Some students may be wondering how their philosophy of education relates to the goals and objectives for their teaching portfolio. Other students may feel that they are only beginning to grasp some of these various philosophies of education. When they read a statement like "Our goals and objectives are shaped by our philosophy" they may feel unsure about what their philosophy is exactly.
We all come to education with underlying attitudes, values, and understandings. Some of these we have learned about in class and some we carry with us from our own life experiences. Together they form our 'philosophical position'.
When we say "our goals and objectives are shaped by our philosophy" we mean that, whether we like it or not, the attitudes, values and understandings we hold drive our ambitions and our actions.
Our philosophical position will change and so will our goals and objectives. At this point it is important to uncover your starting 'philosophical position'.
To help you develop your philosophical position try answering these questions, many of them come to us from the previous instructor of the course and I find them very thought provoking and useful. I have added some questions that are directly related to what we have been talking about in class:
What do you believe about young learners?
• In what ways might they be similar to one another?
• In what ways might they be different from one another?
• What attitudes might they have about learning?
• What pressures might they be under?
• What might motivate them?
What are your views about their learning?
• What is the constructivist model of learning?
• How will the world change by the time these children graduate?
• What will the children need to know?
What are your views about teaching?
• What do you believe are your priorities as a teacher(what kind of teacher do you want to be)?
• What kinds of teaching strategies will you employ (at this point you may just be beginning to think about strategies, what general ideas do you have about strategies?
• What qualities will you build into the learning environment (again think in general terms, what would you like the environment to feel like for the students)?
• How will you determine (assess) the learning that is going on and how will that assessment be linked to your work as a teacher?
What are your views of the classroom in the wider context?
• What is authentic assessment?
• How will you bring your community to your classroom and the classroom to your community?
• How will you bring environmental education into your classroom?
What are your views about teaching science and technology and their relationship to society and environment?
• What do you believe science is?
• What is technology?
• How will you help children relate science and technology to society and the environment?
These questions are presented to help you develop your philosophical position to inform your goals and objectives as you begin your portfolio. They are a guide.
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