MY PHILOSOPHY OF EDUCATION
By Mauro Bressi
Education is the deliberate attempt
to form men and women in terms of an ideal.
–Robert M.
Hutchins
Teaching is the noblest of professions. It has the power to form lives and affect society. And so teachers have a great moral and human responsibility. Their immediate goal, so to speak, is to foster the good citizen, humanistically, vocationally, as well as civically. And their ultimate goal is to create the good society. To teach, then, requires the greatest of qualities: wisdom and virtue. But teaching is not just the province of teachers; parents, school administrators, community leaders, as well as teachers must all join hands in the development of our children into ideal men and women and our society into the good society. In the words of an African proverb, “it takes a village” to achieve the goals of education. We are all equally at the heart of the educational enterprise.
In every child there is the potential for greatness. In every child there is the possibility of attaining the American dream. In every child there is the mystery and wonder of untold and undiscovered talents and ideas. These must be the precepts of our educational village. We must all, first, believe in and dedicate ourselves to fulfilling the unique promise of every child in our care.
Parents must recognize the miracle of their children’s being and provide them with the love and nurturing that gives them confidence and a positive sense of self. They must believe in them. With that given, they may rest secure in their children’s venturing abroad, for they will have given them the very foundation of their life’s journey. Then, they must closely participate in their education --at home, in the community, and at school.
School administrators must provide the leadership and vision that knits our educational village into one fabric, a living map giving us a well-defined purpose and direction. They must mentor and support teachers so that they may succeed. They must involve parents and encourage their counsel. They must reach out to community leaders and employ their expertise. They must design a school in which students feel safe, happy and interested.
Community leaders must shepherd a society that gives children hope and promises them a future. Also, they must connect with our schools and offer them opportunities for cooperative programs. Their resources are great, varied, and instructive; they should be made available to help extend the reach of our children and broaden the scope of our schools.
Although we are all teachers in some sense, teaching as a profession is a special calling. Teachers must desire as a matter of course to develop in themselves those attributes of being the sages of history have exemplified: knowledge, patience, compassion, imagination, character, authority, and ethics. Moreover, they must take pleasure in what they do and be life-long learners in their own interest and in the interest of motivating their charges by example.
The education of our children is a profound endeavor. Their future and the future of our society are at stake. We must value both futures dearly, as we would our own. Whatever they and our society become is what we envision and teach them. It is crucial, then, that we be wise and virtuous and together envision an ideal worthy of our children.
Mauro
Bressi
Edward R. Murrow