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Educational Philosophy
Kristy Hennessey
Florida Gulf Coast University
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In every aspect of life people have a philosophy. As a teacher, it is very important for one
to have an educational philosophy. A philosophy is defined as the “basic beliefs, concepts, and
attitudes of an individual or group “ (Merriam-Webster, 2011, para. 4). Teachers have certain
beliefs and concepts that they apply in their classrooms on a daily basis. From classroom
management, to teaching strategies, to student expectation, and even parent involvement teachers
have certain philosophies that they apply. There are many places that a teacher could draw their
philosophies on education from, but most commonly they come from contemporary
philosophies. Personally, as I prepare to become a future teacher, I have drawn many
expectations from the contemporary philosophies on what my own personal education
philosophies will be, as well as how my classroom will run. As a future teacher of children with
autism I have drawn expectations for my classroom and my own philosophy from the
philosophies of B.F. Skinner and Montessori.
One contemporary philosophy, which I have drawn expectations for my future classroom
from, is the philosophy from B.F. Skinner. B.F. Skinner was the creator of the operant
conditioning philosophy. The philosophy of operant conditioning states that “behavior is
followed by a consequence, and the nature of the consequence modifies the organisms tendency
to repeat the behavior in the future” (Boeree, n.d., para. 9). Basically, when a person sees that a
certain behavior results in a particular consequence they will either proceed with that behavior or
change it, depending on the outcome. Operant conditioning is a process in which behavior is
modified by using positive and negative reinforcements (Operant Conditioning, n.d., para. 5).
When a child has a good behavior they are given a positive reinforcement after the behavior, and
when they have a bad behavior they are given a negative reinforcement. For example, if a child
sits quietly in their seat without causing disruptions during a lesson a teacher would give them a
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gold star sticker after, letting them know that they have done a good job. From there the child
will know that they should always do that behavior. The idea of operant conditioning focuses on
the behaviors of students.
The philosophy of Skinner will work perfectly within my future class. I plan to base my
own behavior philosophy off of his. As a teacher of children with autism this philosophy will
frequently come into play. Often children with autism have behavior issues and the work of B.F.
Skinner will allow me to help keep those behaviors under control. When a child in my class has a
good behavior I can positively reward then for doing the proper behavior, which will allow them
to know that they should always act in that manner. Skinners philosophy will also help with
implementing my classroom management rules and procedures. I plan on using the philosophy
on Skinner when presenting my rules and procedures to my students. When my students
correctly follow the rules and procedures, I will reward them positively. This will help them to
correctly understand the way the class will work.
Another philosopher that I parallel my own future teaching philosophy with is
Montessori. Maria Montessori had a very interesting approach to the idea of education. Her
philosophy was “seeing children as they really are and of creating environments which
foster the fulfillment of their highest potential” (The Montessori Method, n.d., para. 1).
Basically she believed that students need to be left to learn how they want to learn and when
they want to learn, it is their journey. In a Montessori classroom children are left to learn as they
please, it is open and inviting, they are small class sizes, and there are children of all different
ages. Montessori has many aspects to her philosophy such as multi-aged grouping that is based
on development, the prepared environment, and small class sizes, in addition to many others
(Stephenson, 2010, para. 1-7). For example, she believed that there should be a prepared
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environment for students should not be handed the work, the teacher should readily have it
prepared in the room, and that there should no grades (Stephenson, 2010, para. 60). Montessori
had a very unique look at teaching.
The works and ideas of Montessori would definitely play into my classroom. In a
classroom for children with autism many aspects of this philosophy would parallel greatly. I plan
to set up my classroom with aspects of Montessori’s philosophy. I plan to use her idea of work
centers in my class. Using work centers will allow autistic children to have specific areas for
certain types of work and that is good for these children. Also implemented in my classroom will
be small class sizes and I will have children of all grade levels based on their developmental
level. My classroom will also be a prepared environment allowing the children to continue to
work without having to be handed the lessons by me. Lastly my class will be based greatly off of
human tendencies. Students will be allowed to learn, explore, make their own decisions, and use
their imagination.
There are many contemporary education philosophies out there. Personally for my future
classroom and my own personal education philosophy I plan to take concepts from the works of
both B.F. Skinner and Maria Montessori. I plan to use these concepts and my own philosophy to
reach the positive expectations I have for my classroom. As a teacher, one must have their own
educational philosophy that they apply to their classroom. My philosophy will parallel with that
of Skinner and Montessori.
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Resources
B. F. Skinner. (n.d.). B. F. Skinner. Retrieved from
http://webspace.ship.edu/cgboer/skinner.html
Montessori Philosophy and Practice, Age 3-12 , - text. (n.d.). Montessori Philosophy and
Practice, Age 3-12 , - Text. Retrieved from
http://www.michaelolaf.net/1CW312MI.html
Operant Conditioning (Skinner). (n.d.). Learning Theories. Retrieved from
http://www.learning-theories.com/operant-conditioning-skinner.html
Philosophy. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/philosophy
The Montessori Method. (n.d.). The Montessori Method. Retrieved from
http://www.montessori.edu/method.html