"The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards"
-- Anatole France
My educational philosophy is simple; I believe all children have the right to an enriching education! And also I believe all children are unique and need a safe and enriching environment to learn and grow, emotionally and intellectually. Education is the stepping stone to a child's future and it is important to make sure every student learns what they need, in order to help them succeed in their adult lives.
As a future teacher, the three areas I believe will make my classroom efficient and motivating to my students are (1) Teaching as though I am guiding my students through the knowledge I present to them (2) Giving my students the freedom to let their curiosity take them further and (3) Encouraging my students to respect their peers and the things of the world. I plan to hold my students to the highest expectations because I feel that is my obligation. I want my students to know they can achieve anything, just as long as they put their minds to it. I will be open-minded and will always encourage creative thinking. I want the activities my students participate in to be intrinsically motivating. The Russian psychologist Lev Vygotsky emphasizes the idea of allowing students to work together and help each other learn. This can be done through scaffolding; assisting students in the early stages of learning and slowly decreasing the assistance and letting students figure things out independently. I want my students to learn through interactions with their peers and be able to use their minds and construct their own ideas about what information I give them. This idea comes from the constructivist theory of learning; giving students the freedom to discover and apply ideas through the information they receive. My desire is to have the students be