Reflection on "Voices"

One of the early philosophies that really got my attention was the philosophies of the Greek educators. Socrates believed that it was the teacher's role to draw the knowledge out of the student and that students had to discover the knowledge. He thought teachers needed to ask the right questions and believed in higher order questioning. Plato said that the purpose of education is to help the students to grow and develop their character and ability to do good. Aristotle thought a methodology in the classroom had to be used that encouraged thinking and reflecting and then allowed time for practice of the skills. Even though all of these philosophies are old, I believe they're important in today's schools.

I made a lot of connections with Pestalozzi's philosophy of education. He believed that educators need to think of the whole child, including their heart, body, and feelings, and not just their mind. Learning has to be stimulated by the interests and motivation of the child, but also has to be completed at each stage before going onto the next. This is important in many subjects, but especially in math. If a student doesn't know how to add, subtract, multiply or divide, then they can't start solving problems. Teachers also need to take into consideration the child's emotional and social needs while trying to educate them. Teachers need to be able to tell when a student is having a bad day and give them some slack. Students will respect you more in the long run.

The philosophy that I made the most connections to was Dewey's philosophy of education. He believes that teachers have to create a learning environment in which students can have meaningful learning interactions with their classmates. These interactions are hands-on activities based on the problem solving method. Students should be able to make connections between the different subjects. Dewey also believes that the goal of education is to make intelligent citizens and that education must be democratic, providing students with free and intelligent choices between alternates. Students need to be engaged to their environment - the subject matter, their teachers, and their classmates. Dewey's philosophy is very student-centered, so teachers should create their lessons around the interests of the students. I think all of these things are crucial - students need to see a purpose in what they're learning. If they don't see a purpose, students will shut down. It's the teacher's job to make these connections for students, and it's also their job to create a safe learning environment so all students have the opportunity to learn.