Amanda Agnew Teaching Philosophy

11/22/13

We remember teachers from our past for various reasons. There were the ones that scared us, made us cry, were a little odd, made connections, tried too hard, and made a large impact on our lives. As students we are surrounded by teachers from the day we are placed into preschool up and through college, and until I really had to think about it I realized they all taught and viewed the classroom in a different way making their classroom unique to themselves and their beliefs. Some educators just delivered information then to have us spit it back out word for word onto a test, but then there are the few who made connections to their students making the information fun and relevant to their lives. Many students through their academic career will only experience about one genuinely caring teacher However I have been blessed to have been able to work with three wonderful educators who to them failure was not an option; under their watchful eye success was the only way. I have never been the greatest student, and often when I sought help teachers either did not have the time or the patience to give me the extra assistance I needed. These three women illuminated to me what actions a teacher should take in order to be a memorable successful teacher not only by m personal interactions, but how they made their classroom a comfortable learning environment. They are the people who inspire me to make a difference as an educator. We all remember having a teacher in school that did not care about a student enough to look at them twice when they were not succeeding. I refuse to be that type of educator. In the depiction of teacher as a wise mother by Simpson, Jackson, and Aycock one of John Deweys philosophies clearly represents the teacher as a caring entity. Making the classroom a place of constructive learning as similar to values taught in the home are important. Though the teacher is

no substitute for the wise mother/father environmentally the classroom should provide guidance to develop skills, ideas, and abilities that are relevant to everyday life.(Simpson, Jackson, Aycock pg. 44). They also compare the classroom to an influential community of sorts (pg. 45). The classroom becomes an environment that exposes each student to different styles of thinking and learning. Just like in a community, a classroom is a collective of people with open minds and hearts sharing their thoughts and methods of thinking. No one way is the correct way in which to think, but the perspective in which it is thought opens the minds of other students to identify other type of thinkers in the classroom. As a teacher your mind needs to be open to be able to recognize what a student needs to understand and meet those needs. Creating this safe environment where varying types of students feel comfortable expressing and apprehending how to learn and how other learn opposed to being a human knowledge bank is highly important (pg. 46). Dewey implies that a teacher neither dismisses the interests of students nor sticks strictly to a prescribed curriculum or preconceived agenda. Nor does she abandon her responsibilities as a professional and leave decisions entirely up to students which I believe is rather important when teaching information (pg. 47). Based on the flow of the class and what is being comprehended should determine what and how the class is taught. Taking this into consideration I perceive this as a combination of lesson comprehension, and being compassionate and open to the needs of the students. Formative assessment throughout insures all ideas are shared and material is made clear before progressing through the information, but it creates a relative timeline of how classes will progress.

For a teacher to be fully aware of the needs of their classroom they need to be observant of their surroundings and be aware of the cultural capital of the area. Forming a community based classroom adhering to the needs of the students make a more cohesive learning experience. Through Simpson, Jackson, and Aycock John Deweys ideas of the formation of community in the classroom are displayed clearly. Dewey is trying to tell us why and how a home can be powerful and, indirectly, suggest that the school can be similarly influential if it is a community, not just a place where disconnected bodies, minds, and hearts are rounded up five days a week (pg. 45). Being able to instill the feeling and comfort in the classroom is extremely beneficial to the learning process. I cannot see how a classroom can be successful with dry prison like educational approach. One of the most important things is building an environment where my students will not have to worry about being able to ask questions, share different opinions, and sharing experiences with one another to fully obtain a grasp on the information. With this information being taught will be relevant to their lives. Through these actions we are fulfilling learning through the transformative process. With this process the teacher is not the sole proprietor of knowledge, but rather a partner in the learning process along with the students letting information flow freely (Wink pg. 8). Utilizing this process in the way of Joan Wink learning and relevancy is more organic opposed to Dewey where he feels as if it is the teachers job to almost force the relevancy of the information on the students; you know the teacher that tries just way too hard on something simple. Dr. Nel Noddings is a prime advocate for instituting themes of care into the school curriculum. As times are changing so must educators. We are living in a society where babies are having babies without a clue how to adhere to what they are thinking. Education systems have become a disconnected to what lives students are living. Incorporating caring themes into the

classroom is the glue. It conditions our learning to go outside of ours as well as the students comfort zones in order to obtain a complete sense of learning (Noddings pgs. 1-2). Her view on caring is very organized and precise without being fluffy: When we care, we want to do our very best for the objects of our care. To have as our educational goal the production of caring, competent, loving, and loveable people is not anti-intellectual. Rather, it demonstrates respect for the full range of human talents (Dr. Nel Noddings pg. 2) That is what the goal should be for every person in this field. Being able to utilize making personal connections, but realizing you dont have to baby them and do everything for them treating them as if they are incapable. It is all about being able to nurture and support the learning of your students in a way where you are aiding them but not doing the work for them. Noddings method of caring incorporation has a sustained subject of being what you wish to create in the classroom. What you give to students molds them into the adults that they become. The idea on how to care in the classroom is limitless. Our main goal as educators is to influence the students that take part in our classroom. Dr. Bernice Lerner describes the job of education far surpasses the giving of information, but the education of moral thinking: We teachers (ideally) care about our students, our respective subject areas, and managing out time well. More specifically, we care about that which affects our students: the particular milieus they must navigate and events that shaper their lives. We care about how we can best help them learn and hone skills while we uphold high expectations and offer needed support. (Dr. Bernice Lerner pg.1)

Mahatma Gandhi once said be the change that you wish to see in the world. I feel this relates well teaching. Similarly to the ideas of Dr. Bernice Lerner a teacher standing in front of a class is leading by example. There are occasions when the teacher is the primary caring entity for a student. Lerner makes the point that if the parents or guardian is satisfied with grades residing in the C and D level range the student will not aim higher because they do not have to (Lerner pg.2). Having the teacher being a driving force for success is bringing an aspect of caring to the classroom. Knowing the difference between being capable and lazy or struggle is a fine line. Developing relationships where student and teacher can pair and see out successful options and answers is vital. After graduation some believe that teaching is a simple occupation when that is far from the truth. Many think as a teacher you give the information, give tests, grade some papers, and go home at the end of the day to sleep and repeat again the next day. Educator Kristen Fink reflects on her first year of teaching and the difficulties she faced as a new teacher. She claims right out of college that teaching was more than lesson plans or bulletin boards , but about establishing her classroom the way she wanted it. Until the dynamic of trusting student teacher relationships were established she realized her agenda would not get accomplished (Fink pg. 1). Being an educator is all about adaptation. Adapting to the needs of the class as whole and then to the personal needs of individual students. All three women Noddings, Lerner, and Fink have a focus on morality in their learning. Where it is not necessarily the teaching of right and wrong, but establishing admirable traits in their students through their work paired with support on the personal level. Involving ourselves into the learning process creates moments in history that are never neither erased nor forgotten. Paulo Freire explains that moments of teaching no matter how small

are valid in the aspect of time. All learning is continuous. History, like us, is a process of being limited and conditioned by the knowledge that we produce. Nothing that we engender, live, think, and make explicit takes place outside of time and history. To be certain or to doubt would represent historical forms of being. (Freire pg. 32). To create successful and caring learning including empowerment within the student in a personal and classroom setting is essential. Framework for empowerment has four steps Cultural/ Linguistic incorporation, Community participation, pedagogy, and assessment. Based off of this model of teaching is that it is open and is capable of fitting and infinite amount of contexts and demographics (Wink pg. 130). Having this framework implemented into teaching practice may seem too simple, but its purpose is to open up a classroom while making us, as educators, responsible and accountable for our procedures in the classroom. It not only causes the students to reflect on their learning, but us on our teaching. Through this way of thinking the teacher is not the sole proprietor of knowledge. All of the aspects previously mentioned are all qualities of a good teacher, but what makes the difference is how these qualities are utilized and implemented inside of the classroom. Not every way to teach is set in stone and is unique to the person and the classroom they stand in front of. Becoming a caring teacher is the main goal for the purposes of making the classroom. Having studied varying thoughts of many great minds I have realized not one persons ideas are original anymore. They are an incorporation, a melting pot of sorts, of the ideas that have been surrounding them since birth. Teaching philosophies are no exception. Combining the thoughts of all these brilliant minds really portray how I want to establish my future classroom.

Works Cited

Fink, K. (2007). Caring: At the heart of an educator's role. Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/ccsr/files/2011/04/Spring-2007.pdf Freire, P. (1997). Pedagogy of the heart. New York, New York: The Continuum Publishing Company. Gandhi, M. (n.d.). Quote. Retrieved from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/24499-be-the-changethat-you-wish-to-see-in-the Lerner, B. (2007). How do we care? let us count the ways. Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/ccsr/files/2011/04/Spring-2007.pdf Noddings, N. (1995, May). Teaching themes of care. Retrieved from http://www.bu.edu/ccsr/files/2011/04/Spring-2007.pdf Simpson, D. J., Jackson, M. J. B, Aycock, J.C. (2005). John Dewey and the Art of Teaching Toward Reflective and Imaginative Practice. Thousand Oaks, California: Sage Publications, Inc. Wink, J. (2011). Critical pedagogy noes from the real world. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, New Jersey: Person Education, Inc.