Ellen Cirino
Philosophy of Education
EDU 360
My Philosophy of Education
Professor Matt Gale
7/3/2009
My Personal Philosophy of Education
The word "philosophy" originates from the Greek, and the literal translation is the "pursuit of wisdom." Ancient philosophers, Aristotle, Aquinas, and John Locke incorporated education into their personal philosophy as part of their ethical theories. Philosophical views, in their simplest form, can be very complex. This paper will explore my personal philosophy of education and why it is the most suitable to me. My formal study of this Philosophy of Education course has enabled me to grasp the terminology and the logic behind the way I taught children in the process of raising them. I have learned that I was instinctually following the perennialism philosophy of St. Thomas Aquinas with my own 4 children and with over 50 foster children that lived in my home. However, now that I have decided to pursue a formal degree in education, I hope to be instructing young adults in late high school or early college in an online classroom in the areas of English and Composition. I have a physical disability that would not allow me to commit to being present in a brick and mortar classroom and almost my entire college education has been learning in the online setting, so I would be very comfortable teaching in it.
The topics I will be discussing are what I believe the overall purpose of education should be and the role of teachers, why the perennialism, also known as the Neo-Thomism philosophy is my personal and professional philosophy, my views on educational curriculums and what should students expect from the education process.
The overall purpose of education is to impart knowledge. Formal schools have existed since the fourth and fifth centuries lead by such philosophers as Socrates, Plato and Aristotle (Pulliam, J.D., VanPatten, J.J., 2007). From the very beginning these teachers had different...