Statement of Educational Philosophy, or Spying on My Homework #1

1:16 a.m. i've just noticed a headache that feels as though it's been brewing for hours. i could use a massage. or a bath. i was going to get take-out for dinner to save time, but now i've worked all night and nowhere is open in my neighborhood. i'm nursing cold coffee hoping it will distract me from my hungry belly and keep me awake until i finish my mental list of Things That Must Be Done Before Bed. ah yes, i'm a student again.

so for "materials and methods" class tomorrow we had to write a "philosophy statement," which will be revised as we continue the class and begin collating our 'teaching portfolios.' this weekend i procrastinated sitting down to write this because i felt insecure in my meager convictions and limited experience. i was even going to review all the notes and materials from the past week first to remind myself what mattered, and recall what language was used. but instead, i just sat down and wrote. and wrote. it turned out that i actually had a lot more to say than i expected. so here, without further adieu, and after an exact total of three days of intensive teacher training (but a lifetime of being a student), is my first Statement of Educational Philosophy.

am i missing something? think i got it wrong in places? worry i'm an optimistic, passionate lunatic who will crash click or burn before my committed six years are through? think i should call home more often, mama? let me know what you think, if you please

_____

• The school and classroom environment should be safe, nurturing, and supportive, and students should be guided toward developing a sense of identity, community, and interpersonal understanding and connectedness early on, in order to build both trust and engagement.
• Whatever their subject, educators should address the task of developing independent, conscientious citizens and community members. To that end, classroom interactions should reflect active, positive models of social behavior, and classroom activities should focus on developing the critical thinking skills of all students.
• Students have diverse combinations of multiple forms of intelligence. Teaching practices should reflect this by including a diverse variety of activities and assignments; by incorporating individual students’ unique skills, knowledge, experience, and interests into customized and continuously revised instruction; and by utilizing activities that draw upon each student’s strengths and address their needs through peer teaching, workshopping, and group work.
• Courses, units, and individual lesson plans should be well-paced and carefully structured in order to provide a sound basis and continuously expanding set of knowledge and skills, as well as exposure to diverse applications for newly acquired systems of knowledge.
• As much as possible, students should be guided to construct their own knowledge through exploration, discussion, and reflection.
• Emphasis should be placed on students learning *how* to learn—how to read and think critically, problem-solve, and communicate articulately and effectively—rather than privileging the memorization and accumulation of isolated facts and details. Each new unit should be connected with and integrated into the larger trajectory of the class, so that students’ knowledge can build upon itself. When possible, multiple teachers should work together to create integrated units across disciplines.
• Curriculum and course structure should be made relevant to students’ lives and experience. Students should be given ample opportunity for self-reflection and reading response. Reading and thematic content should be developed with consideration to student relevance, and activities should focus on *making meaning* through active exploration and analysis, as well as *making connections* through comparison, complication, and reconsideration.
• Activities and thematic content should include a focus on students’ immediate experience, allowing them to incorporate reflection and representation of their families and communities into their learning. Students should constantly be given opportunities and encouragement to speak, to contribute their own voices and perspectives to the evolving dialogue.
• Learning should be experiential to the greatest degree possible. Classes should find opportunities both to visit new sites, gaining exposure to diversity and better integrating their learning; and to revisit their own communities through the lenses of their developing critical thinking skills and tools. Where field work is not possible, teachers should supplement their students’ standard curriculum by bringing diverse and authentic voices into the classroom. This can be done through guest visits and the integration of a variety of media. As much as possible, classroom learning should expand students’ awareness and abilities by focusing on what can only be done *there.*
• Writing is a critical skill. In all disciplines, with particular emphasis in the English field, opportunities should be made for students to gain experience writing in a variety of contexts and for a variety of audiences. Writing should include both spontaneous, personal, and ungraded journaling or freewriting; as well as formal, structured, and carefully crafted assignments—both persuasive and poetic. In the case of freewriting, lesson plans should include activities that put the reflective writing to use as a springboard for discussion or expansion. In the case of formal writing, students should be given the opportunity for—and encouraged to learn the crucial value of—revision. In both cases, adequate support and coaching should be provided to clarify expectations and engage students with the activity.
• Critical reading is an equally crucial skill—not merely for understanding literature but for analyzing, understanding, evaluating, and acting upon the “texts” we encounter every day in the world. Reading assignments should include significant time spent in reflection, analysis, and discussion, and teachers should guide their students to return to and use the text as key, support, or critique for their personal response or opinion. Students should be welcomed to interrogate and critique texts under discussion. Units should be structured to engage students actively with the text by providing opportunities to put their learning to use through educated decision-making, discussion, application, and debate. Individual works of literature should be taught within a larger context, with students making connections between works and developing their understanding through comparative and critical engagement with multiple texts, perspectives, and forms of media.
• When possible, teachers should allow a degree of methodological and theoretical transparency, and students should be invited to reflect upon and critique the structures and modes of power, language, and learning at work in their educational and social environments.
• While open and intensive analysis of social and political structures—and injustices—is crucial to the development of educated and independent citizens, teachers should be careful to incorporate study of progressive and transformative practices—both large and small scale—and provide opportunity for practical involvement in community action and service, instructing students in the tools necessary to articulate opinion and effect change.
• It is invaluable to give students the opportunity to put their knowledge, understanding, and unique perspectives to work in practical and creative ways. Units and courses benefit from culminating project-based activities that allow students to prepare and present their accomplishments to the larger community (e.g. a gallery display, public reading, or poetry slam).
• In connection with the above point, alongside the knowledge itself, students should be learning to build confidence in their knowledge. Activities that allow students to utilize their specific strengths, while addressing some of their needs in a safe and nurturing environment, are key to students’ intra- and inter-personal development as well as their ability to succeed academically.
• Methods of assessment should be structured to challenge but also to allow students ample opportunity to demonstrate what they have learned—rather than being “tricked” into revealing what they haven’t.
• Teacher expectations should be set by what a student is capable of, not by what s/he has done in the past, or in other courses. Individual student progress and goals should be consistently re-evaluated to ensure that they are being appropriately challenged. Both students and teachers should allow themselves to be surprised by what they are capable of!

Margeaux Temeltas, July 1, 2007