Focus on Learners

What Can We Learn from Students?

In this section, I explore the ways in which students have guided the formation and evolution of my teaching philosophy. I will address the ways in which placing trust in students yields powerful results that promote pedagogical growth.

Questions Considered in this Section:

o How can teachers best collaborate with students to maintain an effective pedagogy?

o In what ways can student expression and feedback be fostered in the classroom?

o What do students carry with them into the classroom every day? How can teachers recognize their funds of knowledge and accommodate their needs?

o How can educators best build relationships with students?

Takeaways from this Section:

o Students are a valuable and often under-utilized resource in the classroom.

o Building respectful, trusting, and personalized relationships with students both improves the classroom environment and creates more meaningful and effective learning.

o Recognizing privilege is essential to effective pedagogy; educators must learn empathy and activism.

o Student feedback must be an essential piece of the classroom; opportunities should always be available to students to reflect on their learning and their teacher’s pedagogy, and teachers should discuss feedback with students and adapt their methods accordingly.