The Purpose of Education

I believe education have encompass a spirituality as well as that passion to become that educator to become an effective teacher in the classroom and in the community.The passion for teaching exists because of the many experiences I encountered as a young girl. One lasting experience that remained with me, was the fact that many of my teachers were able to motivate me and allow me to reach my potential. So because of this experience, I also want to be able to reach my student because of this experience, I also want to be able to reachmy students academically, emotionally and spiritually. Another reason for my love teaching is because I come from a history of educators who have shared multiple rewarding experience of teaching profession. Recognizing my passion for teaching and the need to grow as an educator motivated me to enrol in this Bachelor’s Primary Education.

The need to give back to my community has empowered me to rise regardless of the challenges, as Addison (1672-1719) stated, “What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the human soul”. Another belief I have as an educator , that we are actors and we must establish meaningful learning by motivating and capturing our students’ interest. This will definitely allow students to bring their own stories, experiences and ideas to the classroom. As teachers we must also provide students with the opportunities to work together with each other in order to learn from each others and to respect each other differences. In order to achieve this goal student must be given a voice in the learning process as well as teaching them how to make connection using their experiences. I believe that a classroom should be student centred in order to stimulate children innermost senses. Identifying children individual difference helps to establish different learning strategies. Children come to us at different developmental stages.

Therefore as an educator we need to know what level they are, in order to move them to the next level. According to Howard Gardiner, every child has eight intelligence functioning when they are born. He says that the degree to which each of these develops in eaxh child depends initially on genetic factors. Some children use2,3, or 4 of these intelligences. This is an expression of their personality, but it also describes their potential capabiltities. After reading Howard Gardiner theories, I tested my children in their reading and mathematics. Through this authentic assessment I formulated two groups. Prior to my assessment, I explained to my students that the purpose was to help me to identify what the y already knew and to work on those skills that need improvement. The assessment indicated that one group of students needed help with fluency, accuracy, and recognizing number patterns. Hence the reason I worked closely with this group.