Philosophy Statement
An education is one of the most important things than any human can have. It can provide people with the foundation for a successful career, it can inspire a lifetime dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge, or it can even provide happiness at simply knowing things about the world. Essentially, I believe that an education is one of the stepping stones to a fulfilling life. It is the role of schooling to provide our youth with the education to jump start them on the paths to their adult lives.
In this lifelong journey that is an education, it is the role of the teacher to lead and guide students along the way. A teacher is not there simply to give students information and to allow them to do what they choose with it. A teacher’s job is to provide the groundwork for a student’s own personal exploration and to help guide the student as they are discovering new things and learning. Therefore, it is a teacher’s role to be a mentor; to lead and to provide guidance as students learn, not merely to provide students with information that is meaningless to them. Education is a personal journey and it should be the teacher’s role to be the tour guide.
I’ve always thought that the teaching of history and the social sciences in general, has often been a neglected subject. Throughout my entire educational career, as well as during the education of the generation before me, there has been a strong emphasis upon math and science education. Not that those subjects are not important, for they certainly are. I feel as though history has often been pushed to the side and seen by many, particularly students of history, to be a pointless subject. I cannot remember how many times I have heard the words “why is this important?” while a teacher was discussing Manifest Destiny or the Sugar Act. I think it will be one of my goals as an educator to show my students exactly why history is an important subject. History has always been important to me and I have always had a passion for learning about the past. Throughout my career, if I can instill that passion and love for history in only one student, then I feel that my career will have been worthwhile. I understand that not all students will love history and I accept that fact. But that does not mean that I will idly sit by while my students coast through their history class. As an educator I intend to show my students how history is still relevant to us today and why it is worthy of being studied.
I feel as though effective teaching practices vary from teacher to teacher as well as school to school. But drawing upon my personal teaching experience thus far, I think I have a good idea as to how to effectively teach history. As a high school student history was often a class that involved taking notes off an overhead while the teacher lectured. Although this was an effective means of learning for me, for many students it is not. In order to ensure that my teaching is as effective as possible I hope to keep my classroom based around student centered activities intertwined with class discussions about the activities. Much of my teaching experience thus far has been based upon student activities and they almost always seem to receive a positive response from the students in two ways. Not only are the students actively engaged in their own education and enjoying the activity, but they are also learning a great deal of information while having fun. Fun is often considered a forbidden word in school and I could not disagree more. Students can still learn while having fun and I think that student centered activities and class discussions are enjoyable and highly valuable and I hope to employ them whenever possible throughout my career.
There is no ideal model of a “good” teacher and I believe that many different types of teachers can be “good” at what they do. However, I do believe that there are certain things that teachers can do to help them to be the best teacher they can be. A teacher, first and foremost, needs to know their content area like the back of their hand. A teacher cannot effectively teach if they aren’t as knowledgeable as they can be in their content area. In addition, a teacher needs to be personable. Students and other teachers need to feel comfortable to approach a teacher and to ask them a question or to simply start a conversation. By being personable it can aid in the creation of a comfortable classroom atmosphere, which I feel is very conducive to learning. Finally, a “good” teacher needs to know how to adapt. Things change very quickly in the classroom and a teacher needs to be able to quickly address those changes and adapt to them. These three qualities, although simple, are what I feel are some of the most important attributes to being a “good” teacher.
Just as there is no ideal model of a “good” teacher, I also feel that there is no ideal model of a “good” student. However, there are certain things that I feel students can do to help them get the most out of their education. The first is to attend school everyday. A student cannot expect to learn to their full potential if they are not in school. Secondly, I feel that a “good” student is someone who is constantly digging deeper into a subject to try and get the most out of class as they can. This can be accomplished through something as simple as asking questions during class, or it can be as extreme as going home and researching a topic that was introduced in school that intrigues them. Finally, I think that a “good” student is simply someone who does not take their education for granted. There are many students who simply sit through school everyday just because they feel that they are being forced to attend. I think that students should be grateful for the education they are receiving and try to make the most of it.
The relationship between teacher and students can be something that can make or break a school year for both the teacher and students. I think that the teacher-student relationship should be open and friendly while maintaining respectful boundaries. I had many teachers in high school that I was openly friendly with outside of class and would often go to them just to waste some time talking to them. These teachers were often my favorites and their classes were the classes that I often learned the most from. I think that when students feel comfortable with a teacher and are able to approach them to talk about anything, then it creates a mutual respect amongst them and allows both the teacher and student to do their job with more ease and effectiveness. Although it is nice to be on friendly terms with a teacher, this does not mean that the teacher-student boundaries are eliminated. There must always be boundaries to ensure that school maintains its professional atmosphere, but I believe it is possible to be friendly with students while maintaining this professionalism.
As a teacher I hope to have high expectations for my students. Although they cannot be too high, I feel that having somewhat high expectations for my students may help them to perform better in hopes of attaining the goals that I have set for them. I find assessment to be a necessary thing in schools, but I am not always a fan of the traditional form of assessment. During most of my history classes I have been assessed based upon my performance on objective tests and essay questions. Although I feel essays can be effective in some situations and with some students, I think that there are other ways to assess students that should be employed. I think that projects or presentations are an extremely effective method of assessment that is not used as much as it should be in history classrooms. It is my hope that as a teacher I can find a balance between objective tests and creative projects for my students. By assessing my students using varying methods it will also allow them to be able to be assessed on some of their strengths if a particular student may not be the best test taker. This will hopefully help all my students to achieve the highest grades possible for them. When grading my students I need to make sure that I am being fair and giving appropriate grades to students based upon their performance on the assessment. As a new teacher I think finding an appropriate grading style and knowing when to give high or low grades will be one of my hardest tasks. However, I feel that grades are something that should be taken seriously and I need to ensure that I always grade students appropriately.
Becoming a teacher is, in my opinion, one of the most respectable career paths that anyone can take. I have had a multitude of teachers who have helped to shape me into the person that I am today and it is my aspiration that someday I can have the same impact upon another child that my teachers once had upon me.