My Philosophy of Teaching
Here I will include my personal philosophy of teaching. My personal philosophy of teaching is that all students have a right to education. There is no exclusion in that--ALL students mean all people of any age, ethnicity, race, status, sexuality, and so on. Everyone has a right to be educated and our country is built on the concept of freedom, which is something that must be taught and passed on through each and every generation. All students have the capacity to learn no matter what difficulties in life they face. Abled students are not the only ones who can be taught. Neurotypical students are not the only ones who can be taught.
I believe that it is my job to help coach your child, to be their mentor while they learn, and not just shove information down their throat and shove them out the door. I do not want your child to leave my classroom until they understand the concepts presented within this classroom. I want to help your children become informed citizens in this world. I want to help them learn how to access this world, how to live within it, and how to obtain the skills they need to become smarter, informed citizens who will go on to do wonderful things within their life. I do not just want to teach the next president, I want to teach the next janitors, the next scientists, the next athletes, the next artists, the next writers, the next citizens. All people are welcome and needed and all can benefit from education.
When detailing how one believes that students should be taught, one should always start with the basics: What do they believe students are? In my belief, students are individuals who learn, who create, and who define what education is. This means that I, as a teacher, would not be one who directly teaches, but more so one who allows students the opportunity and the resources to learn for themselves while guiding them and mentoring them along the way. Teaching strictly to the material is, in my opinion, holding students back. In the words of Paulo Freire, “Any situation in which some individuals prevent others from engaging in the process of inquiry is one of violence. The means used are not important; to alienate human beings from their own decision-making is to change them into objects.” I wholeheartedly agree because students are not objects that suck up knowledge but rather whole individuals who, with a little help and guidance, learn what is necessary to exist and thrive in this ever-changing world. I believe that if students are to learn, I must first be able to do it myself, to give them something to jump off from. This means doing the assignments the same as they do, actively engaging with the students, and allowing them a voice in the process of studying.
Students must be taught how to learn, how to use critical thinking skills, to read; After that, they are no longer being taught but rather being led to information and given help on how to absorb and process it. We can show them how but we cannot understand it for them.
Students must be, first and foremost, human beings who are allowed their own opinions, their own understandings, and we must motivate and encourage students to dig deep into their learning by making meaning of what it means to them.
As a teacher, my role should be second place to that of students. I am to exist, to lead, to explain, but I am also to be part of the background, a voice of reason, a shoulder for students to come to when they need it. I must remember that it is not merely me who teaches in the classroom: Students come with their own knowledge, their own backstories, their own understandings, and these add to the classroom rather than detract.