Olivia Pretty

As I ponder which philosophical orientation of education I subscribe to, I realize how difficult it is to place myself in a single category. Primarily, I feel inclined toward progressivism due to its emphasis on centering curricula around students’ interests, individualized cognitive, affective, and/or psychomotor support, and the belief that learning is an active process as opposed to passive. Progressivism fits well with differentiated instruction and universal design for learning - two practices and concepts that I include in my own classroom - because it acknowledges the variation across individuals. Progressivism fundamentally requires the development of strong student-teacher relationships, which is a skill on which I pride myself; an educator cannot design instruction geared toward students’ interests and their areas for growth if they do not know their students. I believe that designing instruction such that it is relevant to the students in the room creates the foundation for the final pillar of progressivism, which is that learning must be an active process. I strive to develop engaging, hands-on learning opportunities such as laboratory experiments, games, and project-based learning wherein students can immerse themselves in the learning material. Finally, I firmly believe that learning never stops and is thereby an active process that is responsive to and strengthened by the trials and tribulations we encounter throughout our lives. 

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As I mentioned, I see my teaching practices and beliefs reflected in more than one philosophical orientation. Some sentiments of essentialism speak to me, specifically the belief that there is a collection of essential knowledge and skills that students should learn through school. Basic mathematical abilities, reading, writing and citizenship are just some of the areas I believe to be essential areas of knowledge that will prepare our students for everyday life. However, unlike the essentialism view, I believe that this essential set of knowledge and skills should evolve to reflect our ever-changing world. For example, digital literacy was unheard of only decades ago, but is essential today as our physical and online worlds become increasingly intertwined. Preparing our students to be responsible and informed citizens online is something I consider to be essential for the world we live in today.  

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I also see my teaching philosophy in the left-ward direction toward existentialism. Collective experience and prosperity is a core value and consideration of mine, which appears to be contradictory to the existentialism view. However, I simultaneously believe in self-advocacy and self-actualization. As an educator, I aspire to guide my students along their own journey of self-discovery by offering differentiated instruction, choice and inquiry-based learning within my classroom. Ideally, promotion of such autonomy will translate into my students’ personal lives wherein they are courageous enough to pursue their passions and find meaning. As an educator in the public school system with a specific curriculum, a true existentialism approach would be difficult to adopt overnight. However, I envision using the curriculum as a springboard before sending students in a direction of their own. 

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Even the most extreme philosophies echo some beliefs of mine. The perennialist view that there are constant truths is one that I accept. Science and mathematics, my teachable subjects, are built upon laws and theorems that we use to explain real-world phenomena. Thus, I inevitably communicate these fundamental truths to my students as a means of explaining the natural world and mathematical logic. However, I feel it’s important to indicate that should new evidence come to light, these theorems and laws might be turned on their heads. Thus, I believe that these constant truths should be shared while simultaneously fostering the characteristics of critical thinking and open-mindedness. My belief in promoting critical thinking and open mindedness is in connection to my view of social reconstructionism. I believe that schools are a reflection of society and vice versa. Children, youth and the generations to come are quite literally the future of humankind. Therefore, by encouraging and supporting our students to analyze, question and take action in society, there is the potential to reconstruct our society for the better.  

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Overall, my philosophy of education is a blend of the five modern philosophical orientations to teaching. Some orientations are weighted more than others, but each is present nevertheless. I believe that this blend makes my approach to teaching well-rounded, modeling the type of well-rounded individuals I hope to help my students become.