of the world, students need to be exposed to various topics, locations, and characters. Literature serves as the lens that sometimes my students need in order to comprehend and view the rest of the world. It is through this belief that I have come to realize that picking relevant and multi-cultural literature is most effective in creating this type of learning environment. While literature plays a large role in the class--students also have developed a sense of personal responsibility while in my class.
Students are held to a high standard and are expected to complete their work in an honest manner. Expectations and standards are explained at the beginning of the year, and our consistently reinforced throughout our two semesters together. Students have a clear understanding of their role in their groups; for projects they receive a rubric with an explanation of their work. The expectations are high, but they are reachable; I use benchmarks to see were my students are and to help them see that they are making progress throughout the year.
Overall, I believe that my role of educator is to create a classroom setting that is open and safe for students to create their knowledge, share their opinions, and challenge each other. I believe that if this setting is achieved in the class, students will be able to take what they have learned my class and apply it to the world around them.
Education is a tool to help students become aware individuals, socially active/justice and autonomous beings. I believe that education has the power to create individuals who can and will become citizens of their world and citizens who will understand their values and their power to impact our world.
In order for my students to develop a sense of value for others, they work in cooperative learning groups. These groups not only serve as a tool for students to interact and exchange ideas, but it provides a ground base for students to re-create their knowledge with other beings. Students value the opinion of their classmates and are more likely to ask each other questions. Students learn from their peers and this is a valuable resource, which I use in my class on a daily basis. Lev Vygosky views learning as a cognitive process, which can be developed through social interaction and dialogue. The value in learning comes from students being able to make their own discoveries or having groups make those discoveries together.
The class serves as a place to explore and uncover new information. In my class, students understand that knowledge is re-creator with the aid of their classmates and of me. Freire (1992) writes, teachers and students (leadership and people), cointent reality, are both Subjects, not only in the task of unveiling that reality, and thereby coming to know it critically, but in the task of re-creating that knowledge (69). An advantage of being co-creators of knowledge is knowing that through these actions my students become reflective individuals, but they also comprehend the role that they play in their own education; “as they attain this knowledge of reality through common reflection and action, they discover themselves as its permanent re-creator” (Freire, 60). I believe strongly in students taking active roles in their own development as learners; I try to enforce this ideal through the use of group work and relevant literature.
As teacher, I feel that literature has the ability to profoundly affect anyone. In order to create citizens of the world, students need to be exposed to various topics, locations, and characters. Literature serves as the lens that sometimes my students need in order to comprehend and view the rest of the world. It is through this belief that I have come to realize that picking relevant and multi-cultural literature is most effective in creating this type of learning environment. While literature plays a large role in the class--students also have developed a sense of personal responsibility while in my class.
Students are held to a high standard and are expected to complete their work in an honest manner. Expectations and standards are explained at the beginning of the year, and our consistently reinforced throughout our two semesters together. Students have a clear understanding of their role in their groups; for projects they receive a rubric with an explanation of their work. The expectations are high, but they are reachable; I use benchmarks to see were my students are and to help them see that they are making progress throughout the year.
Overall, I believe that my role of educator is to create a classroom setting that is open and safe for students to create their knowledge, share their opinions, and challenge each other. I believe that if this setting is achieved in the class, students will be able to take what they have learned my class and apply it to the world around them.