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Philosophy of Education

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Philosophy of Education
Ruth Taylor
University of Mary Washington, School of Education

Introduction My thoughts and beliefs of the purpose of education is where my philosophy of education begins. I believe that the purpose of education is to ensure that all students, regardless of their abilities, are able to gain the knowledge necessary to be productive members of society. Although I believe that higher education is extremely important, there are a great deal of students that may never be able to attend any type of higher education institution. For these students, it is imperative that we as educators teach them the basic skills in order for them to be as independent as possible after their 13 years of formal education. As educators, I believe that most of us come into the profession because we want to make a difference in the lives of young people. Our students are the future of our world. They are the generation that will make a difference. We teach so that our students will be able to reach their highest possible potential in life. Since my primary focus is in the field of special education, I feel that I have a slightly different view on the purpose of education than do my regular education counterparts. My goal is to ensure that my students will have the skills needed to accomplish all of their dreams and goals, regardless of their academic abilities. We as a society learn so that we can be productive members of society and live within the societal norms of the world. We all want to be able to interact with others, be socially active and be able to do things in our lives that are fulfilling both personally and in the workplace. As adults, we all want to be able to achieve all of our dreams and goals. In order to accomplish our dreams and goals, we must learn the skills necessary to achieve them. This is why we learn. According to John

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