The more that I work with students each day at school the more I have the chance to see teachers personal expectations work with the state standards of education as well as the national standards of education. This, coupled with my own personal beliefs, and wishes for student achievement, along with what I have been learning along the way in my education class at Wayne State have now begun to help me start to refine my personal philosophy of education.
On the National Level there seems to be mixed reviews on whether our education system is proficient where it stands now or there is a call for improvement. No Child Left Behind plays a part in what we do now as educators. What seems to be the consensus opinion however, is that elementary class rooms need to teach many different components of education in which students must display knowledge in via testing at different parts throughout the school year. These areas include Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts. (Here again is where I believe that Music, and the Arts play a vital role in improvement of each category.)
On the State level (here in Iowa where I work) students take the standardized Iowa Tests to show how each student, class, and school stack up in their knowledge of content required to be taught in school. I know on a personal level at times in an at risk school like the school I work at, these test scores can be misleading or at times influenced by other circumstances that students and teachers alike face. However, on a state level the standards that are asked to be followed seem to closely resemble what the national standards are as far as education goes: Proficiency shown in Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts. An emphasis seems to be placed upon Math, and Language Arts.
In my personal philosophy I believe that students need to have a well rounded education in not just the four I have listed a couple of times above: Math, Science, Social Studies, and Language Arts. I believe that in order for studies to succeed in these four, as well as to help the students learn who they are as people they need a prominent education of the Arts - Music, and Art as well as proper knowledge in the education of movement and exercise in Physical Education classes. To me, none of these subjects are any less, or any more important than the other - especially in a young learner's environment. With these multiple avenues we as educators can show the paths that students can take in discovering who they are as people while letting them choose what they really have a desire and a passion for while in turn broadening their knowledge in each topic. I believe that as an elementary educator it is our duty to lay the groundwork for students to be lifelong learners by both showing a passion for teaching, and a passion for each subject and encouragement to work hard in each one. I believe that for our young learners to one day become successful adults it is important for them to become superior readers and writers, have a great handle of mathematics, know their history - what made, and makes their city, state, country, and world what it is, and who they are and where they come from, from a science perspective - to know why things do what they do and how things came to be what they are, for the arts - to have the chance to stretch their cognitive abilities as well as this area to teach cultural awareness and passion, and in Physical Education to teach children how to be safely physically active.
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