Education is important; it is important to develop knowledge, acquire capabilities, and assimilate facts into the deep crevices of the brain, but there are more factors at play than a students ability to grasp a hypothetical concept or study efficiently for a test. What I didnt realize early in my education was that motivation, interest, intrigue, practicality, connection, and personal value are the principal elements of education (Lovat & Clement, 2008). The attainment of knowledge, sound logic, and the ability to reason, whether it is preferable to the educator or not, come second to a students affective well-being (Council, Allen, Allen, Kelly & Kelly, 205). Though most educators join the profession because they love their discipline, only those who understand, embody and satisfy the students affective needs can be truly successful. Through time, reading and implementation, philosophical elements of American education, such as idealism, essentialism, pragmatism, and perennialism, began to influence the development of my educational philosophy and allowed my views to evolve.
When it comes to instruction, I lean towards perennialism and essentialism, a belief that what has stood
the test of time is valuable (Blythe, 2009). Conversely, what has not stood the test of time should be modified. If the best instructional strategy consistently produces mediocre results, it is time to branch out and try new things. What has worked decently in the past is acceptable for a time, but if the goal is to have 00% engagement, and that goal is not being met, Ive learned I need to experiment and revise old practices. Despite the need to often modify instructional styles, tried and true methods have strong validity. It is important for the students to be supplied with what is essential to their success. Backward design is always implemented in my classroom. I am always asking myself, What do I want my students to learn or get from this?. Instructional strategies are also designed to assist the end goals. How I group my students, what I find I need to reteach, and how long we spend learning a topic or skill, all connect to the formative assessments used in my room. These play an integral part in my students learning processes and allow me to tweak and modify my teaching. The goal, after all, is to learn the material and apply it not to get it right on a one-time summative test.