Every individual has his attributes towards life, personal beliefs and philosophies which directly shapes his/her’s mind and it’s reflected in how that individual lives, thinks, behaves with others, interacts with environment etc.. Likewise, it leaves great impact on his learning and teaching processes as well. Thus any person from the teaching profession who wants to become an effective teacher must understand his own beliefs, his own educational philosophies. This is because, core elements of educational philosophies of teachers highly and directly affect the learning process of their students, learning standards, curriculum, contents of study material, learning environment (majorly classroom experience of students).

Being a teacher is that feeling which borne inside the heart that firmly believes “the beginning of every child's empowerment start with his/her "Right To Education”. Hence I strongly believe that being a teacher I must identify what are my personal educational philosophy or perspective ? in order to understand my own value system which will be consciously - subconsciously will be brought into the classroom teaching. Understanding what is my perspective of education ? purpose of educating students ? what will be taught to student ? what is the role of me being a teacher in the school ?  how it will be taught ? what is the role of students in the classroom ? To be mindful of thought that education is all about shaping the children / students mind for future.

Referring back to the teacher’s knowledge of educational philosophies comprise of 3 main types -

1) teacher-centered philosophies 2) student-centered philosophies, and 3) society-centered philosophies.  However,   out of these, Essentialism and Perennialism are considered as two types of teacher-centered philosophies of education. According to published information, Essentialism is currently the leading style of public education in the United States. It is the teaching of basic skills that have been proven over time to be needed in society. Perennialism focuses on the teaching of great works.

There are three types of student-centered philosophies of education. Progressivism focuses on developing the student’s moral compass. Humanism is about fostering each student to his or her fullest potential. Constructivism focuses on using education to shape a student’s world view.

Then, there are two types of socially-centered philosophies of education. Reconstructionism is the perspective that education is the means to solve social problems. Behaviorism focuses on cultivating behaviors that are beneficial to society.

According to John Dewey born in 1859 in Burlington, Vermont was one of the most influential educational philosophers was a pragmatist, progressivist, educator, philosopher, and social reformer. He believed that traditional classroom settings were not appropriate from viewpoint of development of young learners and schools should be representative of a social environment and that students learn best when in natural social settings. He mentioned about two different types of education, traditional and progressive. Dewey referred that traditional type of education as a strategy meant to take information obtained in the past and reiterating it to students in an organized fashion, mainly in the form of tests, presentations, homework, and grades based on these assignments. Where as, he describes progressive education as using experiences more for education rather than just material, catering towards, or at least how progressive educators believe it, children. However, a teacher with pragmatist philosophers will focus on building constructed, participative knowledge with students. They will rely on dialogue and critical examination and will be more comfortable with ambiguous situation.

I learnt that Progressive bases it’s theory on experiential education, meaning that children learn by performing certain tasks individually or in the teamwork or events and learn majority on their own. That brings out their learning potential at optimum level. However, a teacher should be able to understand that not all experiences are educational, and we have to be mindful to be able to probe the difference between good and bad experience, and also between educational and non-educational.

One of the best example, that supports Dewey’s educational philosophy and widely followed is ‘’Morning Meeting” conducted everyday in the classroom, (at least in the elementary school). Morning Meeting is a first session or beginning of the classroom used in the Responsive Classroom which promotes the ideas of social-emotional learning and building a community of learners at similar level. Morning Meeting is a purposeful session that sets the tone for an entire day in the classroom for establishing environment and respectful learning. By creating a community that builds trust in the classroom, students will feel comfortable with friendly classroom interaction. The Morning Meeting allows students to have a sense of belonging, feel significant, and have fun, all of which are essential components to a successful classroom. Hence, such type of constructive and progressive classroom environment promotes the positive social-emotional setting. Eventually, this bring out the holistic approach into education and results in enhanced academic learning or achievement.

Finally, along with having own educational philosophy of progressive / pragmatic / experiential education, a teacher should understand the what is the  ultimate aim of education ? I personally think that the purpose of educating children should be to grow and develop them into productive citizens that use their knowledge, talents, and learned skills to sustain themselves and help others while pushing the human race forward in areas of equality, equity, and harmony. 

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And what is the purpose of giving education ?? I would rather abide by the fact that, the main purpose of education is to open up the mind of students and prepare them to face the world with practical and mindful approach. However, in today’s scenario, unfortunately students think that education is merely getting a degree from a reputed university and landing on a high paying job. That's what is happening since many decades amongst generations since the time when I was a student.