My Teaching Philosophy

My personal teaching philosophy combines a couple of different aspects of the five specific teaching philosophies: progressivism, perennialism, essentialism, existentialism, and reconstructionism. I personally find myself aligning most with progressivism and perennialism, as both of these philosophies provide the proper balance between standard and essential material and creating learning experiences based on the students and their needs.

Progressivism focuses on real-world problem solving and individual development, both being important factors in education. When it comes to teaching students, we are providing them with more than just arithmetic and language arts, but also how to be functioning members in society. The role of a teacher is to help students grow and learn, adapting to the world they will one day be a part of. Providing students with the knowledge and understanding to solve problems and overcome obstacles is incredibly important. In the same way, individual development is very important. It is important as teachers to encourage and support students and their individual needs. Every student is different and comes to the classroom with a different set of skills and abilities. Teaching is about helping students harness those skills and use them to their advantage; every student is different and every learning path will be different. Students must develop personally to be able to be a helpful member of society. This also plays a role when it comes to growth mindset. Teaching is about helping students to understand that each process is unique and different. Though a student may not understand a concept at the moment, the growth in their learning matters just as much as mastering the concept. 

The second philosophy I find myself aligning with is perennialism. Though I do believe that education is ever changing and we as teachers must adapt to best serve our students, I don’t think the core of education is as often changing. The system we have taught for hundreds of years has stayed the same over those hundreds of years. The ways in which we teach out students can and should change, but the content we teach will continue to stay the same. That is why I think that progressivism must work in conjunction with perennialism: the content and information we are teaching is rooted in tradition but the way we teach that information can be much more fluid. 

The third teaching philosophy I find myself aligning with is essentialism. This has to do more with culturally responsive teaching and the importance of such. Students will come into my classroom from all different backgrounds and walks of life. Essentialism is a philosophy that encourages and develops education and material to fit and respect every student’s background. This is incredibly important to remember as a student’s culture and background is what makes them who they are. Teaching content in a way that both honors and acknowledges these differences makes students feel involved and understood. This is essential as an educator, as respect and compassion are needed between teacher and student. 

The remaining two philosophies are ones I find myself aligning with less: existentialism and reconstructionism. Though these two philosophies share ideas and characteristics I do believe hold validity, they are not ones I would choose to root my teaching in. Existentialism is a philosophy that encourages and promotes individuality within learning. While I do agree that education will look different for every student, this idea – in my personal opinion – encourages a little too much seclusion. Yes, students should develop their own thoughts and ideas around their learning, but collaboration is essential. Working with others in a classroom setting builds important relationships that will serve students later in life. Reconstructionism is a philosophy that focuses on social reform and bettering society. The reason I don’t find myself aligning with this philosophy fully is because I feel education is already a service to society. I personally find this philosophy to place a lot of pressure on students and teachers to “fix” or “mend” supposed problems within our society. Learning should be just as much about a child gaining the knowledge and skills they need to better themselves; societal reform will naturally come with supportive education. 

My goals as an educator are as follows: to support and uplift my students. Teaching is a labor of love. Teaching, to me, is just as much about supporting and caring for students as it is learning knowledge and concepts. Successful education consists of respect and care. If a student is struggling personally they can not be expected to excel in class. In the same sense, if a student is struggling in class, the personal impact can be major. Teaching is like balancing a scale, finding the correct mix of personal and academic support for each student. My hope as a teacher is to make my students feel seen and heard, for my classroom to be a place where learning is enjoyable and fits each students needs.