A teacher's personal philosophy of education is a critical element in his or her approach to guiding children along the path of enlightenment. - Barbara Wilt
There is no final word on an educational philosophy. But it has been observed
that personal philosophies guide practice in the classroom to a great extent.
In the process of
developing your own unique teaching style, it is helpful to discover what is
it that you believe to be true about learning, taken from your own experience
and observation.
Here are some links to samples of personal philosophies of education for you to explore. There are roughly in order of how well they are known.
* My pedagogic creed - John Dewey, the most significant educational philosopher of the 20th century; he emphasized the subject nature of students' experience
* Paulo Freire - arguably the second most significant educational philosophyer, behind Dewey, emphasized social justice and education for the liberation of the oppressed
* The philosophy of freedom - Rudolf Steiner, major alternative education philosopher
* Johann Pestalozzi - emphasized the educational potential of everyday life, social justice, and education for the poor and oppressed
* A personal philosophy of education - Barbara Wilt, teacher
* Materials on the philosophy of education - links to many online articles
* Philosophy of education - links in the Open Directory Project