In this paper I will be detailing what I feel is my personal philosophy of education. While I was pleasantly surprised and found it interesting to see the different approaches outlined in our curriculum notes; about IE ,essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, social reconstruction, and existentialism. However, I found myself a little confused as to exactly where I stood in comparison to those very distinct models. There were parts in all of them that I disliked, however there were parts in each that I liked equally as well. The role of the learner in both the essentialist and perennialist, views has merit to me in regards to the idea that the students role should be to listen and learn. I also like the ideas in both arenas of thought that the student’s mind is referred to as “an empty jug” or a “sponge.” I love the perennialist idea of embracing the classic works, putting an emphasis on literature and art studies. I feel that these are certainly important things to use to engage the minds of our students to make them more well-rounded and aware of our history as creative humans. I cringed with the idea that learners should be thought of as “passive.” I feel that the best way to learn is through hands on interaction. This is what I like about the approaches described in the progressive, social reconstruction, and, to a point, the existential views. When learners are allowed to wrestle with an idea presented to them and to try and figure out exactly what that idea really means, I feel that it allows knowledge to really grab hold. I believe there is a radical difference, in my opinion, between actually learning a concept as opposed to simply regurgitating an idea on command. I feel that all learners are capable of learning, just not at the same pace or level. Some students will excel in the classroom, and some, unfortunately, will languish behind and struggle,