My Own Educational Philosophy Essay Research Paper

My Own Educational Philosophy Essay, Research Paper

My own philosophy of education is rather difficult for me to explain. There are

many parts of our educational system that I disagree with. The problem is that I see far

too many problems, yet offer few answers. Today?s educational systems seem so trendy

and political. It almost seems like we should not get comfortable with any one way of

doing things because policies and procedures change so often. My own philosophy is one

that many people have heard of, ?If it?s not broken, then don?t fix it!?. This is simple,

and so am I.

Upon reading some of the different philosophical views towards education, I

found many really good ideas. Each philosophy is presented very attractively. And why

not? The people who set forth these particular ideas were very passionate about what

they believed in. Unfortunately, we could all debate about the different philosophical

views of education until we are blue in the face. This still doesn?t actually make any one

opinion, better than any of the others. We all have opinions, what we need is common

ground between them. Hopefully, that is what my educational philosophy stands for.

The metaphysics, or nature of reality, of my philosophy starts with the subjects we

study in school. Subjects should be functional to today?s world. Our educational system

is far more diverse today than it has ever been, and our subject matter should reflect that.

The reality of the subjects studied in school, should also reflect upon the reality in each

student?s environment. Reality can change, because environments change. Textbooks

and literature become somewhat obsolete after a while because our culture changes so

rapidly. That is not to say that classic pieces of literature are not of use in the classroom,

but each literary product presented in the classroom should hold some information that is

relatively useful for all of the students.

When considering metaphysics in the classroom, I believe that religion is

something for outside of the classroom. There are far too many religious beliefs in the

world to accommodate all of them, so that is an area best left alone. This leaves plenty of

time for other areas of development. If it is the wish of a family to have religion

addressed in the classroom, then there are certain specialized schools that do just that. I

believe it is the responsibility of the church to educate their youth in these areas.

Lastly, writing skills are important to the metaphysics of my educational

philosophy. Writing is a necessity in order to accurately document events and opinions.

Distinguishing the difference between fact and fiction can be quite difficult. But a strong

foundation of writing skills make identifying ?reality?, that much easier.

The epistemology, or nature of knowledge, in my philosophy is much like that of

the pragmatists. I believe that interaction with the environment is a key part of education.

Education should extend outside of the classroom. Life is a constant learning process in

itself. If we compared how much time we learn in classrooms to the amount we learn out

of them, there is no comparison. If an environmental science class is learning how to use

a compass in the woods, then that is exactly what they should do, literally.

Another part of my epistemology is problem solving. Once again I find myself

siding with the pragmatist view. There are many people who are ?book smart?, but not so

many of those people can practically apply that knowledge. Today?s system praises short

term memory. Far too many subjects are taught and then forgotten. If we desire to retain

information then it must be useful and interesting to us. Knowledge has definitely taken a

back seat to the test score. It is very possible to obtain an ?A?, in a subject but not

actually learn anything about it. Today?s society values grades, not knowledge. They are

two very different things.

The axiology, or the nature of values, is also a very sensitive area to touch upon.

Moral values, for the most part, should be taught at home. Ethics are an important part of

education (plagiarism, dishonesty, etc.). If ethical values are going to be worthwhile, then

they must be part of life outside of the classroom as well. If the gap between ethics

outside of school differs greatly from that of ethics inside the classroom, the learning

process can be greatly hindered. A perfect example, in my mind, is the recent tragedy at

Columbine high school in Colorado. The students who went into school with their guns

smoking, were obviously far beyond ethical principles, and did not know of any other

way to seek redemption.

The aesthetics of values is a much more simple area of education than morals.

This should be entirely up to the student. If a student has seriously considered the

material presented, then perhaps appreciation for the beauty of nature and art is possible. <

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