Philosophy

AMY KATT

PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING AND EDUCATION

“Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.” --John Dewey

I believe that a primarily student-centered approach to education will suit me best as a teacher. I believe that every student is unique. Everyone has different backgrounds, strengths, weaknesses, likes, dislikes, genders, ethnicities and histories and not taking all of those factors into account as a teacher would be foolish. My belief that everyone is different and that those differences should be celebrated and embraced has led me to embrace both progressivism and social reconstructionism as two of the philosophies that form the basis of my own personal philosophy of education.

The quote by John Dewey relates to progressivism, which is the education philosophy he founded. A curriculum that takes into account the varied interests and abilities of students, while still concentrating on state and national standards, would naturally lead to students who are eager to learn. In my experience, students respond better and retain more information when they are interested in what they are learning. As a teacher I want my students to feel responsible for their own learning, and to develop an eagerness to learn more. I want even the student who dislikes English to find either a book or a lesson or assignment that lights a fire within them. My goal is to bring a new and fresh approach to “classic” or “standard” literature, such as the Scarlet Letter, so that students not only read a book and retain information about it, but also are able to reflect on its contents and how the subject matter might relate to their own lives.

In terms of curriculum, I do believe, to an extent in the ideals of an essentialist philosophy of education. There is great merit in teaching students the same core education—English/Literature, Mathematics, Social Sciences, and Science. However, I believe that any curriculum is greatly enhanced by elective courses such as Music, Technology, Agriculture, and other education areas. My own education was filled with both basic courses and music courses, and I believe that allowing students to have a choice in some of the classes they take is very important.

The ideas of social reconstructionism, which focuses on schools, teacher and students working together to enact social change and to make society more just and equal, also speak to me as an educator. In my work at Big Brothers Big Sisters, I have worked with students from varied racial and socioeconomic backgrounds. This diversity is becoming more and more prevalent in our society and in our school systems, and I believe that ignoring is out of the question. I believe each student should have equal opportunity to learn and equal resources to learn as well. No matter what size or type of school system I end up teaching in, I want my students to know that there is much more out there in the world. I plan to incorporate multicultural aspects into lessons as much as possible.

To tie social reconstructionism and progressivism together, I also want to encourage my students to volunteer. By volunteering they will be exposed to many different types of people, and by working with people who are older or younger, of different race or socioeconomic background, I believe my students will benefit greatly. The students will not only be giving back to the community, but they will learn about others and about themselves. My goal for my students is also for them to learn while they are volunteering that even though there are differences between people, many times, people are essentially the same.

I’m entering the world of education as both an optimist, and a realist. I expect that my love of education and learning, and my enthusiasm for students will not change, but that with experience my philosophy of education might change a little. My belief in a student-centered approach to education, focusing on progressivism and social reconstructionism in particular, will aid me in my goals as an educator. I want to inspire students to reach their full potential, whatever that may be. I want to recognize their strengths, help them work with their weaknesses, and I want to nudge them towards appreciating literature and Language Arts, the way that I do. I want to foster critical thinking in my students and help them apply what they have learned in the classroom to what they experience in their own lives. In order to do this, I will have to overcome such obstacles such as stubborn students, students who have turbulent lives outside of school, students who may have trouble grasping the content of a course, and students who will present a myriad other challenges. I am confident that I will be able to devise strategies to reach even those challenging students, and that I will be able to use my love of literature and learning in that process.

“Such happiness as life is capable of comes from the full participation of all our powers in the endeavor to wrest from each changing situations of experience its own full and unique meaning.”--John Dewey

send email to: Amy Katt

this page was last updated 04/30/2007