My Teaching Philosophy

The ancient philosophers, like Pythagoras and Nichomachus, defined philosophy as the love of wisdom, with wisdom being the truths about things. My philosophy of teaching centers around the discovering, understanding, and sharing of truth. It may not be earth-shattering to find out that “ten minus eleven is negative one”, but it is true. Science and mathematics offer a chance for a person to learn how to discover, organize, and deal with truths.

I see teaching—and therefore, learning—as a many-faceted activity, much like solving a Rubik’s Cube. The different colors on the different sides must be aligned and oriented properly to reach the desired solution. If no care is given to how the pieces are combined, a literal mess results. Similarly, I believe there are many facets of teaching that need to be treated simultaneously. These facets of teaching/learning include the teacher, the students, the personal life of each student, the physical facility, the curriculum, the community, and the desires, goals and expectations that accompany all of the stakeholders involved.

When a part of any one of these elements is out of place, it automatically affects at least one of the other components. Only a partial solution of the puzzle is possible if one of the facets is ignored. It is my belief that if learning does not take place, that I have not taught. I can make plans and attempts at teaching, but if the knowledge and skills I am trying to impart to the students entrusted to my stewardship do not take root and begin to change their lives (or at least their perspectives) then I do not feel like I have “taught”. To me, teaching and learning are two sides of the same coin.

I try hard to respect my students and their efforts—to help give them an incentive to respect what I am going to tell them or lead them through. Without this trust and respect, learning (and therefore teaching) is hard to come by. I enjoy teaching. It makes me feel good to watch someone recognize a truth or gain a new skill. I believe that everyone can learn. Personal individuality allows for differences in pacing and styles of intelligence from person to person, but everyone—who is willing—can be taught.

The raw materials for teaching are important, like pencils, paper and textbooks, but I believe that a person has to be mentally prepared to learn, as well. Much like a computer memory must be formatted before data can be written to it; the mind of a learner must be formatted as well. I can help with some of this formatting, but some of it needs to come from you. You have to decide to be ready to receive knowledge and truth as they burst onto the scene. I once asked a student, whose truck engine had died several dozen feet from the driveway of the school parking lot, “I can push or steer, which one are you going to do?” If I am prepared, I can teach anyone who will let me. It is up to me to learn as much as I can about the subjects I will teach. It is also my charge to learn as many different ways as I can to present the things I teach. Since individual learners are different, they may need different access points to the field of knowledge. I have a responsibility to try and make truth accessible to many different people. I believe it is a matter of personal integrity for me to do my best to be there when the learner appears.

I do not expect to be perfect; making and learning from mistakes is an important part of the learning process for me as well as for my students. Taking that look inside myself to see where I need to improve can be just as scary for me as it is for my students to take the risks of learning. To move out of the zone of “things I can do without any trouble” into the region of “things I might need help with in order to do right” is what learning and teaching are all about.

I teach because I want to, and I teach so that I can help. At the risk of sounding like a comic book cliché, I feel a sense of duty to use my powers for the cause of all that is good. On my toughest days, I picture myself wielding a sword in the never-ending battle against ignorance and apathy. I firmly believe that I have the ability to shape a significant part of tomorrow by training its heroes today. I feel a great sense of duty to bring my students to treasure truth, to engender trust and respect, and to help others overcome misconceptions and difficulties by sharing solutions to problems that exist now as well as new challenges that will arise.

Education is a powerful liberating force. It was said by Nichomachus, that happiness—the most worthy and fitting goal a man can reach for in life—can only be achieved if one can quantify and systematize the qualities of all things. This means, to me, that I teach in order to share happiness. I am happy and want to help others to be happy.

I have been helped, I can share and I will teach.