philosophy of education

My Philosophy of Education
The purpose to education is to educate our youth for them to strive and be competitive in the future but also be good citizens. Our schools should teach its students about great leaders and about important issues that occurred in the past. By reading classic books and learning about entrepreneurs and philosophers, they would learn about what made these people great and would shape them to be great people. Also, they should connect current issues and events in the world with the classroom so the student would see the connections and understood that issues in the past are similar to the ones in the present. These topics should be taught through different activities. I believe in group assignments and projects as an effective way to learn information because the students can share ideas and experiences. Additionally, I would use visual aids a lot so the students could see the examples and understand it better. A teacher’s role in the classroom is to educate and inform the students in simple ways that they will remember forever and the student’s role is to be open to learn. If each doesn’t do what they are supposed to do, the system wouldn’t learn. Learning should be measured through tests because that is the best way to compare the students and to evaluate their knowledge on a subject. If the students do well, that is a reflection on the teacher.

I have a Perennialism type of philosophy because I believe that the great books are “great” because they have universal themes and issues that are still present today. By reading these the students can relate it to issues that are occurring in their personal lives or even the world. These connections would make the student interested and would actually retain the information rather than forget it after the exam. Also, by studying influential philosophers such as Aristotle and Plato, the students would learn to think for themselves and question everything around them. I don’t believe in textbooks unless they are holding and expert form a classic book. I agree with Robert Hutchins when he says that textbooks “have probably done as much to degrade the American intelligence as any single force.” Textbooks try to teach students the wrong way because they ar filled with random short stories that have no significance. Rather than reading a hundred short stories and learning one thing form each, a student would benefit more if they read one classic book and learned a hundred things from it. Another thing that is damaging the student’s education is the amount of electives in the schools. The electives offered at most schools are not at the same academic level as the other courses that are required. These subjects “water down” the curriculum that the students have, thus tempting them to take more of those subjects rather than the actual beneficial ones. I believe that electives should be as rigorous as the other subjects that are required. I think that the idea that Mortimer Adler had, to created elementary and secondary schools without electives, is not the right approach either because some children need an outlet form all the academic stress, however, courses such as art and music should have some sort regulation so it is still taken seriously by the students.