In a contemporary society characterized by the extreme sophistication of relations and the constant emergence of new data portions that should be processed to function effectively, education plays a critical role. It provides individuals with the background, knowledge, and experiences that are needed to succeed in the future and build a career. For this reason, today, we can observe the tendency towards the increase in the level of attention devoted to the educational field by scientists, researchers, and theorists.
There are multiple attempts to formulate a potent perspective on studying to improve the effectiveness of educators and learners. At the same time, only high-quality education can be considered a beneficial factor that promotes the development of an individual and his/her achievement.
Speaking about my philosophy on education, I should, first of all, emphasize the idea of its outstanding role in the life of any individual. I consider this assumption to be the major concept of my perspective as only having recognized the fact that effective studying creates new opportunities for personal and professional development, a person will be able to move forward, evolve, and hold leading positions in particular spheres. For this reason, the central pillar of the proposed philosophy is the recognition of its fundamental role in the life of any person, regardless of his/her gender, social status, and culture. This idea preconditions the emergence of multiple opportunities for the further improvement of skills and knowledge to succeed and overcome many barriers that will arise.
Furthermore, another important fact is that education should be integral, all-encompassing, continuous, and related to real-life experiences. These basic characteristics impact the preference given to certain theories and approaches. That is why cognitivism is also accepted as one of the important learning theories that should be utilized to achieve significant progress. In accordance with this paradigm, people’s thinking, memory, knowing, and problem-solving activities should be explored by providing particular tasks and experiences that are needed to train them (Piaget 42).
Offering specially created texts, lectures, and instructions, an educator can trigger specific responses demanded to improve the overall level of preparedness and generate new knowledge (Piaget 40). In this regard, Piaget’s theory of cognitive development becomes an important part of my philosophy of education as it tends to explain the nature of knowledge and how people might acquire it (Piaget 45). In accordance with it, cognitive development is a specific reorganization of mental processes at different stages of an individual’s evolution. This paradigm can be utilized to promote the improvement of skills among individuals.
The central aim of education is the comprehensive development of an individual and various aspects of knowledge to ensure changes in his/her cognitive processes and the evolution of critical thinking ability. This assumption differs from some popular ideas that academic successes and grades should be considered the primary goal. On the contrary, these factors do not indicate the existence of outstanding analytic or other essential skills, they just show the ability to adapt to specific demands, which is also important but does not play a fundamental role. That is why it is extremely important to create an environment that stimulates learners to engage in various developmental activities improving many aspects of their personality (Gay 67). Only under these conditions, some positive results can be achieved.
My philosophy of education also presupposes the idea that all students are unique creatures who have their own peculiarities that should be considered to achieve the best possible result. They also acquire the information in different ways and develop so-called multiple intelligences (Gardner 45).
Acting in the atmosphere of mutual respect and safety, they will be able to get mental, social, emotional, and physical skills that are required to function effectively and integrate with contemporary society. An educator’s main role is to guide his/her pupils in their attempts to elaborate on the skills mentioned above and provide limitless access to educational activities that will help them to grow (Gay 87). Moreover, all individuals should be free to choose among the available options for their studying to select the preferable one that will help to achieve outstanding results.
Finally, technology and the extensive use of innovation are other elements of my philosophy on education. Today we live in a digitalized society that critically depends on the ability to use devices effectively. At the same time, the implementation of innovations increases the effectiveness of learning. That is why it is fundamental to guarantee that all learners are provided with an opportunity to explore technologies and how they work while being provided with various instructions. Only under these conditions will they be able to evolve and avoid serious barriers because of the poor understanding of how devices work.
Altogether, my philosophy on education rests on several major ideas. First, all children are unique and should be provided with multiple opportunities for their growth. Second, cognitive development is a critical part of learning and should be considered by educators. Finally, it is vital to develop analytical skills by offering various instructions and tasks aimed at the achievement of this goal and using innovative solutions and methods.
Works Cited
Gardner, Howard. Frames of Mind: The Theory of Multiple Intelligences. Basic Books, 2011.
Gay, Geneva. Culturally Responsive Teaching: Theory, Research, and Practice. 3rd ed., Teachers College Press, 2018.
Piaget, Jean. The Child’s Conception of the World. CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2015.