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Rianne Buenaflor

EDU 202 – 1003

Professor Christensen

29 November 2021

Artifact #1 - Educational Philosophy

Educational philosophies can differ from person to person, varying upon beliefs and

experiences over time. As a child, I had a very narrow-minded philosophy because I did not

know much about the world or what it entailed till later on. I changed my mind from being a

doctor to a teacher due to new information and experiences. Through this I also learned about

social reconstructionism, constructivism, and behaviorism. I also created ideas of what to

incorporate in my future classroom. From these ideas, I now know what I need to do in order to

move forward and that is to discipline myself and have more patience.

Most of my elementary school years and middle school years I spent being persistent on

becoming a doctor. That was until I started watching medical show after medical show, then that

really opened my eyes. By this time I was self-aware enough to understand that I would not be

able to remember all those terminologies, procedures, tools, steps, etc. because I sometimes

space and quite literally do not have the greatest memory. After that I began exploring. Being

part of an Asian family, those of whom who immigrated from the Philippines in the seventies,

and being a first generation to go to college, there was pressure. They pushed nursing, but I did

not want to pursue that due to the same reasons as not becoming a doctor, but also because I did

not want to fulfill my families wishes at the cost of my happiness and fall into the Asian

stereotype. It was not till I met my eighth grade world geography teacher and English teacher

that the idea of teaching was appealing. After them, it was my sophomore year English teacher
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then my junior year English teacher. I met these four teachers at different stages in my life, but

somehow, I created a connection with each of them that felt like the last and much of that

formation was through talking and being introduced to new ways of thinking and understanding.

Somehow, somewhere, I began to feel like that was what teaching was supposed to be about:

caring about your students, pushing them to do their best, introducing them to new ways of

thinking, and understanding them in a way that can actually help them in turn. And that was what

I wanted to do.

Since I am young and have a good connection with my younger friends and peers, I

believe that connecting with my future students, and learning their interests and various learning

styles, can benefit them in a way my peers and I never got to experience consistently. Doing field

observation also opened my eyes up to the conflicts teachers face on a daily basis concerning

student behavior. I think using my field knowledge of that can produce different possible

solutions to ease the situation and the student.

Up until now I could never grasp what exactly social reconstructionism was and meant,

but now I do. Social reconstructionism pushes individuals to reconstruct society to a more safer

and equal place for every person. For as long as I have known, people have been brainwashed

into thinking all humans are equal. But they are not. There is always one person or race that

believes they hold superiority over everyone and even dictates how everyone’s lives should be

run. Social inequalities like that do not get taught or informed about in schools is one of the main

reasons society is the way it is today. Education is one of the main pathways to inform students

about what is happening and has happened in our society, so if we utilize that resource, it could

mean a difference years later. For example, my peers have become mini activists as they learned

about the hate towards Asian, Hispanic and black individuals over the past few years. Much of
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their information was given through school and even social media which in turn, they used as a

platform to speak out and raise awareness.

Leading from that, constructivism and behaviorism go hand-in-hand because both forms

of psychology have similar points. When a person is presented information consistently from

their instructor, as well as interprets the information in their own way, that is considered

constructivism. The belief that individuals are shaped by their environment is behaviorism. I

believe both psychological influences can be thrown together because the environment a student

may be learning in may influence his interpretation of the information given by his teacher.

Especially with students being so young, their brains soak up any and all given words or actions.

As someone who is always looking for something new to try, I plan on implementing

different learning techniques and strategies throughout the school year to see what will best fit all

of my students. With new technology coming up, I can implement them into my instructional

time to keep the kids motivated and on track for the class period as well as incorporate different

ways of action to understand and help them. If any students are troublesome, rather than yell and

immediately send the student away, I could try having a conversation with them after school,

after class, or after lunch so I can try to understand what is happening and what we can try to do

to help them succeed. I have noticed a lot of teachers do not take into account that simply talking

to the student and trying to understand where they are coming from can make a difference most

of the time. I am also very aware that not everyone learns at the same pace and with the same

tools as the next person, so trying new techniques I learn over time can definitely help me learn

more about my students. In the classroom, I want to include different activities and games such

as mini posters and contests to not only teach them the lesson, but to enact discussions, team

building, and bonding between peers. This will ensure that all the kids have face-to-face
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conversations and learn more about each other. As per variability and assessment, I am going to

make sure all my students have an equal playing field. In reality, adults use their devices to look

up and research facts throughout their everyday lie, especially doctors. Personally, I find it

questionable that students are not able to use their notes of tests and quizzes when adults use

their “notes” when they are stuck on something and need help discovering the answer. I

understand the reasoning, but it is not realistic to assume every child is going to retain every

piece of information given.

This career field possesses various skills and qualities I have yet to discover and hone.

One quality I do know is that I need to develop more discipline. I often lose motivation when I

become unsatisfied or unhappy, so over time I believe I need to find different ways to stay

motivated so I can discipline myself more with my schoolwork. One that I believe I will need to

learn more about is patience because even though I am already tolerant of people and situations,

I think it can change once I start teaching up to two hundred students. If I am not fully equipped

with the necessary tools to stay patient, it may be hard on my mental and emotional health. As

for steps in my education, I hope to do more field observation as well as have hands-on

experience with creating lessons and helping students rather than watching them. I also plan to

take the necessary courses to achieve my Master’s degree by my early to mid-twenties. I would

also like to have a second job as a part time teacher assistant, or become a regular volunteer, at

my old high school, but many factors have to be taken into account before that can be pushed

forward. The future is an interesting topic especially with education as the curriculum changes

every day and depending on the teacher.

Becoming a teacher is no easy task, nor is being a student studying to be a teacher. But

learning that I need to discipline myself and work on my patience, as well as doing more field
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observations and classes, is a pleasure to know. I also find that changing my career direction

from a doctor to a teacher earlier than later definitely helped me stay ahead and prevent any extra

costs and wasted time. From this, I was also able to conclude what behaviorism, social

reconstructionism, and constructionism was and even apply it to student learning, and even

showcase my learning strategies.