Personal Philosophy of Education Essay

Teaching is mostly a hearty activity it begins with social interactions between teachers, educatees and their peers through conversation and demonstration. The information received in these social interactions is wherefore processed cognitively in their working memory and hopefully stored in their long term memory. This study process has two main stages the social stage and the cognitive stage which then can be broken down into umpteen other stages. Given that that social interaction and cognition are in my opinion the most fundamental parts of learning I obtain gained much interest in Vygotskys sociocultural theory.The true direction of the development of thinking is non from the individual to the social precisely from the social to the individual, (Vygotsky, 1986, p. 36). This idea argues that the social relationship between the teacher and learner is crucial in their cognitive development and that the information learned by the student is not simply passed down from the t eacher but it is constructed internally through mutual social interactions. The importance of social interaction means that as a teacher I must use every opportunity I can to leave students to be involved socially while building their knowledge.This result involve planning lessons which involve guardedly guided class discussions. This imparts students to express their views while the teacher can guide their thinking and correct them if needed. I believe learners mostly process new information by examine it to previously stored information. In many cases the teacher may need to show the student how it is related to the new information by comparing it to what the student previously learnt. It is the teachers job to bridge the gap between known and obscure and I believe this is best described using Vygotskys zone of proximal development.Vygotsky (1986) argues that it is the teachers job to assist the student to build on their previous knowledge rather than just fork over them w ith new information, turning them into passive recipients. Allowing students to process information critically with some guidance leads to better sagaciousness and allows students to regulate their own learning. In order for this to be effective the teacher must be apprised of the different ability levels of the students as if the information is placed outside of their proximal development zone they will be only memorising information without truly understanding its meaning.In my classroom I would aim to have knowledge of all my students abilities so that I may pose questions within their zone of proximal development which will then deepen their understanding of the topic. There are many simple ways of doing this much(prenominal) as giving analogies that compare pieces of information in a way that they understand or by giving them hints about the correct method to solve the problem. Education is a lot more compound than having knowledge of relevant theories.This is due to the hu ge diversity among students who may have different ethnicity, socio economic post and moral values. These are all external factors which are mostly out of the teachers control and while it is significant to consider these differences I believe motivation is the key to allowing students to get the most out of their education. Current views bear motivation as a dynamic and complex phenomenon comprising many cognitive, affective and social processes that instigate, direct and stick action (Pintrich & Schunk, 2002).Given that motivation is sustaining the students interest in their learning it is up to the teacher to keep them motivated. A cognitive approach to motivation is achievement motivation which allows students to build on their successes by motivating them to be successful in the future. This can only be achieved if the knowledge is within the students ability which once again reinforces to me the importance of being aware of my students abilities and using their zone of pro ximal development to its full advantage.Having the ability to motivate and understand students differences are traits which I believe are necessary for a successful teacher but in order to possess these abilities the teacher must start-off be able to build a quality relationship with the students. When there are high levels of compactness and low levels of conflict and dependency, students are more likely to be motivated to succeed, to feel successful in educational pursuits and, consequently, to perform better than students without such supports (Koomen, Zee, Van der Veen 2013).The research shows that positive student teacher relationships not only improve academic achievement but allow students to work more independently. As a teacher I will strive to build these quality relationships in which I can allow students to work independently with some guidance. This will allow more freedom in their learning and will ultimately motivate them towards better academic achievement.