My Educational Philosophy

            When I began working on my teaching philosophy a few years ago I wasn’t too sure who exactly I enjoyed learning from but I did like important pieces from a variety of educators.  Working in a Title I school I find myself working with students who are trying to meet the needs of Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs.  Jean Piaget is another educator who I find myself relating to as I teach children with disabilities.  By understanding Piaget’s theories, educators can understand where children are in their learning.  And finally Lev Vygotsky is another educator I respect and hear from professors.

            Abraham Maslow developed his theory, Hierarchy of Needs, in 1943 after studying human development.  He believed people would obtain a goal if they were motivated enough to fulfill their needs.  For example, if one decides to attend a social event such as a dance they would be working towards belonging to a group.  The way Maslow believed his theory is often represented in a pyramid.  The larger portion of the pyramid is where Maslow believed people met their basic needs such as food, shelter, and clothing.  The smaller portion of the pyramid was the self-actualization portion of his theory.  He believed people could meet their creative goals on this level.

            Maslow’s theory has always been an influence to me since I began working within the community.  Many people I assisted were looking for their basic needs to be met.  Women who survived abuse looked for safety and shelter.  Children whose parents aren’t always home look for basic needs such as food and love.  I believe most educators think about Maslow at some point every week.  Our society has evolved in such a way that people are more alone and not necessarily linked to support such as a church.

            Jean Piaget understood children far better than most parents and was able to create a theory to understand how children learn.  Piaget didn’t start out in life working with children nor was he an educator; he was a biologist.  As Piaget educated himself over the years he became interested in psychology.  He assisted with intelligence tests and how to improve the data taken from the tests.  Once married and had children, Piaget observed and understood how his children developed from birth to adulthood.

            Piaget wrote about children’s cognitive abilities which showed stages of development.  By understanding where children are in the cognitive development helps early educators teach children by understanding where they are in their development.  Piaget also plays a part in development as educators determine where their struggling learners are in class.  Sometimes children are not able to move out of stage two or three and must continue to learn using concrete or visual objects.

            Lev Vygotsky had theories that are viewed as opposite of Piaget.  Vygotsky believed children would development based on their social learning and Piaget believed children developed before they could learn.  Both theorists had great ideas and theories of development and both are needed to understand a variety of children.  Vygotsky really believed that language played a large role in children’s development.  Working with children at the PreK level, I see where both theories come into play.  I have seen where children have not been socialized outside of their families and their language can be extremely low, almost nonexistent.   Vygotsky used a variety of senses to help children learn.