Topic 1.3 - Exploring Other Education Philosophies
1.3.2: Assessing Your Personal Philosophy of Education

In Topic 2, you began developing a working philosophy of education by asking yourself questions about various aspects of teaching and learning. In the following exercise you will continue this reflective process by completing an inventory of beliefs that underpin your philosophy.

Required Exercise Exercise 1.3A: A Personal Philosophy Inventory

We each have a set of beliefs about the purpose and meaning of life, and therefore, how people learn and should be taught. What you teach, how you teach it, and the expectations you have for students will be influenced by this philosophy.

Instructions: Read each of the following statements about the nature of education. As you read each statement, determine if it truly reflects your own beliefs about teaching and learning. Decide the extent to which you agree or disagree with the statement. Use the following scale to indicate your response, then press the Submit button when done to score the Personal Philosophy Inventory and review the results.

Strongly
Agree		AgreeNeutralDisagreeStrongly
Disagree
54321
The curriculum of the schools should be subject-centered or content-centered (e.g., basic science subjects such as chemistry, anatomy, pathology, and clinical science subjects).
The teacher should be an authority figure/expert in the classroom.
The purpose of education is to prepare students for life.
Students should be permitted to determine their own curriculum.
Material is taught effectively when it is broken down into small parts.
Students learn best when there is dialogue between them and a group facilitator who is on equal status with them.
The curriculum of a school should be determined by content that is essential for all students to know.
The aim of education should be to cultivate the rational thinking abilities of students.
The curriculum should focus on problem-solving skills. Students should learn how to define, analyze, and solve problems.
Students who do not want to study should be allowed to spend their time the way they desire.
People are shaped by their environment.
Differences between students arise from their particular cultural and social situation and can be minimized as they recognize their common needs and problems.
The purpose of education is to teach students a core of knowledge that should be known by all educated persons.
Moral truths should be taught in school.
The curriculum of the school should be determined jointly by students, faculty, and other involved participants.
Reality is determined by each individual's perceptions. There is no objective and universal reality.
Programmed learning is an effective method of teaching content.
The health professions curriculum should focus on critical thinking about important social and political issues.
The student must read and master key content/material.
There exists a core of knowledge that everyone (all educated people) should know.
The curriculum of the school should be built around the personal experiences and needs of the students.
School should offer students a wide variety of curriculum options; students should have a wide range of choice.
Students learn best through reinforcement, such as points for participation in class, rewards for following rules.
Students should consider key social and cultural situations in the community in their health professions program.
The teacher is a master of various subjects.
The curriculum of the schools should focus on the great thinkers of the past.
Students should be actively engaged in experimentation and discovery.
Effective learning is unstructured and informal.
Reality is the physical world.
Health professions faculty members should begin educational planning by focusing first on social and political issues that will affect patients and society.
The curriculum should be separated into individual subject areas rather than organized as integrated disciplines. Students should study basic science separate from and before clinical practice.
Art should focus on the study of the masterpieces of the world's great artists. (Each health profession student should study the history of that specific profession's culture and history.)
The role of the teacher is to guide students in their mastery of problem-solving processes.
The purpose of school is to help students find the meaning of their existence.
People learn from their reactions to prior (external?) stimuli.
Health professions faculty members are most successful when they assist their students to develop awareness of social and political issues.
A key role of education is to preserve democracy.
An effective education is not aimed at the immediate needs of the students or society.
Art should focus on individual expression and creativity. (Students should be encouraged to express individuality and creativity.)
Individuals are basically alone, since they never truly communicate with anyone else.
The curriculum of the schools should focus on real world scientific observations and empirical laws of behavior.
Health professions faculty members should encourage students to examine their values and beliefs and to raise critical questions, especially about societal values.
Academic rigor is an essential component of education.
All students, regardless of ability, should study the same curriculum.
An effective classroom is democratic; students should have input into decision-making.
Each person has free will to develop as s/he sees fit.
The role of the teacher is to motivate students by using external reinforcement such as points for correct answers and turning in homework on time.
Students' beliefs and feelings must be brought to their awareness and become involved in their learning.
Effective schools/faculty members assign a substantial amount of homework.
Education should focus on the discussion of timeless questions such as what is beauty? or what is truth?
Students should be active participants in the learning process.
There are no external standards of beauty. Beauty is what individuals decide it to be.
There is no innate sense of guilt or right or wrong.
Health professions curriculum needs to focus on the critical examination of controversial issues.
It is the role of the teacher to communicate knowledge to the student; for example, by lecturing on subject matter.
Teacher-guided discovery or facilitation is a key method of teaching students.
The major way students learn is from each other.
It is more important for a student to develop a positive self-concept than to learn specific subject matter.
Frequent objective testing is the best way to determine what students know.
The primary role of a faculty member is to increase student awareness of social issues and to help student learn how to have an impact on health care in the community.

  

Adapted from Sadker MP, Sadker DM Teachers, schools and society, 5th ed. New York: Random House; 1999, with permission from J Ellsworth, Northern Arizona University.

Items for Radicalism adapted from Zinn L. Philosophy of Adult Education Inventory. In Darkenwald GG, Merriam SB. Adult education: Foundations of practice. New York: Harper and Row; 1982.

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