The role of teacher can be hardly underestimated in the process of education.
It is obvious that teaches play an important role in the learning process and
shaping of students personality and their cultural identity. In fact, teachers
possess certain authority and it is extremely important that they used this
authority effectively and contributed to the balanced development of students.
To achieve this goal teachers need to develop their own educational philosophy
that would help them not only to teach but, what is more important, to learn.
First of all, it should be pointed out that teachers’ philosophy may be
shaped under the impact of different factors but it is possible to distinguish
two the most important constituent elements of their philosophy. On the one
hand, it is the actions of teachers, their behavior that can really define their
philosophy since they have certain models of behavior, habits that they often
cannot change but which sometimes they should change in order to develop a really
effective educational philosophy. In such situations it is very important to
take into consideration another important factor, namely what teachers think
about their actions because it is the reflection on their actions can change
not only teachers’ behavior but their educational philosophy at large.
Obviously, they should be very critical in the analysis of their actions and
attempt to assess them as objectively as possible in order to choose the right
direction in the development of their educational philosophy. In such a way,
teachers, being able to impact on students by their behavior and ideas, should
develop their educational philosophy on the basis of these essential elements.
Basically, it is necessary to underline that there are two possible ways to
the development of educational philosophies. First of all, it is possible to
develop the educational philosophy during the action. It means that a teacher
can reflect on his/her behavior while he/she is performing some action and analyze
it immediately. For instance, a teacher can scan the situation in the classroom
during the lesson by questioning students in order to find out whether the lesson
or the problem discussed is interesting for them or not. On analyzing the received
information, a teacher can change his/her behavior or continue the lesson if
it runs successfully.
However, this is rather a short-term approach since it provides an opportunity
to learn only the current situation and analyze the current behavior of teachers
and assess whether it is effective or not, right or wrong. At the same time,
it does not provide the opportunity to analyze the situation in depth and, consequently,
it is practically impossible to fully understand the reaction of students on
teachers’ behavior and often it is quite difficult to choose the most
effective ways of behavior immediately.
In such situations, another strategy of the development of educational philosophy
may be quite effective. What is meant here is the development of teachers’
educational philosophy on the basis of the analysis of their past actions. Unlike
the previous approach, this one implies that teachers do not analyze the present
situation in the classroom, for instance, but, instead, attempt to objectively
evaluate their past actions and behavior, they take into consideration what
they did and whether it was right or not, or probably their could be better
ways of acting in the given situation. On analyzing their past behavior, teachers
get an excellent opportunity to have a larger view on their work and behavior
and objectively and more profoundly analyze it. This will naturally open opportunities
for the development of the long-term strategies and the analysis of the general
effectiveness of educational philosophy in the long run.
Obviously, both approaches could be quite effective in the development of educational
philosophy but the real professional teacher would rather apply both of them
than focus on one approach only. In fact, such a combination is simply essential
since it is important that the teacher could change and improve his/her behavior
immediately in the concrete situation depending on the circumstances but he/she
also needs to be able to make a profound strategic analysis of his/her actions
in order to reveal more profound details that can remain unnoticed on a brief
analysis during a lesson, for instance.
Nevertheless, it is possible to conclude that, regardless the approaches teachers
use in the development of their educational philosophy, it is necessary to remember
that they are responsible for their students and not only at the present moment
but for their further life as well because consciously or not students learn
from teachers and gradually are influenced by their behavior, actions, thoughts,
ideas and philosophy at large.
Bibliography:
1. “What Shapes Teachers’ Personal Philosophy in Education?”
