Mary-Anne Hossack outlines her personal philosophy of education which is influenced by theorists such as Montessori, Dewey, Rousseau, and Freire. She believes that children are naturally curious and driven to learn. As a teacher, her role is to provide an engaging environment with hands-on materials and activities that appeal to children's senses and allow them to explore, discover, and learn through their own experiences. She thinks intrinsic motivation is more effective than extrinsic rewards, and that children should have freedom within structured limits to follow their interests and learn at their own pace.

1. Personal Philosophy of Education
Mary-Anne Hossack
u1067240
Due Date: 13/10/2014
Subject: EDC1300

2. “Tell me and I forget. Show me and I remember. Involve me and I understand.” – Chinese Proverb
I believe children are naturally driven to learn and inquire, I believe they feel connected to
everything and are naturally caring to each other and the world around them. I believe they need to
build on their physical experiences of the world through their senses and that by providing
interesting materials which the children are drawn to experiment with, they will extend their
understanding. I believe that education in both informal and formal settings is essential to a child’s
well being and provides the opportunity to capitalise on an innate curiosity about the world around
them.
It is the role of the teacher to prepare an environment rich in tasks and activity which appeal
to a variety of learning styles and cater for the diverse needs of each child. The activities must
capture their attention and excite their senses. It is vital for educators to recognise the strengths in
each individual and to continually challenge and motivate them without disturbing or interrupting
them during their explorations. It is of equal importance for educators to recognise the varying
supports and challenges in each child’s life both within and outside of the classroom, and then
understand how these might impact on the overall wellbeing of the child.
In relation to my role as a teacher, I believe that it is vital to provide my students with
experiences that use their natural affinity to order, their curiosity and propensity to explore and
discover to deliver outcomes that give real results and builds on their need to understand and their
desire to know. It is my primary objective as a teacher to help the children learn to do it for
themselves. The intentions behind my teaching approach are shaped by human development
theorist Montessori. Montessori, a doctor of medicine, based her work on her observations of
children she had gathered from the streets of Italy and experimentation with the environment,
materials, and lessons made available to them.
In consideration to how children learn, I am a firm believer that children learn by being
actively involved in exploration and discovery. In order for this to occur, the experiences and tasks
must be relevant and appealing. John Dewey a philosopher known for linking his work on
democracy to the classroom...argues that in order for education to be most effective, content must
be presented in a way that allows the student to relate the information to prior experiences, thus
deepening the connection with this new knowledge. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Dewey)
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3. Before either of these theorists captured attention for their ideas and practises Jean-Jacques
Rousseau had already shared his ideas of allowing children to learn experiences and consequences.
Although Rousseau had fairly rigid ideas for female children, I believe this was more a reflection of
social and political environment of the time. Rousseau’s theory, when taken in a more general view,
is not without merit even today. By allowing children to learn from the consequences of their
actions, rather than extrinsic punishments, the children’s natural desire for success and order will
continue to motivate the student to perform, explore and discover and be rewarded intrinsically .
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Jacques_Rousseau#Education_and_child_rearing)
Mary Wollstonecraft did not support Rousseau’s theory due to the non-feminist belief of his
confinement of women and their roles which may or may not have been appropriate for the 18th
century. In today’s society with wider political acceptance and significant changes in Western
culture we shouldn’t disregard Rousseau’s theory to ensure that children are provided with the
opportunity to learn a skill or trade and to learn in an environment that best delivers to the
outcomes being sought. (http://www.biography.com/people/mary-wollstonecraft-9535967)
In practise this means that I must prepare a classroom environment with materials and
activities that entice the students to learn. New lessons and challenges will be guided, but it is the
child’s interaction with what the environment has to offer that enables learning to occur. This is
especially true in preschool and primary school environments. The challenges in the upper end
learning spectrum is lessened because the way we already provide these students with opportunity
to research and work on major projects is designed to help the student do it for himself.
I don’t believe that as a teacher I should be the focus of attention, I believe my role within
the class is to observe the students as they work and to make notations for assessments and
reporting about their progress. I believe in consulting with an individual or groups to assist them
with their work but not to necessarily provide the answers but the tools, resources and confidence
to find the answers they seek. This means that the children are free to move about the classroom to
seek out what interests them, to work with materials, to research, experiment and discover within a
space they are comfortable in.
Freire’s theory of not simply filling a student with information by a teacher but to treat the
child as an active learner, involved in their education is also aligned to Dewey and his belief that
education was a vehicle of social change. My take from both these theorists is that the child is not a
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4. vessel to be filled but should be granted the supported freedom to explore and discover the worlds
wonders in a safe environment in a way that prepares them for society.
Unlike AS Neil, who did not believe in providing the motivation or attracting children to
learning but rather allowing the child’s interest to dictate the learning, I believe that as a teacher I
should provide the children with materials that are attractive and capture their attention so as to
ignite their interest and curiosity. I also believe that the boundaries set by the environment, which is
created and prepared by the teacher, assists the child in learning and accepting the boundaries set in
society at large.
Although Skinner believed the child should be actively involved in each step of the acti vity
presented by a teacher he manipulated behaviour through extrinsic reward rather than the building
on the child’s desire. Skinner noted that; “to acquire behavior, the student must engage in
behavior” (Skinner, 1961, p. 389). I do not subscribe to the belief that if you simply change the
behaviour you make incremental gains in the child’s education. I believe that the extrinsic rewards
we provide children is over used to such a degree that the children either no longer desire s the
reward (or fear the punishment) or that they have such a preset expectation of being rewarded that
they will not work without getting something they value out of the experience. I do not believe in
rewarding appropriate behaviour with stickers and stars. I believe that these types of rewards create
external motivation that can lead to passive adults who are dependent on others for everything
from their self-image to the permission to follow their dreams. I believe we should teach children to
reflect upon their behaviour and its influence on the world around them. By teaching children be
proud of their accomplishments, instead of the praise and approval of others, they learn to find their
rewards within themselves.
Within the classroom I will have children working on different concepts at the level that
challenges them, and yet is not frustrating. I believe that when a child is working like this, they are
more engaged and focused. This leads to a deeper understanding of the concepts and less boredom
or frustration that can result in inappropriate behaviours. I believe that children have a choice this
doesn't mean that the child has freedom to colour all day, or choose not to do math, but it does
mean that I must work with each child to cover the standards in ways that are the most meaningful
to them. Unless a child is abusing a material, or does not understand what a material is teaching
them, each child has a choice as to what they use. This "choice" is what helps to empower them to
take responsibility for their own education.
Mary-Anne Hossack
u1067240 EDC1300 13/10/2014

5. As the teacher I will lead information sessions but these are not scheduled to interrupt a
child’s concentration or working activity. The observations I make during these sessions allow me to
plan how to best provide for the children and the stages they are at; meaning I can manipulate the
environment to ensure key learning outcomes are met to the prescribed standards without the
pressure being placed on the children. I do not believe that all the children need to be on the same
page on the same day. I believe the fast learner should be able to move through at his pace while
giving the child who takes more time the uninterrupted time to learn the lesson. I believe there is
great power in allowing the child to complete a task rather than setting a time within my plans as a
teacher so that another task can be started. I believe incompletion has a negative effect on the
child’s ability to learn. I do not believe that children gain great benefit of learning through
incompletion.
In determining my personal philosophy, I have read and tried to learn from the theorists, I
have used my experiences in the practical application of my philosophy both before beginning this
course and since and I have tried to observe the impacts I have had as a teacher until now. In using
all of this I am confident that my belief that children are good and need to be provided with a safe,
engaging and orderly environment to question, explore and discover the wonders of the world
including its beauty and challenges in a way that capitalises on an inherent need for knowledge and
an intrinsic motivation to succeed.
Mary-Anne Hossack
u1067240 EDC1300 13/10/2014

6. References
Biography.com,. (2014).
Retrieved 11 October 2014, from http://www.biography.com/people/mary-wollstonecraft-9535967
Delaney, J. (2005). Rousseau, Jean-Jacques. Internet Encyclopedia Of Philosophy.
Retrieved from http://www.iep.utm.edu/rousseau/
Lewis, M. Perspectives in education (1st ed.).
Montessori, M. (1967). The Absorbent Mind (1st ed.). New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
Montessori.org.au,. (2014).
Montessori Australia. Retrieved 11 October 2014, from http://montessori.org.au
Skinner, B. (1960). Teaching Machines. The Review Of Economics And Statistics, 42(3), 189.
doi:10.2307/1926170
Summerhillschool.co.uk,. (2014).
A.S Neill - A.S Neill's Summerhill School. Retrieved 11 October 2014, from
http://www.summerhillschool.co.uk/asneill.php
Wikipedia,. (2014).
Constructivism (philosophy of education). Retrieved 11 October 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Constructivism_%28philosophy_of_education%29
Montessori Education. Retrieved 11 October 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montessori_education
Paulo Freire.
Retrieved 11 October 2014, from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paulo_Freire#Banking_model_of_education
Mary-Anne Hossack
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