Essay Example on Teaching and Philosophy

Philosophy Historical Events

Looking back at the history of educational philosophy, Plato influenced academic learning. In his view, education is vital since it helps in reforming a learner's character and state. According to Plato, everyone should go through an education process and learn how to read, write, count, and most importantly appreciate their cultures. Plato set an educational theory that presented views about human nature based on the curriculum recommendation and the way education is administered (Scolnicov, 2013). According to Plato, education plays a crucial role in reforming a person's character. In character reforming, Plato says that education ought to help an individual in recognizing the good and the bad and give one the ability to make decisions and stand for them.

Is your time best spent reading someone else’s essay? Get a 100% original essay FROM A CERTIFIED WRITER!

Order now

Today, as a teacher, I believe that the most important thing while teaching is creating a rapport with the students. By doing this, a mutual relationship between a teacher and a student are established. The students need to trust their teacher, and it is, therefore, my role to create a high level of trust. Plato's educational philosophy theory has shaped my instructional strategies since I use the direct instruction strategy to help the students in realizing themselves and their character (Scolnicov, 2013). In a classroom situation, I apply direct instruction and combine it with other teaching methods like discussion. I give my students video lectures, and after discussion of the same, they come to class for guided practice. Direct instruction has helped my learners since before covering a topic in class; I ensure they already have an idea of what it entails. Plato's view has shaped this approach that a teacher needs to ensure that a learner is conversant with reading and writing on the areas covered.

Personal Philosophy Relation to Instructional Practice

As a teacher, I live by a personal philosophy that views every student as unique and different. Therefore, I believe in applying different teaching methods to cover the needs of every student. I believe that group discussions are essential since they help students to gain from each other. I believe that instructional practices need to be diverse since not every student understands from a lecturing situation. Some learners understand better by use of visual diagrams and videos as they help the student relate to the topics taught (Seidel, Blomberg, & Renkl, 2013). I call this a student-centered philosophy as it looks into the needs of different students differently. I believe that each of my learners has a personal way of learning and possess own gifts and needs. It is, therefore, my role as a teacher to expound of the learner's gifts by providing an environment that fosters maximum teaching and learning to meet each student's needs.

Personal Improvement

To become a successful twenty-first-century teacher, I believe that I need to improve on my mentoring role. I need to practice one-on-one mentoring with my learners so that I can understand their strengths and weaknesses. On a personal level, learners will have a private conversation about their experiences, their goals, and their ideas. I also understand that to become a personal mentor to a student, I have to enhance my confidence, and project positivity so that I can mentor my students effectively. I also need to demonstrate equality and consistency to my students; I will need to set high expectations so that my learners can learn from me and begin to emulate the same.

References

Seidel, T., Blomberg, G., & Renkl, A. (2013). Instructional strategies for using video in teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 34, 56-65.

Scolnicov, S. (2013). Plato's Metaphysics of Education (RLE: Plato). Routledge.