September 6th, 1999
 
 

    Educators have different philosophies of education and most blend many philosophies with their personal beliefs.  I believe all educators should have one common goal in mind with his or her philosophy and that is, am I, as an educator, giving my students the best opportunity possible to succeed.  My personal beliefs fall between progressivism and essentialism.
    I believe in essentialism because I believe there is a base of core knowledge that all students must know in an increasingly competitive society The basics are the building blocks of education. Factual education is essential in teaching students discipline and a knowledge base on which they can expand. The thing I dislike about essentialism is that it can become rote and boring. I must, as an educator, constantly seek creative ways to effectively teach. By supporting essentialism I am simply saying there are certain things everyone should be taught, not that it should be taught one specific way. I believe education is heavily weighted in favor of the auditory and visual learner and the kinestetic learner is at a disadvantage. I believe need more Ahands on activities in every subject, but especially math and science. For example, if you are doing the problem two plus two, you can say two plus two or you can write it on the board, but I believe if you have a physical representation of the problem, in this case I would use blocks or cubes, you can appeal to different types of learning. This is a way to connect with more of your students and help students that otherwise would have had a more difficult learning experience.
     I believe in progressivism because I believe in the importance of the individual and that students interests are important. Allowing students to use their own ideas to express their feelings can be critical in the emotional development of a child. By allowing a student to explore an area of interest, you increase the students willingness to learn.
    Progressivism and essentialism seem to be opposites, and in many ways they are, but I believe the combination of the two give students the best opportunity for success. If we teach students the basic facts and ideas of knowledge we build a base for our students. Then we foster their individual interests and unique abilities. We must use the basic facts and the individual abilities to build the future and make it better than the past. Society is constantly changing and students need to use their unique ideas to shape the future.