My Philosophy on Education

My philosophy of education has been ever-evolving. It changes as I grow both personally and professional, acquiring new experience that influence my way of approaching issues in education and teaching. I most closely associate with Constructivism. I think my search for a teacher that does not “spoon feed” me information and helps me find what I need through how I learn best ha classified me as a Constructivist. This awareness, in turn, has affected the teacher that I have become. Real life learning applications are emphasized in my classes and developing skills that are relevant and useable are important. I encourage collaboration among classmates and facilitate class discussions that bring about awareness and better understanding of the subject matter. Rather than being known as a teacher, I would like to serve the roles as facilitator, supporter, motivator, guide, instructor, mentor, and advisor

My educational career has consisted of many good teachers. I know that I am fortunate. The best teachers are those that let me arrive at the answer to my questions using the best way I learn, either through visual or kinesthetic methods. They offered me support when I got frustrated and provided encouragement and motivation when they saw that I needed it most. They also provided a “tough love” attitude when I needed it as well.

The worst teacher that I ever had was not clear in her delivery of instructions. I had this teacher when I was pursuing one of my degrees in higher education and she almost made it so that I didn’t want to continue. I could see how others would not want to take her class. I have to know what the teacher expects from me before I start to tackle the information. If guidelines and expectations are not clearly communicated and feedback is not provided, I have a very difficult time on the class
As much as the good teachers had a great impact on my teaching, I have to say that the bad teacher had more of an impact. She taught me what I didn’t want to do with my classes and the type of teacher that I didn’t want to be. I have gone to great lengths to provide support for beginning teachers, make expectations clear, and provide useful feedback to guide the student.

I was motivated to work in a teacher preparation program because I felt I had some insight into the struggles that most teachers face in the field. I was always the teacher that people came to that needed advice and training. There is an increasing need to be aware of current trends in technology in order to deliver instruction to students that will be going out to the field and having classrooms of their own. The way that I approach introducing new information is based on success from previous experiences, especially in teaching. Family, environmental, and societal influences have all provided me with the direction in which I work and study.

A great teacher is one who shows a genuine interest in his/her field of study. This teacher is not necessarily someone who is the best or brightest, or the one with the most publications or presentations, but a person that really connects and understands students. Experience with both good and bad teachers has formed my definition of a great teacher. I want learners to be able to go away with some real, practical, useful knowledge. This is the type of information that is remembered for longer than the rote memorization of dates and other irrelevant information.
I choose the methods because I teach teachers based upon what they need to know and how they want this information presented. This is based on feedback from the students. If they indicate they want more case studies and collaboration, that is the direction the class takes and assignments are chosen carefully and are relevant and important to specific concepts related to the course.
Technology is incorporated into every class meeting that I hold. Many students join the class from hundreds of miles away and depend on distance education equipment to participate. I am an Informator of technology because of the relationships that are formed as a result of the distance education provided. These are relationships that would never occur if the students were not brought together by technology. By not only using the distance education equipment but also tying it into a plan for use in existing online learning, the shift from automating to informating becomes more realistic.