Developing A Personal Philosophy Of Education

Developing 'great learning'

What makes for good learning? This is a question that all people involved in education wrestle with. I am convinced that the question is too important to be buried under answers that stifle further thought and development. One of the greatest threats to learning is when we think we have hit on the one formula that will provide all the answers. Strategies are very helpful, but must not be allowed to become straitjackets, formulae by which we limit what is deemed good practice or dogmas that prevent creative thinking.

Good learning is a rich and complex process that involves the whole person. It requires that teachers create a positive climate for learning, understand how people learn, have a good knowledge of the subject discipline, recognise the barriers to learning and understand how to remove them. Learners need a readiness to learn. Good learning is built on positive relationships with clear values, exciting experiences and behaviours that bring these to life (see diagram ‘Relational dynamics to learning' ). This will be different according to the needs and background of each school and its communities and responses to them need to be explorative and questioning rather than narrowly accepting. There is nothing new here. The question is how we pull all this together.

One of the challenges to a programme such as Healthy Schools is to demonstrate the links between wellbeing and learning. This prompted me to use Healthy Schools in Buckinghamshire to fund a project that brought together thinking, wellbeing and values - or in the words of trainer and speaker specialising in thinking skills, Philosophy for Children (P4C), religious education and citizenship education Will Ord, to develop ‘great learning'. Together we developed the ‘Great Learner Project' (GLP) which ran over a full year with a number of schools working in clusters. Our ultimate purpose was to engage ‘those for whom learning is not a high priority' in learning, and thus to improve achievement in our schools.

In other words we wanted a project to make an explicit link between Philosophy for Children (P4C) and Ofsted ‘good to outstanding' in the context of the emotionally inclusive classrooms, genuine whole-school opportunities for spiritual, moral, social and cultural development (SMSC) for personal development. We used the following working framework:

Spiritual: To do with questions of meaning, purpose and value in life; what does it mean to be human? To be me?

Personal Philosophy of Education – Part 1 | BENSON'S TAKE

After completing a masters degree, I have developed a more thorough philosophy of education. It is my intention to share this philosophy piece by piece. Today will be more of an introduction to my philosophy.  Feel free to chime in!

One of the major theories taught by credential programs today is the theory of multiple intelligences.  Educators are trained to understand and identify learning styles in order to best adapt their curriculum to each child’s needs.  Just as students have different learning styles, educators have different teaching styles.  The way an educator views education, their students, themselves, the curriculum, and the classroom are due to the educator’s personal philosophy of education.  As an educator, I think it is important to not only evaluate your personal experiences when developing your philosophy of education, but to research the philosophies associated with education.

After studying perrenialism, essentialism, progressivism, existentialism, constructivism, and the Socratic method, I found that I best identify with two related philosophies: progressivism and constructivism.  Both progressivism and constructivism encourage a student-centered classroom where students are taught by real-life experiences and situations.  The teacher is more of a facilitator of learning or a guide that encourages critical thinking and problem solving from his/her students by using questions and student curiosity (Liepolt, 2004).  Both philosophies support collaborative projects and alternative assessments.  Progressivism is very centered around experience and social responsibility, and constructivism is geared towards evolving ideas and building or changing prior knowledge (Loss, 2010).  It is these characteristics that I believe in and strive for as an educator.

References:

Liepolt, W.  (2004).  Constructivism as a Paradigm for Teaching and Learning [Workshop].  Retrieved from http://www.thirteen.org/edonline/concept2class/constructivism/index.html

Loss, C.G. % C.P. (2010).  Progressive Education – Philosophical Foundations, Pedagogical Progressivism, Administrative Progressivism, Life-Adjustment Progressivism [Article].  Retrieved from http://education.stateuniversity.com/pages/2336/Progressive-Education.

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