My Educational Philosophy :: Philosophy of Education Teaching Teachers Essays

My Educational Philosophy My decision to become a teacher isn’t because of a lifelong wish or even a childhood dream. My educational experience during childhood left me, for many years, feeling very indifferent towards the teaching profession. I grew up in a very rural area and the schools that I attended didn’t attract the best of teachers. Although I always tested marginally above average on standardized tests, my grades were mediocre and my attitude concerning my education rated a big, fat â€Å"F†. I wasn’t challenged, inspired, or motivated by any of the teachers that I encountered during my years in school. Maybe there were those who tried to reach out to me but I wasn’t interested. Whatever the case, I graduated high school with no thought of ever becoming a teacher and with the attitude that education wasn’t important. Several years later, as my children started attending school, my view concerning teachers gradually started to change. Through volunteering and being at the school s quite often I began to see how wonderful teachers can be, as the majority of the teachers that I came in contact with seemed to be very passionate about their jobs. This was foreign to me—caring teachers! It wasn’t long before I was in awe of the profession and I wanted to do MY part. I wanted to contribute what I could in attempt to obliterate childhood educational experiences such as mine. After all, anyone can sit back and criticize teachers and the education system. But, if you are going to criticize you must be ready to get involved to create change. That is exactly what I decided to do. Another huge catalyst for me in this process was that I wanted to set an example for my children to follow. How could I challenge them to do their best and to pursue college when I was not a college grad uate myself? The answer I came up with was to re-enter the academic world after fourteen years of absence. As you can guess from my brief testimony, my philosophy concerning education is eclectic in nature and centers naturally around the aspects of self-esteem and motivation. These two words go hand in hand. If children feel good about themselves, and are encouraged, they will be motivated to do their best.