Philosophy Page

Every child that walks into my classroom is a diamond waiting to be polished.  Each one is a unique person of inestimable worth who has many facets, talents, experiences, qualities and contributions.  Because of this, the main emphasis of my personal philosophy of education is to engage and teach the whole person, thus helping to develop each child’s full potential according to their strengths and weaknesses.  At the same time I recognize that the uniqueness of each will naturally create a healthy diversity among the students. But diversity unattended could lead to disunity and fragmentation, so in my personal educational philosophy I also put a lot of effort into the integration of everyone as equals with mutual respect and cooperation fostered by a wide variety of  activities and contexts, thus producing unity in diversity.

                                                Educating the Whole Person

My philosophy of educating the whole person will entail the presentation of an integral and complete curriculum addressing the particular educational needs of each child.  While I will prepare my students for any required standardized test within the entire lesson plan, I cannot limit my class work simply or exclusively to a test preparation of only the basics courses of math and reading. Success in life and the well rounded formation of the future citizen, leader and contributor to society demands a lesson plan on the complete spectrum of educational possibilities for each child at their specific levels of progress. Education is the foundation of advancing human culture and especially of a democratic culture such as ours, which a purely pragmatic plan of education would deprive the child of realizing his full potential as a free human person with intellect and will.  

As a firm adherent that all human knowledge begins with sense perception, and through an inductive process of reasoning leads to fundamental principles from which further conclusions can be deduced, I follow the constructionist idea of lots of hands on work and visual aids in the classroom so that the student can experience as much as possible the ideas and theories presented to them.   

Inclusion of parents in the educational process of their children is of vital importance to successfully educating the whole child. Their awareness of and assistance in gaining compliance with every day school tasks, as well as personal participation in special projects can contribute immensely to the successful education of the child. This form of integration of their schooling with the family life can offer more secure emotional stability of the child and facilitate greater opportunity for a more profound comprehension and application of skills and ideas learned in my classroom.

                                                            Unity in Diversity

            Because I understand that my students come from diverse backgrounds and exhibit multiple intelligences, to accommodate the lesson to them rather than them to the lesson, I present lesson content in different styles employing diverse strategies and accommodations where necessary.  In today’s classroom where No Child Left Behind means a child with diverse special needs and abilities is encouraged to be successful among his peers.  I intend that my students, each with their special gifts experience an affirming, safe environment where they learn to adapt to each other with respect and tolerance through a myriad of diversified groupings and co-operations that teaches by experience the fundamental equality of us all as persons. This cooperative learning environment will help prepare my students to live in the real world where each individual has a right to a place and a voice in society.

                                                Managing the Classroom

            The classroom will be a place where students will find knowledge, wisdom, nurture, and a lot of joy for learning.  It will be a place of security and warmth, where they will not be afraid to express their opinion or make mistakes.  The room is decorated in vibrant colors and visual aids and models including books on shelves with images.   There will be globes and maps, pictures and posters of all kinds.  My students will be encouraged to work in teams.  There will be a lot of hands-on activities to reinforce the concepts already learned.

            Every morning my students will be ready to learn because the tasks of the day will already be prepared and ready to go.  They will know how to proceed and begin their work.  Of course, there will be room for change.  As the day progresses I will be able to assess their knowledge by implementing different methods to do so, ensuring that all my students are ready to proceed to the next lesson.  Setbacks of any kind will be seen as opportunities to begin again. My students will always find me prepared for the day.  Although the classroom may not be a quiet one, it is one of constant exploration, investigation and learning.