Educational Philosophy - Research Paper Example

Pre-service Teaching By analyzing and studying numerous studies, it has been found that there is a strong impact of cultural norms on the developmentof individuals’ personality. The only species who created culture are humans and therefore the family environment and other cultural characteristics influence strongly on the behaviour and mentality of child. The culture of not having or having pre-service teaching systems impacts the mental and behaviour development of child to a great extent. Several theorists have provided different essential requirements of pre-service teaching.

Lev Vygotsky and the concepts of Pre-Service Theory From all of the theories presented about pre-service teacher, the most common and well known theories are that of Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934). Lev Vygotsky was an educational theorist, who has presented numerous theories about the impact of culture on child’s mental and behavioural development. He also presented ideas about pre-service teachers. According to him, students should be inspired and motivated enough to present their own creativity and knowledge in their writings.

He further states that the person who is interacting with child has most of the responsibility for problem solving but slowly and gradually his responsibilities transfer to the child. Example: If the theory of Lev Vygotsky is implemented in the premises of today’s classrooms, then it can bring profound changes. Children must be allowed to utilize their own thoughts and creativity, be it in art work, writing or any other intellectual activity. In extra-curricular activities, children should be encouraged to bring those projects which reflect any notion of their immediate culture or background in order to value diversity in classroom.

David Kolb and Pre-Service TheoryKolb (1984) stated that effective pre-service teachers need to have ability in four different areas; observation, experience, conceptualization and experimentation. Kolb (1984) states that teachers need to openly and fully involve themselves in providing new experiences to the students. Teachers need to present and reflect these experiences from several different perspectives, in other words, teachers should provide reflective observation. They must also conceptualize those observations with supportive logics and facts.

At the end, they should use these concepts for problem solving and decision making which is the fourth component, namely experimentation. Example: After the students bring in projects or related material about their respective culture, the duty of teachers start. Teachers should acknowledge other students about each student’s culture. They should pick the best projects on the basis of concepts and along with the respective student; they should present it in front of the class. Bandura’s Theory about Pre-Service TeachingBandura (1993, 1997) suggests that beliefs of pre-service teachers about executing the Culturally Responsive Teaching (CRT) can have positive outcomes and can also predict if these CRT techniques are implemented in the class or not.

Self Efficacy theory of Bandura (1997) is all about beliefs system and its requirements in yielding given attainments. (Bandura, 1997, p.3)Overall, it can be noted that most theorists have highlighted the importance of pre-service teaching as an integral part in yielding positive outcomes. It has also been proven by experimentation therefore it should be made as an essential component of today’s educational system. Example: According to this theory, teacher should validate the best concepts through their own experiences.

They should provide students awareness about the uniqueness of each concept, only if they are thought provoking for students. ReferencesKolb Learning Style. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.businessballs.com/kolblearningstyles.htmPedagogy is just common sense? (2011). Retrieved from http://elasjolie.com/2011/02/10/the-vygotskian-sledgehammer/ Lev Vygotsky and Social Cognition. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.funderstanding.com/content/vygotsky-and-social-cognition