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Philosophy Framing Statement

1.1 The teacher demonstrates an understanding of how to promote learners’ growth and

development showing a commitment to using learners’ strengths as a basis for growth, and

their misconceptions as opportunities for learning and the recognition of the value of the

input and contributions of families, colleagues, and other professionals in understanding

and supporting each learner’s development.

Education can be a powerful tool. It can change individuals, families, communities, and

nations. The core of contemporary ideas about education have been passed down and molded

over centuries, as outlined in this philosophy statement1 written early in my MAT program. I

believe that these early, formative philosophies of education are still applicable today. From

Aristotle, Comenius, Erasmus, Rousseau and Pestalozzi we receive a strong foundation to our

current world of education. These ideas, which endured the test of time and experience, include

that education should be conducted for intellectual purposes, education should be about the

world around us, that language is key to learning, that every child can learn no matter his

socioeconomic status, and that lessons should be developmentally appropriate (Gutek, 2011).

New ideas have been added to and old ideas have been molded. Today we believe that

each child has a natural desire to learn (Montessori, 1969). Through play, instruction, or daily

activities, children learn at an astonishing rate. New learning is built on to pervious knowledge

and synthesized into new understanding. Each child has the right to an education that fits their

developmental needs. Lessons should be taught, differentiated, and scaffolded at each child’s
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level (Dewey, 1963). When learning experiences are targeted to students’ developmental needs,

their engagement is higher and they are more likely to access their prior knowledge to help form

and test hypotheses. “Knowledge construction happens as children develop and test a

never-ending series of hypotheses…” (Owocki & Goodman, 2002). Lessons should access

childrens’ funds of knowledge and build on their learning experiments.

Assessments of student learning should also be differentiated. Frequent formative

assessments and periodic summative assessments that are accessible to all students give the

teacher key insight into how students are progressing and developing. “Teachers must use

assessments to determine whether their students are achieving the [performance] standards, to

decide whether to revisit critical knowledge and skills, to alter or enhance instruction when

necessary, and continue to assess and reateach, as needed, until all students have achieved the

standards.” (Taylor & Nolen, 2008). Reteaching was a new idea to me when I began this

program; I certainly had never encountered that as a child. Now I do it frequently in my own

classroom and am a firm believer in revisiting topics that are not mastered by at least 85% of my

students. This year when teaching three-digit subtraction with regrouping, the end-of-the-unit

test and performance task showed that under half of my students could remember the steps of

regrouping when subtracting such large numbers. We revisited the unit for another week and then

the students took a new test and completed a new performance task. Results showed that over

90% of my students solidly remembered how to subtract with regrouping.

Education today is expected to be brought about by a collaboration between educators,

parents, and the broader community (Gay, 2010). Educators’ tap into communities and families

and their students’ funds of knowledge to enrich their lessons. As they learn more about their

students and their backgrounds, they include that knowledge in their instruction in order to
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synthesize new information with prior knowledge. As I went into this program, I believed that

educators could bear the whole burden of elevating individuals, families, and communities, and

that this connection between educators and communities was key. I still believe that those

connections are key, but I see now, after working with many families in the past two school

years, that the world of education cannot bear the burden alone. Family and community support

of schools and educators are also essential and the attitude and involvement of the individual is

critical.

The overall goal of contemporary education is to help children become lifelong learners

and competent, productive citizens. Children have a natural desire to learn (Dewey, 1963), which

educators should nurture. Students will learn to be successful lifelong learners when they are

taught how to have a growth mindset, or the ability to learn from mistakes and recognize growth

(Dweck, 2006). Teachers can model this skill when they acknowledge their own mistakes and

learn from them. Johnston summarizes this mindset in this way: “When you make a mistake, it

means nothing more than that. Fix it. Learn from it. It does not mean you are incompetent,

stupid, or not a good person.” (Johnston, 2012).

Students will be empowered to become productive and competent citizens as they are

given developmentally appropriate autonomy in the classroom and given opportunities to take

responsibility for their own learning. When I began this program, I did not fully understand the

implications of student autonomy and responsibility. I believed them to be important, but I saw

them as a byproduct of learning, rather than a central pillar that supports growth. My experience

with my students has taught me that autonomy and responsibility must be taught, practiced, and

instilled in each student. Efforts to teach even very young children to take responsibility makes

each learning experience more potent and effective.

With the foundation of education philosophers of the past under our feet, we are able to

forge ahead to try new ideas. Some of these ideas have proven to be very successful and have

become cornerstones of a good education. The summary of these ideals is that every child is

entitled to a developmentally appropriate education in a safe and inclusive environment that

empowers them to become lifelong learners.

References

Dewey, J. (1963). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan.

Dweck, C. S. (2006). Mindset: The new psychology of success. New York: Random House.

Gay, Geneva. (2010). Culturally responsive teaching: theory, research, and practice (2nd ed.).

New York: Teachers College Press.

Gutek, Gerald Lee. (2011). Historical and philosophical foundations of education: a

biographical introduction (5th ed.). New Jersey: Pearson Education.

Johnston, P. (2012). Opening minds: using language to change lives. Portland, ME:

Stenhouse Publishers.

Montessori, M., & Claremont, C. A. (1969). The absorbent mind. New York: Dell Pub.

Owocki, G. & Goodman, Y. (2002). Kidwatching: documenting children’s literacy development.

New Hampshire: Heinemann.

Taylor, C. S. & Nolen, S. B. (2008). Classroom assessment: supporting teaching and learning in

real classrooms. New Jersey: Pearson.