The document discusses the philosophy of education of a future physical education teacher. It emphasizes that teachers are role models who can influence students academically and help mold them into successful citizens. The author recalls how their high school health/PE teacher inspired them through hands-on lessons and life lessons shared each day. The goal of education, according to the author, is to prepare students not just for academic success but also to be successful members of society. The author aims to treat all students equally through a balanced, flexible curriculum incorporating different cultures, learning styles, and assessments tailored to student needs.

1. Philosophy of Education
One thing I have heard a million times since I first planned to be an educator is the fact
that teachers are one of the main role models for a child of any age. They possess the power to
help influence and guide them in the right direction academically as well as the capability to
mold them into successful citizens. When I was a freshman in high school, I met a
health/physical education teacher that was just that to me. At the time, I did not know he was
going to be the one that would become so influential in my life. He pushed me academically by
having our class participate in hands-on activities in health instead of the same mundane lectures.
In addition, he included games that we had not played repetitively throughout the years. Not
only did I learn more about health and physical education in that semester, I also learned a ton of
life lessons. During some point in the daily class, Coach would provide us some life lesson that
connected to the lesson in some way. Sometimes it was just an old southern quote. Sometimes
he shared his own personal experiences that he had encountered growing up, what he did wrong,
and what he learned from them. These different approaches are what sparked my interest in
being a physical educator. However, it was not until I was a senior falling on tough times that
his past and present advice made me realize my future was in being an educator. At that point, I
realized being an educator was not just being able to make class interesting to reach all of the
students but to provide them with the words and wisdom that will help them become a successful
individual.
In my opinion, the goal of education is to provide students to not only be successful
students but to prepare students to be successful citizens of their particular nation. A student
should not be educated based on their race, ethnicity, social class, or class size. In the words of

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John Dewey: “Democracy cannot flourish where the chief influences in selecting subject matter
of instruction are utilitarian ends narrowly conceived for the masses, and, for the higher
education of the few, the traditions of a specialized cultivated class” (Dewey 174). In other
words, Dewey is saying that democracy in education can only succeed when all students are
treated as equals. I have seen firsthand students being treated as “favorites” for many reasons.
Each time I witnessed it I vowed that I would treat all my students as equals. In my mind, this is
essential due to the fact that it allows every student the fair and equal opportunity to become
successful members of the classroom and our society. As educators, this can be done by
encouraging every student to develop their own set of values and morals while continually
educating them about politics and citizenship as it pertains to our nation.
When I step into a classroom today, I know beforehand that it will be composed of
students from a variety of races, ethnicities, religious backgrounds, sexual orientations, and
social classes. In order to reach the diverse student base in our classrooms, we must teach our
lessons so that they relate to each and every student. For me, this means planning my lessons to
incorporate different cultures. I say this because I think it is essential that students learn about
each culture and how to interact with them in this day and time. This is due to the fact that our
nation is composed of so many cultures and in order to be successful citizens we must know how
to accept and interact with each one. I do not believe that one race, gender, culture, or social
class should set a student apart from the rest of the class superiorly or inferiorly. In order to
implement diversity in my classroom, I plan on having guest speakers of different backgrounds
speak to my class. Since I am going to be a physical educator, I plan on educating my students
on sports that are played in other counters, like cricket, to provide my students with more of a
cultural diversity in the form of sports.

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I believe that I should provide a curriculum that is balanced, flexible, and
developmentally appropriate to meet the needs of my students. Considering all students learn
differently, I know that I cannot teach them all by using the same methods. For instance,
students have different learning styles. The four learning styles are: “visual (seeing), auditory
(hearing), kinesthetic (moving), and tactile (touching)” (Ryan 68). This means that I must
implement each learning style into my lessons to reach all of my students. In addition to
implementing all of the learning styles in my lessons, I believe that the development of a child
depends on the nourishment they receive at school, home, and in the community. In
developmental psychology, I learned that each child goes through changes in regards to finding
their own self, understanding ethics, and developing their own personality. Therefore, it is
essential that as educators we implement a well-balanced and practical curriculum that benefits
every one of our students.
In order to provide a successful education, classroom management is key. This means
providing each student with a safe environment to cultivate the student’s emotional, intellectual,
and social needs. This means that the educator is responsible for knowing what is going on in
their classroom at all times. I have witnessed a few educators, through my own personal
experiences as well as during observations; that have been very successful in regards to
classroom management. During these times, I have also seen a few educators that were at the
opposite end of the spectrum when it came to classroom management. Each of these provided
me with a lesson. In educational psychology, we learned that being an effective classroom
manager meant keeping the students on task and eliminating the disruptions. As an educator, I
plan to arrange my classroom so that I can see each and every student while teaching to prevent
disruptions and keep students on task. Also, my classroom rules will be set in stone on the first

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day and be consistent throughout the year. The students that become unruly will be removed
from my classroom to prevent disrupting other student’s learning.
As stated earlier in the curriculum section, students learn in a variety of ways. Students
learn from holding objects, hearing lectures, seeing the ways to solve a problem, moving around,
or a combination of these. During my previous year of teaching I often observed another
physical education and health teacher’s class and realized the teacher only taught in lecture
format. The students answered worksheets and book work day in and day out, which over time
caused a lot of students to stop doing the work completely due to boredom. I realized then the
importance of implementing a variety of learning styles into my lessons. For my alcohol, drug,
and substance abuse unit I took a different route by allowing the students to pick from a list of
different activities that would total up to 100 points. While these activities were completed while
using the textbook as a guide, the students could design posters, anime, PowerPoints, etc. to
complete the assignment. This not only allowed students to learn but it also kept the students
interested and engaged on what was being taught. In addition, I want to implement cooperative
learning as well as direct instruction. Direct learning will be limited. For my alcohol, drug, and
abuse unit, I gave students the option to work in pairs or alone as I realize that while I always
seemed to learn more in groups and with hands-on activities than through the lecture format, not
everyone learns the most from group work. I witnessed firsthand that the group work and hands-
on activities kept the students more engaged as well. I have also observed the same preferences
during my student teaching placements.
Assessments in my classroom focus on improvement and content knowledge. Since I am
a physical educator, improvement and the capacity for my students to learn new material are
essential. I perform skills tests over sports to make sure that students can grasp the basic

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concepts. These will be performed at the end of each sports unit, which can vary in duration. I
realize that each student will vary in athletic ability, so the tests will be composed of basic
concepts that I have taught and demonstrated and that the students have practiced throughout the
unit. Written tests will be given upon completion of the skills tests over the background
information, rules, equipment, and history of the sports that I have covered throughout the unit.
Of course, written tests will be my assessment of choice in the health classroom by having my
students test over the content that I have taught and that they have completed assignments on.
Both types of these assessments will yield a letter grade. It is also important that individuals
with disabilities be assessed in a way that they can be successful. This may mean providing
them with someone reading them the written examination or allowing them to bat differently
since they are confined to a wheelchair. Furthermore, it means that those that are not fluent
English speaking students are given an open book test or one with less questions over content
that they have practiced.
Upon reflecting on how I teach, I realize I possess many essentialist beliefs. I believe
that students should be taught traditional subjects that will provide them with the knowledge they
need to be successful in the future. I believe in incorporating diversity, implementing a well-
balanced and flexible curriculum, and using different teaching strategies and classroom
management strategies to mold my students into successful citizens. Teaching is more than just
a paying job. Teaching is being able to provide academic and life lessons, like Coach provided
me, to challenge students to grow physically, mentally, and emotionally as well as become
successful citizens.

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Works Citied
Dewey, John. "Philosophy of Education." Democracy and Education: An Introduction to the
Philosophy of Education. CreateSpace Independent Platform, 2009. 174. Print.
Ryan, Kevin, and James Cooper. "Who Are Today's Students in a Diverse Society?" Those Who
Can, Teach. 13th ed. Cengage Learning, 2012. 68.