Philosophy of Education

Philosophy of Education
Coming out of a large state university, I thought I would keep my progressive existentialist perspective forever. But, the second day of student teaching had been a meandering disaster. Since that rude awakening, my philosophy of education began its evolution to its current state, a progressive essentialism. There are skills and knowledge students need to know to be successful in their lives. What the College of Education taught me was true, students learn best when the subject matter is related to their lives. I differ from some essentialists, especially those in the ultra-conservative “culturally literate” camp. Every activity should have a point, but the point should never be absolute acceptance of whatever is being taught. Rather, the students should question and listen critically to everything they learn whether it be how to find a main idea or the reasons America fought itself in the Civil War. With that said, preparing students to be succ...