There are all different kinds of students and each of them deserve the chance at a fulfilling education that improves their self - esteem and self - efficiency in the world. Every child deserves a teacher that is fair and understanding of the different ability levels of each student in their classroom. This is my philosophy of education. In preparing to become a teacher who truly tries to understand the vast differences between children, I want to address the nature of students, the nature of knowledge, the purposes of public education, the methods of teaching, and the curriculum area that I am studying.
First, I believe Rousseau's theory of people being born with a blank slate. Children are not good or bad by nature. They are brought up in different households by different groups of people. I have noticed in my observing that there are shy children, rambunctious, leaders, followers, those who do neither they just play by themselves, the ones that talk all the time and those who only speak when they are called upon. These characteristics are not determined always at birth they are learned behavior. Some children are not allowed to talk at home unless they are spoken to, and you can tell when a child does not get much attention at home because they crave your attention in school. But, above all, children want to learn. When children enter elementary school, most of them are so open and creative, and these students need a teacher who will use that openness to keep that child interested in school.
Secondly, the nature of knowledge. I believe that knowledge is relative and absolute. There are some people who can learn from experience and others that need to learn from memorization. I believe that whether knowledge is relative or absolute depends on the subject. I agree with Rousseau who says that one should not memorize when it comes to learning. Memorization does not really indicate that something is learned except for only a short while.
