Philosophy of Education

Veronica Dvorjak
EDU 218 B
Dr. Boury
23 November 2014

Learning is an activity that occurs every single day in our lives. We are constantly
learning from a variety of sources about the world, other people, and even ourselves. However,
every single person learns in his/her own unique way. Some learn through engaging
experiences or just by simply listening and reflecting on the world around them. It is the duty of
educators to foster these learning abilities in their students in order to make them lifetime
learners.
As a pre-service teacher, it is my job to develop an identity and plan for my future
students learning. In order to create lifetime learners, I must change the way many high school
students view the education system and society in general. Many teenagers have become
increasingly disgruntled by school and do not find joy in learning. Instead of just teaching my
students about changing, I can lead them to change through my practices and beliefs in the
classroom so that they may be better people outside of my classroom. This is the philosophy of
social reconstruction. My duty as a teacher will be to promote active student involvement and
individual learning. For example, rather than simply teaching my students about how
government works, I will take them to city council meetings or have them write to our state and
national senators so that they may be engaged in real-life social issues. My students will be
informed citizens of our school, city, state, and nation by the time they leave my classroom. It is

Philosophy of Education
important for a classroom curriculum to weed out possibilities of apathy and contentment.
Educators should have their students constantly craving knowledge and ideas about the world
around them.
In order to promote a change within the entirety of the classroom and society, I must
teach to the whole child and not just upon history, government, or geography. Students will
never learn to be informed citizens unless I promote choices, individualism, and responsibility
within my classroom. Existentialism instills a sense of freedom and personal responsibility
within the students so that they may continue their learning beyond the classroom. As the
teacher, I am the guide that sets the tone of the classroom and encourages my students to
learn based on their individual needs. This will lead my students to greater knowledge and selfdiscovery. For example, if I was to teach my students about a specific problem occurring in the
world such as the Ebola crisis, I would have each student create their own unique plan of
dealing with the epidemic if they were in the place of President Obama. This encourages them
to create individual plans to deal with a major crisis. In this activity, students will be able to
assume greater responsibility and discover their personal beliefs of dealing with future life
crises.
Our world is ever-changing, and as educators we must learn to adapt to our unique set
of students. Educators encourage lifetime learning so let us foster the change in our students
and promote their individual needs in order to make them better citizens of our world.