Teaching can be one of the most challenging occupations for a person to choose to do, but I believe it can be one of the most rewarding. Teaching, however, is an occupation that one can never be satisfied with, one that requires continuous drive and desire to improve, but most importantly it is one that requires a deep passion and love. This is not a passion for personal success or advancement, but rather a desire to help and assist young people to succeed; it is a desire to be a positive influence. I believe that teaching young people is more than teaching them directly from the curriculum. I believe as teachers we assume part of the very large responsibility that is preparing young people to become open minded, positive members of society, in whatever capacity that they want to be a part of it. In order to accomplish this there are a number of things that I will always have in mind as an educator.
The first aspect of my philosophy is the fact that all students can learn. I believe every student that enters a classroom has the ability to learn, and that it is up to me as a teacher to find a way to facilitate learning. I believe that all students are individuals with different learning styles, cultures, families, values, interests, and their home and school backgrounds, and all of these things need to be accounted for when planning teaching strategies for them. By utilizing a variety of activities and assessment and keeping high expectations for all students, I believe that I can create a learning environment that will be conducive to learning for all students. This is a central aspect of my philosophy because I truly believe that it is true. All students can learn, and I believe that I am responsible to find ways to reach them.
I believe that to reach each student is to place students at the center of their own learning. Student centered learning provides students with the opportunity to be active participants in their learning. Students will be able to better connect to information if it is related to their interests or if they have participated in finding the information themselves. I hope to use inquiry based learning in a way that allows students to discover and solve problems on their own in guided environment. I want to tap the creative talents and inquisitive minds of students, and as a result I hope to help these inquisitive minds foster and grow. I want student to know that they are a part of their education, I want them to take feel a sense of responsibility in their learning. By doing these things I hope that learning can become something that my students come to enjoy and look forward to. I believe that by placing students at the center of their learning they will better retain material, and be more motivated to learn.
I believe that part of preparing young people to become positive, open minded members of society is helping them to understand respect and accountability. These two concepts will be central pillars to my classroom management, and overall themes of my classroom. It is a central belief of mine that students, as young people, need to begin to understand these two concepts as they move forward in life. As a teacher I hope to build a mutual relationship with my students that is based on respect. I have to show respect to each student by understanding that they are individuals, and that they all have different needs, concerns, and interests. I want to show each student how important each and every one of them is to me by placing value in their opinions and interests. As students I expect that they respect themselves, others, the school, and me. I also want my students to understand that they will help accountable for their actions. I want them to understand that there are consequences, both positive and negative, for their actions. They will have choices, but I want them to understand that they will be held directly accountable for those choices. I think that this is a very important lesson for young people to learn because it is one that will affect them for the rest of their life.
I truly believe that teaching is one of the most rewarding occupations that a person can enter, and I trust that by always having these aspects in mind I can be an effective educator. I have a deep passion for teaching, and I believe that coupling this passion with the key philosophies above I can become a teacher who is a positive influence in the lives of young people.