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My Philosophy of Education by Richard Whittington

I started my education in Robinson Texas, a suburb of Waco Texas. I began in the first grade at Robinson Elementary. They did not have kindergarten as part of the school curriculum there. As most of us, I continued my primary education until I graduated in 1974 at Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois. What makes this journey unique is that I attended ten different schools for the twelve years of education. I attended the same school in grades 4 and 5 but I attended two schools in grade 6. I attended the same junior high school but different schools for each year of high school. It is the later that I feel has developed some of my philosophy in education. I attended the 10th and 11th grade at different schools but both in Memphis Tennessee. I attended the 12th grade at Centennial High School in Champaign, Illinois. The contrast in the curriculum in these two states were tremendous. In Memphis, in order to graduate, I needed 4 credits in English, 4 credits in Mathematics, ½ credit in Physical Education and ½ credit in Army R.O.T.C. (Reserve Officer Training Corp). When I transferred to Illinois, I found I only needed ½ credit in English, ½ credit in Math but I needed 4 credits in Physical Education. Fortunately for me I enjoyed R.O.T.C. and attended a full year as an elective. I was allowed a waiver on my PE credits because of this or else I would have needed to participate in two PE classes in my senior year. As I look back on this incident, I find this unacceptable. Although, the federal government does leave the details of the state’s education curriculum to the states. I feel there should be an overall guideline that all states need to follow. So that future transfer students will not need to adjust their personal goals because of difference in a state’s education priorities. After all, the purpose of

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