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Jack Tanklefsky 1

Jack Tanklefsky

Kailen Stover

Teacher Cadet

24 April 2019

The Depth of Character In Me

In literature, the characterization of its characters is pivotal to get a better understanding

of their rationale and whether or not they change throughout the piece. They might be

intentionally static where they do not change throughout the story or flat, where they do not

possess character traits that give us deep insight into their minds. Characterization could be

incidental, where an author leaves out this insight unintentionally, but more than likely, it is

focused, planned, and intentional. However, these characters can posses traits that gives us a

deep insight into who they are, thus, they become round characters. There is an understanding of

their mindset, their past, their desires, and how they have changed. They have had some sort of

experience or period of higher understanding that has led them to change at some point in the

story. Much like a round character in literature, my philosophy of teaching is round. For me, the

way I want to teach, the way I want my classroom to run cannot be described in one educational

term. Instead, my philosophy has changed, morphed, and gotten deeper, until it became the

concrete idea that it is today.

The educational philosophical idea of progressivism focuses on the individual learner,

rather than a focus on the education of the many. A student’s interests, strengths, weaknesses,

and wellbeing is the focus of the classroom, where students learn largely through

experimentation. In a progressivist classroom, the teacher poses questions for learning and the
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students, through experimentation, the students find the answer themselves, as an individual.

Personally, I align my philosophy for teaching partially with progressivism ideas. For me,

education should be almost entirely focus on the learner. Two students do not learn identically.

One may have a learning disability, or test gifted talented. One may be a global learner and the

other analytical -- there is no way to effectively teach two people the same way, effectively. For

those reasons, I feel like education should be student centric. Through laboratory and individual

discovery focused on the needs of the individual learner, students are able to learn most

effectively.

Maslow’s idea of Humanism in education focuses on the individual learner’s choice to

make deadlines and learn at their own pace, where the role of the teacher is as a facilitator who is

available to assist the students, but takes more of a backseat role when it comes to specific

deadlines. There is an appropriate time to turn in the assignments and correspondingly, an

inappropriate time to turn them in, but there is a lot of flexibility in terms of availability to turn in

assignments early. For example, in a Humanistic classroom, two assignments are given out on

the same day and both need to be turned in by a specific time, but until then, the window is wide

open on which gets done first, which is turned in first, so on, and so forth.

To get a deeper understanding of how other teachers operate, I spoke with a trusted

teacher, Mrs. Binion about her personal philosophy for teaching. Mrs. Binion is the teacher

whose teaching style I find effective, so I wanted to hear what her personal philosophy is for

education. When I asked, I was confronted with a brusque sigh and a “wow.” She continued

with, “I want everyone to have the same opportunity as those sitting around them. If English is

not someone’s first language, or they forgot to do an assignment once, I am willing to offer
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leniency. If someone has a learning disability, I want to be there to offer help and support them

with whatever they need to succeed. But I don’t want to give too much freedom, because then

student’s may not be motivated to get work on time. Like with the ten page essay. I offer help to

those who need it, but you do not need to turn it in the last day it’s due. I will help you to meet

whatever deadline you need.” It seems as though Mrs. Binion’s philosophy aligns with the

Humanist idea in the classroom. Because she allows students to make and meet their own

deadlines, she is vouching for the humanist ideas. She made it clear that even though there is a

bottom line deadline for assignments due, she is willing to work with the students to meet

whatever early deadlines they wish to possibly set for themselves. She allows them to set their

own deadlines, if they wish. As a teacher who I respect tremendously I wish to emulate her

teaching model and flexibility for assignment deadlines and leniency in for the betterment of the

students are parts of her round teaching style that I plan on exercising in a classroom of my own.

The classroom should be open to diverse ideas that are presented. Education should be

primarily focused on the needs of the individual, where the teacher is a mentor, and not a

dictionary of a subject. There needs to be a common goal that is clearly laid out for the students.

How they get there is their choice, whether they need help and come in frequently to get the help

that they need, or they choose to not get help, whether they need it or not, and turn the

assignment in at midnight on the due date. Teaching every student the same is not effective -- no

students are the exact same. The diverse learner needs help or support their academic aspirations

best.

No classroom should be flat and static with little room to adapt, grow, and change. A

one-dimensional classroom helps some, but not close to all. If a teacher can effectively integrate
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their philosophy into their classroom that focuses on the individual learner, rather than the

getting the basics off to the class, students will be able to demonstrate their strengths as an

individual.
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Work Cited

Binion, Andrea. Personal Interview. 19 April 2019

Haug, Kate. Personal Interview. 19 April 2019

Unnamed. ​The Basics of Philosophy.​ Education Philosophy.

https://www.philosophybasics.com/branch_existentialism.html​. Accessed 4/24/2019

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