Essay About Effective Teacher And John Dewey

My Philosophy of Teaching
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MY PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING
Education is a lifelong process with no true beginning or end. Education includes
experience, environment, socialization and communication. Education feeds natural
curiosity and enhances creativity. These thoughts begin my philosophy of education.
John Dewey believed that “all genuine education comes through experience.” I agree
that education does not begin and end in a classroom. The extent of education we receive
is the sum of experience we allow ourselves to be exposed to. I believe that an educated
person knows that he/she doesnt know everything, that we in fact know very little and
there are always more questions to be answered. This is what I think the attitude of an
effective teacher should be. An effective teacher knows the value of questions and
exploration. The question is as relevant as the answer. Getting to the answer is the
journey. This is how learning begins, with a question.
Children generally enter the classroom ready to learn, especially in the primary
grades. It is the responsibility of the teacher to motivate and enhance that desire to learn
by the classroom environment that he/she creates. A teacher is educated in methodology
and technique to pass on knowledge, but is that enough? Is there more to the profession
than simply passing on what we know and present it how weve been taught? If this is
the case, then teaching is a job where we are more concerned with how the students
reflect our own performance rather than the progress of our students.
An effective teacher teaches from the inside out. A teacher has strong convictions
about what is taught and to who is learning what is taught. A teacher is a model for
learning. We set the example of what we expect from our students. We need the ability
to communicate at their level of understanding and be consistent in our own behavior and
tolerance. If a classroom rule states a particular behavior receives a certain consequence,
then we need to follow through. The same goes with positive behavior, and being
consistent with feedback. A teachers strong moral behavior and belief system is
reflected in consistency and confidence in classroom management.
Where do these beliefs come from? They come from a keen self-awareness. This
awareness comes from the courage to ask oneself key questions. Who am I? Where have
I been? Am I the right person to lead this classroom? The strength of a teacher comes
from the exploration of getting to know the answer to questions such as these, even if the
answers arent the ones wed like to put with them. Are only the good past experiences
positive reflections of who we are? Its not the experience or mistake we made, it is what
weve done to recover, develop our inner strength, and to see it as knowledge gained. It
is the ability to turn those negatives into positives by transforming our past pain and
imperfections to create empathy and understanding to those experiencing something
similar, with the awareness of how to respond to it. These experiences can be thought of
a piece of the educational process. This