Voices article

I'm still not sure what my educational philosophy is, but reading all of these different ideas I am starting to figure out the types of things I believe in and those that I am very against. I started off this packet by really agreeing with Confucius. I really feel that being the teacher doesn't mean that I give the answer but that the students need to take some of the initiative in their own learning process. I also believe that education is important to the improvement of society.


The next philosopher that I agreed with was Augustine. We agree that teachers should help students understand by teaching and not just memorization. Especially in history classes, most of what teachers want is memorized fact, but there has to be a different way to learn facts besides just cramming all the knowledge into your head and forgetting it 10 minutes later. Also, teachers should be building upon already learned information and going into deeper thought with the students. Augustine also says that motivation and speaking in positive tones helps students be able to learn.


The next person I share opinions with is Comenius. I agree that everybody deserves a chance to be in school and excel. Having experienced a lot of children with disabilities in my education already, those people have just as much brain capacity and intelligence as everybody else. I fully agree with this: "Teachers should encourage, be kind,give individual attention to students, and be open to all learners, creating a non-coercive atmosphere in which the subject matter is presented with variety and practicality."
http://froebelweb.tripod.com/web7005.html


Herbart has a few things that I agree with. Students learn moral standards from within their family, but some should be pushed in the classroom as well. For example, having the student know how to write a paper only using their own ideas and not stealing from the internet or their friends. Also, that teaching conveys new knowledge and doesn't mean that the teacher force feeds them the information. It is still important to come up with fun and interesting ways to get the knowledge across.


Piaget is the last guy that I agree with. We both think that higher level thinking needs to exist in order for the students to get anything out of the class. Also, it is important to know what kind of learners are in your classroom. It is hard to teach students if you don't know how they learn best. That is where learning about your students the first few days comes into play. Also, not all students are going to be at the same level of development, so you need to be able to accommodate them all and teach them all.
http://www.sk.com.br/sk-piage.html