PHILOSOPHY AND EDUCATION

Philosophy and Education

Megan Smith

EDU623: Introduction to Teaching & Learning

Professor Evans

　

　

Education was the major building block in my intellectual and personal growth as a student growing up in the United States of America. The teachers and professors of my childhood and young adulthood impressed permanent marks on my character development, and I have carried these impacts with me as I have matured, often times still recollecting different lessons and methods that molded me as an individual. Due to these influences, I have become a 32 year old woman with the passions and burning desires to share the tools given to me through education. The hunger has remained instilled in me through all the trails of youth, the hunger to be a strong muscle of hope and guidance for future students. This passion that remains for me, the passion for books, for information, for overall knowledge, has been a driving force of my deep aspiration to pass on the torch of education to the next generation.

When I hear about America’s education system, and the decline in our global ranking, I become more and more convinced that this was the profession calling to me. The profession of an educator, an influencer, to be able to give to students the tools that were given to me in youth, to be able to spread the burnings and hopes that come with education to future generations. It has given me purpose in life, it has given me reasons not to abandon my roots and belief systems. Statistics can discouraging when considering education as a profession, but we must turn that notion around and consider it a challenge when we here about America’s rankings globally, “Scores from the 2009 Program for International Student Assessment to be released Tuesday show 15-year-old students in the U.S. performing about average in reading and science, and below average in math. Out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math.”(USA Today, Chung Sung-Jung, 2010). And so as developing educators for the future of this country, instead of discouragement, there is a calling for enthusiastic individuals with the desire to influence our upcoming youth. The calling to help these future citizens of our communities and our country, and a calling to come to terms with our global ranking, and to consider the arduous task ahead to help students to race against other developing countries that are way ahead. Without educators with the desire to change the pattern, without the necessity to break the chain we have created for the education system, our future children could be facing devastation on a global scale. The fact that we need teachers to stand up and challenge students, I become more convince that this is what I am suppose to be doing with the life that I have. My love of learning, along with the wonderful teachers of my youth, has brought me to a turning point where I know, beyond a doubt, that this is who I am, and I what I am suppose to become as I enter adulthood.

In a country full of political imbalance, a country just coming out of a recession, I am reminded why it is vital for us as a nation to provide sound and accurate education to future adults. I realize that without this awareness and concern for our youth, there could be dire consequences. It only makes me realize that it is more important to work to influence our youth, to make changes to our education system, even on a small scare. This means I must put aside being wealthy or getting rich quick, and I must reconsider having my own children, in order to give me the energy and space to make a difference for other children, and I can only do this by becoming an educator. An empowering passage from our text, it states, “In recent decades, teachers have been speaking out on issues of social justice and have been taking political stands (Lunenburg & Irby, 2006). Teachers have become a powerful political lobby and the image of the teacher as a timid person who is quietly obedient to the wishes of those in power is no longer accurate,”(Armstrong, Pages 242-243). Therefore, educator in this century to come are going to be even more influential, and they can impact the education system in ways that were not possible in decades that preceded the current times. Growing diversity and different evolving cultural and social adaptations demand an ability for future educators to evolve, adapt, and customize teaching methods. To accept difference of students and to adjust to the changing demands of the world, we as future educators can alter the molds and curve them in ways that benefit our future adults. We as developing educators hold the key to these transitions, and I know deep within my spirit, that this is what I want to be, to be the change we as a country are crying for.

The more I learn about the state of our education systems, the more intimidating it seems, but with this intimidation there is a yearning inside my heart to help and influences these growing kids. To hand them to tools that my teachers gave me. The tools that make life mysterious, beautiful, endearing, challenging, and worth while. Without people with similar passions as myself, without the fervor to evolve knowledge and to challenge conventions, America will not stand a chance against other nations in the future that is quickly approaching. Future educators hold the keys to open the opportunities for future generations.

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

References

Armstrong, D. H. (2009). Teaching today: An Introduction to Education (8th ed.). Upper Saddle River , NJ: Pearson. (Armstrong, D., Henson, K., & Savage, T., 2009).

USA Today Online, Article: In Ranking, U.S. Students Trail Global Leaders. Author Chung Sung-Jung, 12/7/2010, Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2010-12-07-us-students-international-ranking_N.htm