Nuria Navarro

LBS 203

Philosophy of Education

Being and educator has been something that I have always dream of because as an

educator you can do many things to make a different everywhere you are. Being an

educator has many important parts such as know that purpose of education, how the

learning environment should be, and commitment to social justice, curriculum and how an

excellent teacher should be.

Education has many purposes to me on of the main purposes is to prepare the

children to be the future. It teaches them how to become good people in this society.

“Americans are fortunate to have a school tradition that speaks if not always loudly and

clearly to democracy’s core values” (Oakes, J., Lipton, M. Pg.5). Teachers are finding ways to

develop the democratic tradition in classrooms. It is also to help the student have and open

mind and be prepare for whatever they have to face, as they grow older.

We all have different opinions of how a learning environment should be, but I

believe that the best environment for student is should be a safe environment, a place

where the student feels comfortable and confidant, a place that motivates them to continue

studying. Also, a good environment is a place where that student can find a connection

between them and that place. For example, Brian Mooney related Kendrick Lamar’s new

album to what he was teaching at that time in his classroom. “…Effective classroom

management extends far beyond rules for classroom conduct and procedures to deal with

misbehavior” (Bransford, J., Darling-Hammond, L., LePage, P. (2005)). A good environment

of learning should have a certain way to act so there wont be any bullying or discrimination.
 To have social justice in my classroom I need to have a “full and equal participation

of all groups in a society” (Hackman H.W. pg 1). In order to for me to address the issues of

diversity and equity and ensure that all students are given equal access to learning I will

have the students participate in activities where they will need to interact with one another

this will help the student get to know one another and help them understand the diversity

between them. As an educator we have to understand that not every child comes from the

same background. We can connect what each student already knows to what they are

learning in the class. According to Heather W. Hackman (2005) “…Social justice education

encourages the students to take an active role in their own education and support teachers

in creating empowering, democratic and critical education environments”. Involving the

students background will let them know that they matter and will make them believe more

involved in society and in there education.

The optimal curriculum is to cover all subjects and have every student understand

them. It does not matter if the subject is challenging the student because the optimal

curriculum is structure to prepare students to contemporary challenges. This will also help

the student to deeply understand the material. According to Bransford J., Darling-Hammond

L., LePage P. (2005) “…the curricular understanding that enables teachers to organize the

subject matter and skills they will teach and why”. The curriculum it is a guideline for the

teacher about what they need to teach.

According to Bransford J., Darling-Hammond L., LePage P. (2005) “…teachers need to

have a command of critical ideas and skills and, equally important capacity to reflect on,

evaluate, and learn from their teaching so that it continually improves”. This will help me
become an excellent teacher because it will help me have an open mind and always keep

learning.

Work Cite
Bransford, J., Darling-Hammond, L., and LePage, P. (2005). Introduction. In Darling-

Hammond, L., & Bransdord, J. (Eds.). Preparing teachers for a changing world: What

teachers should learn and be able to do (p.1-39). San Freancisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Oakes, J. Lipton, M. (2002) Teaching to change the world, 2nd edition. McGraw Hill Boston

Hackman, Hearther W. "Equity & Excellence in Education: Five Essential Components for

Social Justice Education." (2005): 103-08. Print.