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CHARLES YOUNGS' PERSONAL STATEMENT PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
I am an educational optimist.
That is, I believe that teaching is a profession that has an enormous potential for shaping future society for the better by working with the members of that society--today's youth.
I am an educational idealist and experimentalist.
That is, I believe in the content and process of learning. Mastery of objective information and demonstratable skills are important to every student's functioning in society. The experiential process involved is equally valuable as it may be applied to adjustments the student must make while functioning in an ever-changing society. Learning material without learning method is like traveling to a destination blindfolded, not knowing how one arrived, which direction is forward, which is reverse. I believe in content literacy and the handling of ideas, the experiential process and the demonstration of outcomes to prepare individuals for personal adjustments to real-life situations.
I am an educational interactionalist.
That is, I believe that a teacher is an educational expert who should encourage student involvement through a variety of teaching techniques appropriate to the curricular objectives. By using various approaches, such as dialectic techniques, cooperative learning activities and independent study, education prepares every student to think logically, adapt, collaborate and assume responsibility as required by society.
I am an educational experimentalist.
That is, I believe in encouraging individual student response and decision regarding educational activities while meeting outcome criteria. This ensures curricular and assessment authenticity and intrinsic student ownership of learning by recognizing the uniqueness, dignity, worth and ability of every student. This leads, in turn, to student empowerment, self-esteem and responsibility, and creates a society of life-long learners and enabled participants.
I am an educational model.
That is, I believe a teacher serves as a model of personal learning and accomplishment. A teacher must be enthusiastic about learning, and translate this enthusiasm to students. In this manner, teacher inspiration becomes student motivation.
I am an educational guide.
That is, I believe that much of a teacher's task is assisting students to define their goals, aspirations, strengths and weaknesses. A teacher may achieve this by increasing students' self-esteem, praising every indication of progress, and more importantly increasing all students' resiliency and sense of risk and challenge by showing them aspects on which they may improve and thus helping them develop an understanding of themselves and their aspirations.
I am an educator of communication arts and English.
This is because I believe that communications, as education on the whole, is a means to gratifying occupations, further education, human understanding, and thereby a full enjoyment of life.
© Charles Youngs 1984 - 2007
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