Abstract

                        What is it that a teacher has to do in order to be effective at teaching?  Well the answer is they need a credo, or a teaching philosophy, that is effective in reaching the students helping them obtain their knowledge.  In the research I did on what my philosophy is, I came up with three orientations that fit me best.  These three are progressivism, existenalism, and reconstructionism.  Progressivism is the focus on child more so than on the subject matter.  Existentialism is a style that stresses the importance of the individual and emotional commitment to living authentically.  Finally, reconstructionism is the belief that schools have more than a responsibility to transmit knowledge, they should also should help transform society.  I feel that the one that best describes me is progressivism, because I do feel that the student is more important than what I am teaching.  If the student is not interested, than it does not matter.  I want the students to guide me in what I teach.
The life of a Teacher

            A teacher will always have their belief in what is right and wrong when it comes to how to teach, and how to get the subject matter across.  Throughout college, a future educator’s credo will change with new discoveries and further research.  This credo is not something to take lightly, but actually it is how a teacher feels about teaching, teachers, learners, and the philosophy that they will use with their students.  As a teacher I will be unique from almost all teachers.  There may be some teachers who choose to teach the same way I do, but we will still be different.  I took the philosophic inventory and its results showed that my main teaching philosophy is progressivism.  This means that I feel that the student as an individual is more important than the subject matter that I will be covering as a teacher. 

            As a teacher you should be able to maintain control in the classroom and be able to effectively teach the lesson while still keeping your values and beliefs in tact.  It is most important that a teacher is well verse in their subject matter.  As a secondary teacher you have one subject that you are responsible for and should be very well educated and be able to pass this information to the students easily.  As an elementary teacher you will have to be verse in all topics.   The younger students ask less difficult questions and you should be able to pass on your knowledge easily without anyone being able to stump you.  I feel it is very important that a teacher is interested in what the students interests, and that way you have a connection with them that makes it easier to gain their attention when it comes to a topic.  As a teacher you are responsible for making the classroom a safe place, a place where subject matter can be openly discussed and feel free to be oneself.  As a teacher I feel that is also our responsibility to help the students set goals.  I will not only help them set their goal, I will also be interested in helping those goals come true.  This is part of the teaching process, that I feel, is essential in helping the students grow and become successful adults using the lessons you give them about life and how to engage in it.  No matter what you do as a teacher though, how well the subject is comprehended is not up to but it is up the learners and how you nurture their learning process. 

            The process of learning is something that never ends and is hard to strictly define.  As a teacher you will keep learning thus expanding the learning process even after your schooling is complete.  It is hard to define it because what one student finds interesting and essential another student might find dull and unnecessary.  This is why, as a teacher, it is our duty to make all topics come off as essential and make learning things that we know is not the most exciting as entertaining and attention grabbing as possible.  I think that trying to focus on each of the individual students is important to make the subject matter touch them personally.  Respect is a big issue with me; I feel I, as a teacher, should get respect, but also I will want to make sure that each student receives respect from not only me but from each student as well.  When there is a lack of respect I feel that their must be a punishment that the student will not want to have happen and keep them from making the same mistake.  I hope to be a secondary education major, and I realize with that comes some students that will not show respect.

            It is hard to define oneself as a teacher but the best way to try is through your philosophy.  It is hard though to look at it now and decide how you will want to teach in the oncoming years, but looking in our book helped me decide on my base philosophy that I will modify throughout my college career.  My base philosophy is progressivism since I feel that students are the most important part of the teaching profession, not the subject matter.  I feel it is necessary to help evolve a students development of personal and social values.  I feel that the student should use their own thinking process to solve a problem rather than a strictly guided thinking process.  Quite simply, as it stands now, I am very much a teacher that believes in progressivism.  These are my beliefs, that in the oncoming years may change, but as of now this is my philosophy as a teacher.