My Philosophy Of Elementary Education
I believe the role of education is to nurture a population of learners who have an irrepressible desire to critically engage in the world around them. Our educational system needs to give rise to students who hunger not only to understand the intricacies of the rapidly changing world they live in, but embrace the power and responsibility to enact the kind of change that will guide us into an era filled with cultural and racial harmony, environmental stability and world peace. Fundamental to this objective is our ability to empower students with an intrinsic recognition that they play a vital role in the development of our society; no matter their race, ethnicity, gender or creed. Our educational system must instill within our students the belief that their own unique life experience matters, and similarly, that the life experience of the student sitting next to them matters in equal measure to their own. If education can facilitate this kind of discourse, then I am confident the lofty ideals presented above are within our grasp.
Students arrive in our classroom with their own important, and inherently unique schema, developed during an early life spent away from the classroom. It is vital then, that teachers work to gain a deep and authentic knowledge of their students. I believe good teaching is about the process of uncovering within our students the key to all the exceptional qualities that “make them tick”. In doing so, teachers are closer to earning honored positions as allies in the process of learning, and have the chance to ignite within their students the desire to discover more, create more, understand more and be more.
I believe one of the most important aspects of knowing our students lies in knowing their families. Without the knowledge and involvement of students’ families we are placed at a great disadvantage as teachers. When children arrive in our classroom, they bring the experiences, biases, values and unique perspectives which they have acted to co-construct with their primary care-giver during the first six years of their life. If we fail to understand or engage with that part of their lives, we fail to know our students. A teacher therefore, must take the first step in actively engaging parents in the community of the classroom. This process no doubt looks different for every family and every parent (and as a teacher it is my job to recognize that one kind of parent involvement is not necessarily better than another). In the act of including parents in the process of education, we will manage to complete the vital link between school and home. I recognize the complexity of this process, and appreciate that attempts at parental connection cannot be half-hearted. Yet, if we can establish solid associations with parents, then we have the chance to make secure and lasting connections with our students. When parents “sign on” to the ideals and construction of our classroom, then learning that happens at school continues at home, and vice-versa.
Vital to creating a classroom of engaged and critically thinking students is an overarching feeling of safety and mutual respect. These are the ideals I listed in my first paragraph, which I believe are crucial to growth and success in the classroom; but what things can I do to foster this kind of environment? The establishment of a mutually agreed upon classroom creed is essential to the formation of an environment where all students feel safe, are able to take chances with learning, and can share in the construction of new ways of knowing. As a teacher, the classroom creed works to establish a baseline of morals on which I can rely during student divisiveness and conflict. The democratic creation of the classroom creed aligns with the premise that I will seek to understand and value my student’s point of view by encouraging their involvement in the establishment of our most basic community rules.
Our curriculum will also reflect the desire to engage students in a way that makes the process of learning real and significant to them. I believe the energy of actively involved and engaged students will only act to enrich my curriculum further. As a teacher it is my job to be aware of burgeoning interest in a particular subject, and be able to exhibit the flexibility to alter or expand our curriculum to accommodate those interests. Essential to the act of being flexible is the ability of teacher to become learner; whereby the excitement of the classroom is infectious enough to propel both student and teacher forward to new and unexpected ways of seeing the world. If a teacher is unable to be vulnerable enough to allow for this kind of learning, then our classrooms will be void of fresh knowledge, or any truly innovative thought.
Children have different ways of knowing and exploring their world, and my teaching needs to be inclusive enough to engage children within the realm of knowing most comfortable for them. My classroom should be organized so that those children who find meaning through art can readily find the paintbrushes, chalk, and paper; those students who find meaning through music have all manner of instruments at their disposal; the child who seeks to find meaning through literature can find in my classroom a quiet place to huddle with an endless array of books, and so on. The classroom needs to be a place where no discovery is too big to explore, and no child is left feeling that in order to succeed, they need to fit into the classically defined “box of formal education”. We cannot expect students to prove their intelligence only through the narrowly defined modes of math/problem solving or linguistic skills.
If we are sensitive to the fact that our students embody a multitude of intelligences, then the way we assess our students must change. If I am successful in my endeavor to know my students, then the task of coming up with new and inventive ways of appraising their growth should follow. When students are given assignments that allow for divergent thinking and encouraged to use their specific way of knowing, growth is assessed in more direct, true measure. By implementing project based learning, students feel validated; they have been able to show their command of the subject, and because the process of attaining understanding came from a place that was salient to them, students will store the information more deeply than preparing for any test I might attempt to administer.
Perhaps most important to my success as a teacher is the ability to be reflective. This is a skill I believe should never weaken, no matter how many years of teaching I have under my belt. What makes the need for reflection imperative is precisely the reason I am drawn to the process of teaching. When we teach our world is constantly changing, our classes change, our students change, our parents change, our community changes. The act of reflection demands that we, as teachers, grow and evolve along with our community. The rapidly expanding world I want to empower my students to own is exemplified by the changing “world” of my classroom. If I believe I have any hope of reaching all my students, of knowing them and knowing “what makes them tick”, then it is also necessary that I know myself.
I will build a classroom characterized by the insatiable desire to learn, the willingness to make mistakes without fear, students inspired to create in ways of knowing that speak most strongly to them, and a community that grows to see a world changed by its presence. Together, I believe student and teacher can create education with the power to change the world.