My Philosophy of Education (Dec. 09)

Philosophy of Education
by Mataji V. Sharma


“Lead your child out into nature; teach him on the hilltops and in the valleys. There he will listen better, and the sense of freedom will give him more strength to overcome difficulties. But in these hours of freedom let him be taught by nature rather than by you. Let him fully realize that she is the real teacher and that you, with your art, do nothing more than walk quietly at her side.”

- Johann Henrick Pestalozzi (1746-1827)

As a teacher, writing my philosophy of education is one of the most powerful and meaningful activity that I could start my career path with. As a mother, I incorporate it in my family mission statement and philosophy. However, the joy continues as I keep on developing and revising my philosophy of education as I experience, grow and discover more about life, while keeping the fundamental values I hold dear. These are: love and authenticity.

Having been raised by teachers and in a school, I saw life as an educational process. My mother ran a Montessori school in our front yard and my father was a constructivist Political Science instructor and Law professor. My mother’s classroom was my home and my father would tag me along in his college classes even as a child. My brother grew up to hold photography workshops as a hobby and now as a living. Every moment was and is an exciting re-discovering moment. The learning and physical environments are vital to one’s unfoldment; both to the teachers and the students. My parents always told me, “We will know that we’ve taught you well if you have already realized that you are your own teacher”.

My Girl Scout experience when I was 13 years old, representing my country to Mexico, was my first international outdoor education exposure. It opened my eyes to the power of travel, global friendship and a common mission as an educational medium.

Recently, as an MYP coordinator, I was assigned the task to enter into the sacred rooms of teachers/students and to evaluate their classes. I had many profound moments that gave me a field-based and more comprehensive understanding of teachers and of what we do – and what we hope to achieve. I have been reminded that a teacher teaches who s/he is.

My upbringing of both traditional and progressive education brought me to find and keep the strengths offered by both. “Absorb what is useful” said Bruce Lee. My informal education in martial arts also reflected both. I have found that the right amount of discipline, drilling, creativity and inspiration combined together creates a strong education.

When I was taking my Masters of Education units in Educational Psychology in the university, my professor was the student of Howard Gardner in Harvard Graduate School. She introduced to me with great passion, the beauty and value of the Multiple Intelligences and supported it with scientific research. It appealed to both my scientific mind as a Psychology teacher and the philosopher in me when it comes to holistic education. This was further strengthened when I started applying it more systematically in my classes when I attended the KAGAN Cooperative Learning Structures workshop. My students enjoyed having their Kinesthetic and Musical Intelligences tapped on as well. After they scored above world average in their IB exam in Psychology, I knew right then that it was well integrated into the academic requirements of external assessments.

I share the vision of the International Baccalaureate when it comes to their mission statement as well as the development of the IB Learner Profile. The Middle Years Program’s (MYP) fundamental concepts are valuable to me and I have been enjoying the challenge of mentoring teachers in integrating these in their classes.

To return back to what I wrote in the first paragraph, as to what I hold dearest in education; I only have experience to teach me this. I blossomed through my loving and authentic teachers, firstly by my parents and then by some of my teachers along the way. Also, interestingly, I have found that even with my most challenging students, they all responded to these two: love and authenticity. When students believe and feel that they are genuinely loved by transparent teachers, they respond – beautifully.

Education is quite difficult to limit into words or in a page or two. However, if I may sum it up in a line, it would simply be: Love makes everything grow. This is when every time I wake up in the morning I look forward to work and even when I go home tired, I knew I did something worthwhile, and that my goals lead me to a greater purpose.

p.s. Hope this personalized honesty lands me a job! :)