My philosophy of education is centered around equity and an understanding of multiple perspectives and worldviews. My philosophy is one in which all participants (students, teachers, and entire school systems) seek to accomplish the same goals, though the practices of each to do so may differ based on individual circumstances. I think the goal of each should be to learn, teach, and/or facilitate learning and teaching in a way that aims to improve society. While values such as respect, integrity, investigation, and curiosity are expected across the board, I don’t think there is a one-size-fits-all approach to implementing these values.
Teachers should instill values in students so that when they leave school, they can be productive in their respective roles and leave a positive impact on society. Students should be receptive to the teachers’ instruction and open to acquiring not only textbook knowledge but valuable life lessons as well. Schools and school systems should provide the necessary support (facilities, funds, professional development, and other resources) to students and teachers so these goals can be accomplished.
The standard for equity will be met when each student isn’t necessarily given the same resources as his or her peers but is given the resources he or she needs to succeed. The standard for understanding multiple worldviews and perspectives will be met when both students and teachers recognize the lenses through which they see the world and challenge themselves to think differently and appreciate the ideas of others.
As a class, we examined nine Philadelphia-area high schools using the GreatSchools (www.GreatSchools.org) online platform for school ratings and reviews. We compared the demographics of the nine schools to identify any trends across areas such as student racial/ethnic background, average family income, student-teacher ratio, and teacher experience. The school I reviewed had the following demographics:
Student Population
43% Female; 57% Male
100% from Low-Income Families
94% Black; 3% White; 2% Hispanic; 1% Two or More Races
Teachers and Staff
17:1 Student-Teacher Ratio (PA State Average is 14:1)
67% Teachers with 3+ Years of Experience (PA State Average is 91%)
Other Information
35% of Students Demonstrate English Proficiency
50% Graduation Rate
This activity stressed the links between academic achievement and factors such as race and socioeconomic class. The statistics above do not suggest that students at this high school are not smart or that teachers do not put forth their best effort, but that they are not provided with the necessary resources to succeed. Instead of being a measurement of hard work, success here is a measurement of opportunity. Compared to this school, other schools with lower rates of poverty and a more racially/ethnically diverse student body demonstrated better academic achievement and received higher ratings overall. The disparities highlighted in this exercise are one of the reasons that equity is at the forefront of my philosophy of education.
Another activity we did as a class was constructing ELL profiles for ourselves and identifying similarities and differences in our backgrounds as English language learners. We provided information such as where we were born, what kind of education we received, and our parents’ English proficiency level. When looking at everyone’s profiles, I noticed that the only factors shared by every member of the class were that we all received a mainstream education and had college-educated parents. Everyone in the class was not born in the United States or the child of parents born in the United States. English was not the only language spoken at home for everyone. Everyone’s parents did not enter the same profession after graduating from college.
This activity demonstrates that while there are many similarities between students, no two students in a class are identical. Each of us has unique experiences and circumstances that contribute to who we are as students—and people. It’s important to be aware of the different factors that make each of us who we are, and for this reason, I place a significant value on everyone making the effort to expand their worldview. Because everyone is so different, it’s important to be knowledgeable about different ways to cater to uniqueness in the classroom. Factors including family income, nationality, and the number of languages spoken at home impact how students acquire language and can either be a benefit to students’ English language acquisition or an obstacle to their learning. Having an ELL profile for students lets teachers know what challenges may need to be overcome as well as what talents may be showcased.
After reading about language attitudes and the implications of one’s language(s) on social power, we watched a Saturday Night Live skit called “Bronx Beat” and were asked to reflect by briefly answering the following questions:
What kind of power do these two accents hold in society? In university? In the workplace? Why? What factors affect the status or value of a language? What gives language “power”?
A key takeaway from this discussion is that we tend to make surface-level assumptions about people before getting to know who they are. When listening to the two show hosts in the skit, Betty and Karen, the audience may make assumptions about their levels of intelligence based on their accents. Viewers may focus on the sound of their voices rather than what it is that they are saying.
Similarly, a student may speak in an English class using AAVE, but he or she may write using standard or academic English. This student could say “I’m finna get a A on the next test” instead of “I’m going to score an A on the next test,” but a teacher might focus so much on the student’s use of the word “finna” that the student’s clear expression of his or her motivation to succeed in the class is overlooked. I think it is important for teachers to be accepting of different accents and dialects that may be used in their classrooms and recognize that there is no one correct way to speak English. This activity demonstrates that, unfortunately, different applications of language yield different implications for one’s social power, but I argue that differences should not automatically lead to hierarchies. As expressed in my philosophy above, I think education should be an inclusive practice and it should embrace people’s differences.