September 16, 2009

philosophy on education





One activity I did in class last week was to think about my philosophy on education. It is something that is deeply personal, but also intersects with the professional landscape of my experiences. The instruction was each student had to write down anonymously on a piece of paper our philosophy on education, then the professor would collect our responses, re-distribute them to our classmate, and each student read aloud a classmate's response. We all listened quietly to everybody elses' brief philosophies on education. It was interesting that all of us wrote different words down but nevertheless, conveyed the same sense of service to the young people of our world.

It took me awhile to process my thoughts onto writing. It's not the first time I'm asked to explore my philosophy on education. Every graduate student must be able to articulate and cement this into their statement of purpose essay when applying for graduate school in a graduate education program in the U.S. One has to know deeply and specifically their philosophy on education because as our professor suggested, it will be known by students, colleagues and parents because it speaks for itself. And, over the course of time, our philosophy may or may not change, but the core of its purpose remains. Our professor pointed out that teachers are not trained, but good teachers are developed. And, knowing our philosophy on education is the key to our development. I was deeply affected by that class session. Our professor has been teaching for nearly 40+ years, and she still has that passion and that spark. It was no surprise that she would instill that sense of purpose in her students, because she had high expectations, and have great command of her teaching and subject content. It was one of those memorable class sessions that I will take with me on my path. Below are samples of what I have written about my philosophy on education. There are two parts:

- The purpose of teaching is to effectively facilitate the learning process of my students so they could actively and creatively engage with language, with text, with each other, so that they could relate with society, and with the world.

- The purpose of a U.S. education in its reality is to prepare students for the marketplace, to be competitive, to be sifted and selected, and to be matriculated in an already stratified society toward an increasing globalized world. Although they need to be 'employed' to make a living, my students also need to be equipped with critical thinking and social skills to become the best of who they are and to be agents of change for peace and justice in a world that often needs and calls for it.

Thanks for reading!

No comments:

Returning to Creative Writing - Day 1

Red Bean Soup Do I remember what to order? We had descended from the high-rise flat on Ma Tin Road in Yuen Long, walked out to the B...