Philosophy of Education My philosophy of education is student-centered; The better a teacher knows his or her students, the more effectively he or she can adapt pedagogical strategies to meet their needs, abilities, and goals. Students can help define the content, pace, starting point, end point (i.e. goal), and teaching style a teacher selects that are most relevant and engaging for them. When a student is involved or included in a lesson, he is more responsive: he wants to participate actively because he has some interest in his learning. However, children are not taught in a vacuum, nor is learning limited to the confines of a classroom. There are many external influences that impact students that also need to be taken into account when making pedagogical choices, for example ethnicity, politics, environment and religion. Not all students are the same; they vary in age, gender, knowledge, skills and past experience. Amid all these differences there are underlying commonalities that help establish the framework of my educational philosophy. Looking back on more positive learning experiences, I realize that I was more active and responsive to lessons when teachers made an effort to engage students and personalize the task at hand level. I remember my first grade teacher starting a lesson on vowels by writing them on the board for illustration and reference; then ask each student to say their name and say or list the vowels in it. With each identification he indicated the corresponding vowel on the board. The class became excited as each student took their turn and was cheered. There were commonalities and personalization that captivated the students. When my turn came I was perplexed and a little hesitant; my name is... in the middle of the paper..., K., McClelland, A., & Safford, P. (2011). Human diversity in education: A cross-cultural approach (7th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw Hill.Freiberg, H.J. (ed.). (1999). Beyond behaviorism: Changing the classroom management paradigm. Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Freiberg, H. J., & Driscoll, A. (2004). Universal teaching strategies (4th ed.). Boston, MA: Allyn and Bacon. Rogers, C., & Freiberg, H. J. (in press). Freedom to learn (4th ed.). New York, NY: Merrill.Sheets, R. (2009). What is diversity pedagogy? Multicultural Education, 16(3), 11-17. Retrieved from the Education Full Text database. Weinberger, E., & McCombs, B. (2001). The impact of student-centered practices on the academic and non-academic outcomes of elementary and high school students. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association, Seattle, WA.