Personal Philosophy
Health is more than the absence of diseases and being physically fit. It about being mentally, physically, emotionally, and socially fit. We get to healthier when we take care of our mental, spiritual, and physical when being. The state of personal health tends to change without time; however, when physical health is affected, it does not indicate that their mental health has been affected (Oermann,2017). My role is to ensure that I educate people to live a healthier life by promoting healthy living practices. Individual health is affected by their habits. An individual who smokes tends to suffer from a lot of physical damage to the lungs, especially if they smoke excessively. They also get to be emotionally affected if they become dependent on the cigarette. Teaching individuals the importance of quitting some habits help them to become healthier.
I believe in teaching individuals how to live a healthier life and, at the same time, showing them the importance. Informing people about the importance of keeping their body hydrated and quitting some habits like smoking and drinking without teaching them the importance is not significant. One cannot work without the other with the aim of ensuring that people being come healthy (Schumacher,2017). My personal philosophy of health education is that whatever decision I make today affects my wellbeing. Whether on the relationship, my nutrition, or on my spirituality, decisions tend to affect my health. Therefore, I choose not to be engaged in some activity as a means of ensuring I live a healthier life. I cannot control what my student decides to do with their body. However, I am obligated to teach them how to live healthier lives and teach them the importance.
The major strength of this philosophy is the quality of service provided to the learners. Being healthier comes about if the student is willing to change some of their habits by quitting some and adopting others. When an individual or a society is not ready to change, it is hard to achieve the goal of having a healthier individual and society even with good educators (Serrat,2018). The service provided not only ensures that the physical wellbeing but also the emotional fitness o the clients. The major weakness is that the objective cannot be attained if individuals are unwilling to change (Whitman,2018). A person can get provided with the adverse effects of indulging in certain habits, but nothing much can be done if they are unwilling to change.
Democratic leadership style is the most effective in my philosophy. The primary reason being health education and promotion is not sufficient if forced on people. An example is when one has to educate a group of people on sexually transmitted diseases and drug abuse. One cannot force people to stop engaging in unhealthy habits, like having unprotected sex (Thomas,2016). One only educates them and promotes the need for acting responsibly, but the decision is left on an individual to make. As a democratic leader, I only give directives on what is best for the mental, physical, and emotional wellbeing. It is successful since when people are given the freedom to choose, they tend to be more committed to living a healthier life than when it is forced on them. Acting as a role model is also effective because people tend to believe in what they see than what they are told.
Educating people on healthier life is one of the most fulfilling jobs. You not only get to see people change their lifestyles for the best, but you also get to learn as an educator am expected to provide solutions to my student on the various matter on helping them improve their health. I am therefore obligated to be equipped with as much knowledge as possible and be able to render my services when necessary. I have also learned that despite my teaching being beneficial to my student, I have to respect their choices when they feel they are not yet willing to change. Despite my belief in what people should do, what they should avoid, Individuals still have the right to follow or not follow my thoughts. Thus, ensuring them that they have the freedom to choose not only gives fulfillment to be but also to the students.
I look forward to growing as an educator, providing knowledge to individuals on how to live a fulfilling life. An individual choice has a lot of impact on their health, and therefore when equipped with enough knowledge, they will make a better decision that will lead to an improvement in their health and the health of those around them. Inadequate knowledge causes people to get indulged in a healthy habit that costs not only their emotions but also their physical and mental wellness (Huang,2015). I believe that through educating and promoting health, I am able to influence people to change their behavior as a means of ensuring they live a better, healthier, and fulfilling life.
References
Huang, J. L. (2015). Cultivating teacher thinking: Ideas and practice. Educational Research for Policy and Practice, 14(3), 247-257.
Oermann, M. H., De Gagne, J. C., & Phillips, B. C. (Eds.). (2017). Teaching in nursing and the role of the educator: The complete guide to best practice in teaching, evaluation, and curriculum development. Springer Publishing Company.
Schumacher, G., & Risco, K. (2017). Nurse practitioner program curriculum development: a competency-based approach. The Journal for Nurse Practitioners, 13(2), e75-e81.
Serrat, O. (2018). Personal philosophy of leadership. Unpublished manuscript, The Chicago School of Professional Psychology.
Thomas, P. A., Kern, D. E., Hughes, M. T., & Chen, B. Y. (Eds.). (2016). Curriculum development for medical education: a six-step approach. JHU Press.
Whitman, J. S., & Beeson, E. T. (2018). Developing a personal philosophy of teaching. In Preparing the Educator in Counselor Education (pp. 14-34). Routledge.
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