The Meaning And Concept Of Philosophy Of Education
Philosophy of Education
The term philosophy can be defined in many ways. I like to define philosophy to mean truth. When evaluating my philosophy of education, my views are clear and concise. Education should be provided to everyone, free of charge, and free of discriminations. Education today is provided to everyone publicly at no expense. Although free, it does not come without distractions. For instance, public schooling has turned into more of a daycare type setting for teachers and students. With emphasis based on violence, and rightfully so, I feel the learning environment has deteriorated to an extreme extent. Administrators focus more on dress codes and violence prevention, than they do on test scores and how we compare to other countries.
According to "A Nation at Risk", the American education system has declined due to a " rising tide of mediocrity" in our schools. States such as New York have responded to the findings and recommendations of the report by implementing such strategies as the "Regents Action Plan" and the "New Compact for Learning".
In the early 1980's, President Regan ordered a national commission to study our education system. The findings of this commission were that, compared with other industrialized nations, our education system is grossly inadequate in meeting the standards of education that many other countries have developed. At one time, America was the world leader in technology, service, and industry, but overconfidence based on a historical belief in our superiority has caused our nation to fall behind the rapidly growing competitive market in the world with regard to education. The report in some respects is an unfair comparison of our education system, which does not have a national standard for goals, curriculum, or regulations, with other countries that do, but the findings nevertheless reflect the need for change.
Our education system at this time is regulated by states which implement their own curriculum, set their own goals and have their own requirements for teacher preparation. Combined with this is the fact that we have lowered our expectations in these areas, thus we are not providing an equal or quality education to all students across the country. The commission findings generated recommendations to improve the content of education and raise the standards of student achievement, particularly in testing, increase the time spent on education and provide incentives to encourage more individuals to enter the field of education as well as improving teacher preparation.
NY State responded to these recommendations by first implementing the Regents Action Plan; an eight year plan designed to raise the standards of education. This plan changed the requirements for graduation by raising the number of credits needed for graduation, raising the number of required core curriculum classes such as social studies, and introduced technology and computer science. The plan also introduced the Regents Minimum Competency Tests, which requires a student to pass tests in five major categories; math, science, reading, writing, and two areas of social studies. Although the plan achieved many of its goals in raising standards of education in NY State, the general consensus is that we need to continue to improve our education system rather than being satisfied with the achievements we have made thus far.
Therefore, NY adopted "The New Compact for Learning". This plan is based on the principles that all children can learn. The focus of education should be on results and teachers should aim for mastery, not minimum competency. Education should be provided for all children and authority with accountability should be given to educators and success should be rewarded with necessary changes being made to reduce failures. This plan calls for curriculum to be devised in order to meet the needs of students so that they will be fully functional in society upon graduation, rather than just being able to graduate. Districts within the state have been given the authority to devise their own curriculum, but are held accountable by the state so that each district meets the state goals that have been established. Teachers are encouraged to challenge students to reach their full potential, rather than minimum competency. In this regard, tracking of students is being eliminated so that all students will be challenged, rather than just those who are gifted. Similarly, success should be rewarded with recognition and incentives to further encourage progress for districts, teachers and students while others who are not as accomplished are provided remedial training or resources in order to help them achieve success.
I feel that school is a place where students should learn and interact with other students at no expense. If a student ventures outside the boundaries by proving themselves a distraction or obstacle so other students can not do this, they should not be allowed to return. Harsh punishments need to be put in order for students who choose not to take advantage of their ideal situation. Rather than expelling these students, they should be sent to a mandatory alternative situation, such as military or boarding school, with stricter rules and regulations.
Students should learn to interact socially with each other. Environments should be provided so that a student can be a productive member of society when they leave their educational setting. If students learn how to be socially productive, I feel our violence rates would dramatically decrease. I feel some students do not receive the accurate interaction opportunities in school, which causes a negative reaction.
Learning is a complex process acquired through a variety of experiences. Cooperation between a teacher and student facilitates the greatest growth in each students intellectual, social, emotional, and physical development. Curriculum must be relevant to the needs of individuals while enhancing both respect and communication within a multicultural society. A supportive environment allows students to develop a positive attitude towards learning for life. Students do not get bored or lose concentration if they are actively participating. If lesson plans permit, students will participate actively in unison or one after another.
The Socratic method allows students to learn for them. As the educator, you produce questions to the class that allow them to think and work together which also allows them to learn together. For instance, without lecturing to the class, a lesson could be taught in a health education by asking questions about their reading assignment. What are the benefits of not smoking? In response, the class works in unison to piece together the answers. This improves social skills, which stated before, will improve violence and behavior issues.
The chief benefits of this method are that it excites students' curiosity and arouses their thinking, rather than stifling it. It also makes teaching more interesting, because most of the time, you learn more from the students -- or by what they make you think of -- than what you knew going into the class. Each group of students is just enough different, that it makes it stimulating. It is a very efficient teaching method, because the first time through tends to cover the topic very thoroughly, in terms of their understanding it. It is more efficient for their learning then lecturing to them is, though, of course, a teacher can lecture in less time.
Finally, two of the interesting, perhaps side, benefits of using the Socratic method are that it gives the students a chance to experience the attendant joy and excitement of discovering (often complex) ideas on their own. And it gives teachers a chance to learn how much more inventive and bright a great many more students are than usually appear to be when they are primarily passive.
When considering my philosophy of education, many truths unfold. If we work on remedying these truths our educational environment should dramatically improve.
