Educational Technology Philosophy
I believe that all learners are unique individuals who need a caring, safe and interactive atmosphere where they can develop intellectually. As an educator, it is my duty to help students meet their greatest potential by providing them with an atmosphere where they can feel secure, take risks, share ideas and experience diversity within the instruction.
Students should be offered an environment that promotes the teacher as a facilitator that will enhance their creativity, curiosity, and success in directing their own learning. The teacher should guide the student to discover information that is relevant to the learning goal while connecting new concepts to what the student already knows.
Teachers need to continue their education through professional development to be valuable role models for their students who stress the importance of life-long learning. Teaching provides an opportunity for continuous learning and growth for the teacher, the student, and the community. There is a need for dedicated, compassionate, knowledgeable, current, and excited individuals to work with all learners. Today’s learners must receive a solid foundation that can continually be built upon in order to meet the needs of our ever-changing competitive society.
Above is the first section of our first assignment. I understand that as educators we should have some type of philosophy on which to build on but in all reality, they all pretty much say the same thing by using different words. Yes, it makes us think about what we think about but sometimes I’m not sure that it really means as much to us as it does for the “look” of one doing it. Really, I haven’t seen too many philosophy statements that weren’t going with the current trend of things. I’m not quite sure of all the value in this then. Is there value in writing a statement that just reflects what someone else wants us to say so that we can get good jobs. We’re not stupid, and many times we just write these things to satisfy the requirement of doing so because without it we can’t advance or get a job. OK, yes, I know it’s critical that we think about how we think but don’t we want to be more creative, original, and different? Isn’t this what we want for our students? Why then, do we make such big issues about having a “philosophy statement” that pretty much just goes along with what people in higher places are looking for us to say? I think I’ve now written five philosophy statements for education……none of them have made me a better teacher. What makes me a better teacher is my passion for learning, my love of teaching, and my self-expectancy to be the best I can be at what I’m doing….
My expectations for this class: Learning about how technology can help me accomplish that last sentence above, help me to continue to be the best teacher I can be by enabling me to learn all I can about what is available to help those I teach to become successful in their goals.
A philosophy statement shouldn't be for anyone else but you! It's a reminder of why you teach the way you teach and is helpful to come back to when you get off road.
ReplyDeleteBut it always manages to be for "someone else" and not us. It has been a requirement in four of my classes and is now pretty much part of most job applications in education. I guess that's where I was coming from. I think that if we are always trying to continue our professional development we should never "get off the road." I have never once looked back on my four philosophy statements and said to myself "hey, I'd better start thinking this way again.....
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