Our
Philosophy of Education
by Marlene Lacey and Larry Burt
- We believe that the focus of education should be on learning, not teaching. This does
not diminish teaching, or remove the teacher or reduce his/her responsibility, it just
changes what we view as the focus of the education process.
- We believe that learning is most effective and efficient when the learner is actively
involved in that learning, and not a passive observer.
- We believe that students, in general, are more capable than we give them credit for.
- We believe that students should be responsible for a good portion of their learning.
- We believe that each student learns in their own way and at their own pace. One of our
ongoing problems is to operationalize this belief in the learning situation.
- We believe that we are preparing the learner for the world, and therefore what we set
as goals and how we achieve them should be a reflection of that world; past, present and
foreseeable
future. Technology is a part of the world and therefore should be a part of the learning
environment.
- We think that we do our students no favour when we dictate the time of year, month,
week and day that we are prepared to be involved in the learning process. We feel the best
learning should not be constrained by these factors, but should, at least
in part, be dictated by the situation the learner is in and what he/she needs to know at
that moment.
- We feel that the best learning is achieved when the activity is as realistic as
possible, whenever possible. There are certainly conditions which force us to use other
approaches, but we should try as much as possible to move as close as possible to the
Concrete end of the Abstract-Concrete continuum.
- We believe that all stakeholders (parents, students, teachers and administrators)
should be involved in ongoing participation in designing, implementing and evaluating
learning. These same people should take part in establishing the "rules" of
behaviour for all participants in the learning environment.
- We believe that if there are difficulties in a learning system, everyone has a stake
in solving the problems, openly, honestly, fairly and seriously.
- We believe that all children are not created equal. That we, as adults, should
therefore accept and celebrate each child as a unique individual and should encourage
others to do the same. Learners, while accepting and using their unique strengths, should
try to build or improve in areas of weakness and we should help them. Risk taking is part
of this growth.
- We believe that every learner should be encouraged and given every opportunity to gain
as much from education as they can. Teachers and students should be partners in this
activity.
- We believe that if what we try to teach is relevant and of interest, learners will pay
attention. The attention span of the learner is probably not the problem many teachers
claim it is.
- We believe that there should be definite goals and objectives that guide learning.
These objectives should include standards of acceptable performance.
- We believe that there should be confirmation of learning. Evaluation should be both
formative and summative. "Testing" should be fair, reasonable, as objective as
possible and should be a guide to further learning as well as an indication of how far the
learner has come. Feedback should be early and helpful to both the learner and the
teacher.
- We wonder at the historical tendency, in education, to treat educational solutions as
dichotomies when we are searching for the magic bullet that will solve the problems of
teachers who cannot teach or children who cannot learn. We believe that teaching and
learning are not simple activities that lend themselves to simple or monolithic solutions
or approaches. Every tool or scrap of knowledge we have about learning should be at our
disposal and acceptable to use, whenever we need them. The adoption of single fads or
approaches unnecessarily limits the ability of all of those in the learning environment to
survive. (eg. golf, mechanic, doctor etc.). The answer to arguments in education about
which method is better, should be resolved by answering that both are probably correct in
suitable circumstances. Teaching and learning are as complex as unknown solar systems.
- Teaching and learning are a blend of art and science, theory and practice,
"magic" and luck.
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