If I were asked to tell what my beliefs about teaching are, I would be hard pressed to answer; there is so much to believe and so much to consider.  I guess I would have to start by saying that I believe in the students and not necessarily in any method or theory absolutely.

In my school we have a poster that says, "One Student at a Time."  This is a good slogan because it says so much about teaching.  It says that we must focus on each individual student instead of just focusing on curricula, texts, agendas, and plans.  We have to believe in our students instead of just our standards.  If we don't believe in our students, then we really have no good reason to be teaching.  Furthermore, we have to be willing to adjust our instruction to our students instead of trying to adjust our students to our instruction.  And, we have to avoid judging our students by either norms or criteria.  Just because most of the students have met some standard, doesn't mean that there is something "wrong" with those who haven't.  Just because all students are being judged by the same standards doesn't mean they are being treated equally.  Each student has different gifts and different strengths.  They all have different backgrounds and different prerogatives.  Would it be fair to judge them by how much money their parents have in their bank accounts?  Would it be fair to judge them by how tall they stand.  Just as it is not reasonable to judge them by something out of their control, it is also not reasonable to expect them all to be the same.  All students come to us with different talents and they all deserve honors.

Besides teaching one student at a time, we also have to be willing to teach the whole student.  Students who enter ESOL programs in the U.S.A. have more than just language needs.  If we fail to meet some of these needs, then meeting their other needs may be impossible.  For example, they have social and emotional needs.  They need to feel that they are accepted and belong.  They need to feel that they are valued and welcomed.  They also have physical needs.  For example, they need to feel safe, and they need to feel that there will be some sort of material return for the investment and sacrifices they are making.

Adapting to each student and his/her individual needs however, requires that we be flexible.  We cannot be dogmatic about theory or even practice.  We have to be willing to change the system to meet our students half way.  There are so many factors that can change the outcomes of our teaching.  The only "best practices" are the ones that happen to be working at the moment.