EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES SELF-ASSESSMENT

We scored the questionnaire today. It is a self-assessment test to let us find out the educational philosophies that we currently hold. The specific questions were all about our opinions on school curriculum, focus, learning, etc. And guess what? I scored highest in the Cognitivism/Constructivism and Humanism philosophies!

I tried to reflect on the truth that the test holds for me. As a part-time college instructor, I introspected on how I saw students, their process of learning and my role in the process. I am not a spoon-feeder. I give my students the outline for each of our lesson before we even discuss it and expect them to do readings on their own. Of course, I let them know that those are my expectations from them. That is why I even have a pretest before the lecture just to check if they did their part. This is because I believe that students actively construct their own understanding of reality through acting upon and reflecting on their experiences. When a new concept, event or experience comes upon them, it is now my role (as their instructor) to facilitate this new learning so that they can incorporate it with their existing schema.

Yet, I am also a humanist because I have this firm belief that each student has potentials and can be fully actualized. Personally, I believe that we are in school and we continually learn (that’s why I am pursuing a Master’s degree) because learning helps us to become the best that we can be. I have students who are bound to fail because of laziness and yet I still take time to talk to them and give them consultation periods because I want to give them hope that they can still work on performing better. I always tell my students that the result of their semestral marks always depends on them—they have control over the events in their lives. I believe that people are inherently endowed intellectually and with good hearts strive for a better state in life. We have the freedom but we must be responsible in how we use this freedom.

So what is my role as their instructor? I believe that I can facilitate growth for my students through encouragement and support for them. If they face obstacles (which they will), I believe I can help them by letting them see these obstacles as challenges that will help them grow. They must be continually reminded that they possess unlimited potential for growth and development; that they will learn and become the best they can be.

I hope I would be able to use my educational philosophies as a basis in my teaching and in helping students through counseling. I believe that being a Cognitivist and Humanist is a good combination for seeing human beings as active learners and hold the potential for maximum growth and development.