“Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.”
-William Butler Yeats
Content is secondary in education. That is what our pails are for; to fill with content, but we should be quick to recognize that not every student has the same pail. Some have holes, some do not have a handle. Worst of all, when it rains, they fill before we have even had a chance to share any content.
My teaching philosophy is the fire, and my students are the ones who will light it. The goal is for students not to necessarily be drenched with information from their various courses, but rather to develop a strong relationship with the content areas, so that they have a positive foundation to pursue further education in as many areas as they want. We can achieve this by following three principles:
1. Telling Stories
The classroom must be fun and engaging to encourage students to have stories about the classes. These are stories that they will share with their friends, families, and maybe even their colleagues in the future. It is an ambitious goal for a single classroom, but I believe in my students. They are our future professionals after all.
2. Positive Participation-Based Assessment
It is far too challenging to have a single assessment that evaluates individual students fairly, so instead I would like to give students credit for positive contributions they have to their education. These assessments would be low in single value, but consistent positive reinforcement, verbally and by marks, would encourage students to participate on a regular basis. This is an assessment criterion similar to those used by local universities in their respective introductory science courses.
3. Authentic Lessons
We take the same roads to work every morning. We eat the same cereal for breakfast. We tie our shoes and brush our teeth the same as always. No wonder people cherish a vacation when they get to experience something new, right? It is the same experience in the classroom. I find little value in teaching the same way for every single class. My students are coming for an experience, and I plan to deliver, week in, week out. My lessons change by the year, and the style alters by the day. It keeps my students anticipating what kind of experience they will have the next day, without changing things too much that become disconnected from the class.