Personal educational philosophy statement

Philosophy of Education Reflection

Technology and information are changing so rapidly that it is almost imperative that an educator continue their academic learning even after obtaining employment. There are numerous reasons for this: 1) keeping current in one's subject area, 2) learning new pedagogical techniques, 3) keeping current with society and culture, and 4) advancing one's career through continual education and cross-cultural and subject matter development. If we break each of these down we will find that it is obvious a formal school experience is not adequate to prepare one for the challenges of the contemporary world -- even two decades ago futurist Alvin Toffler warned society that without continual education our professionals would fall drastically behind the rest of the world (Toffler, 1984). The idea of looking around and seeing the half-life of technology changing so rapidly was key in developing an educational plan for me, for several reasons.

First, with so much information seemingly available, students need the tools to be able to sort the good from the bad -- at least in terms of data. Providing those tools then becomes one of the most important jobs any teacher can do. Anyone, for instance, can read a text book or follow a lesson plan, but it is true educator that is able to bring together the right balance of factual knowledge, creativity and relevance, and excitement into the classroom (Fisher and Frey, 2007). Second, because the modern classroom is so diverse in terms of ethnicity, attitudes, and even individual differences, allowing students of differing racial backgrounds to celebrate their own diversity certainly changes the way the modern instructor approaches curriculum (Gardner, 2006). Since each classroom is divergent, there will be no one way of using diverse education within a class -- one year there might be 30% Asian, 40% African-American; the next year there might be 20% Latino, 10% African-American. The challenge for the teacher, then, is to allow the curriculum to evolve and to teach with the idea of encouraging sensitivity in a diverse world. This is certainly more than exposure to race; students need to understand that in the modern world there are those who have physical and mental differences; gender role differences; and certainly mental, emotional, and ability differences. It is through these differences that a modern global culture is created, but it is also in the classroom that students learn to ignore the differences and celebrate the similarities. Thus, it is incumbent on the modern teacher to understand that one size does not fit all. Is this more work? Most assuredly; one must be constantly aware of the undercurrents that exist within the classroom and work towards those issues; one must be continually creative to ensure that students are exposed to literature and ideas that are less Eurocentric; and finally one must continually adapt one's own view. We can never erase our own bias and our own views on culture and diversity, but what we can do is encourage our students and colleagues to continue to grow. Like continuing education, using methods to include diversity in the classroom are constants -- we will never arrive, nor should we.