Kimberly Erickson
Philosophy of Teaching
Teaching in many ways mimics writing, the process of it is just as important as the product. As a teacher, I believe it is my responsibility to provide each individual student with the equal opportunity to develop learning methods that allow and encourage them to think critically, analyze texts, relate ideas, organize thoughts and communicate their ideas and arguments clearly and concisely. In order to assure that my students are not confined to read and analyze the world through a confined perspective I will provide my classes with different genres of text, including multicultural and political texts, that place an emphasis on students’ individual reaction to these works. It is important that my students feel comfortable in class and order to create and community atmosphere I will treat each individual with respect, just as I will expect all of the students in the class to respect each other.
Understanding the importance of developing and changing my teaching methods according to my students individual needs, is one way I can begin to create a successful learning environment. Just as authors are expected to change their writing methods according to their specific writing goals, I believe that teachers must adapt their methods of teaching according to the unique characteristics of their class. No method can ever be considered perfect. Instead each method must be revised to fit the needs of individual students. The same goes for students, as they must be taught to adapt their learning strategies to coincide with the types of materials they are studying. In both cases the relationship between teachers and students can only be successful if it is a collaborative effort in which both the teacher and students learn from each other.
As I begin to adapt and modify different teaching methods, it is important that I asses the needs of my individual students so that they are given equal opportunities to achieve success. This includes taking into account students’ learning disabilities, diverse multicultural backgrounds and differing interests. This ideology is particularly important for students in inclusion classes. For example some students may need visual aids to help them digest complex ideas. On the other hand, ESL students may feel more comfortable verbalizing their ideas through dialogue before they attempt to tackle the challenge of English grammar and structure. It is unreasonable to believe that I will be able to address each student's needs in every class however, I must try to create weekly lesson plans that rely on a different educational resources each day. Rebecca Wheeler’s ideology on universal design offers some helpful suggestions in creative ways I can teach to students with diverse learning needs. Taking advantage of resources such as computers, visual aids, music as well as kinesthetic and special activities, will introduce students to a variety of learning methods, and will maintain students’ interest in the material they are learning.
In order to expose students to the different types of literature that are available to them, I plan to select materials that provide them with a realistic and complete understanding of written and oral texts. This includes but is not limited to, media resources, newspaper and magazine articles, classic literature, modern literature, poetry, journals; internet based texts and politically centered texts. I believe a teacher must find a way to incorporate modern text into their classical literature studies so that students can relate to the older material and can begin to understand that similar methods can be used to analyze both types of literature. Students should also be exposed to writings that represent a multitude of cultures. Teachers should pay attention to the different nationalities of their specific classes so that they can choose material that represents each student’s cultural background. Research assignments that force students to take advantage of modern technology are equally important. Students must learn how to use all of the resources available to them so that when they wish to explore a topic or idea on their own, they are capable of using computer based technology to help them do this.
Lastly, I feel that in order to be a good teacher I must make my students aware of the bias present in every text that they read. As a teacher prepares a student for the real world, they must help them develop the skills that will allow them to read between the lines and always question what an author is not saying, or what ideas an author is purposefully misconstruing. There are endless ways in which I can teach my students these active learning techniques. Perhaps I can ask the class to study a classic political text and then apply what they learned about reading political texts to a more recent political article or speech. This will help students to see the universal importance of reading texts with an understanding of the author’s purpose and audience. It will also help students to compare and contrast different genres of literature and the ways in which genre often reflect societies’ political, religious and social ideologies.
As a teacher it will be my responsibility to create an environment which emphasizes learning as a process, reflects each individuals needs and backgrounds and which incorporates traditional and non-traditional reading texts. As Alfie Kohn suggests, the classroom should be made to feel like a community where discipline is derived from the idea that each student understands the negative impact their disruptions will have on the other students in the class and their ability to learn. However, even though some degree of discipline is necessary in every class, the discipline should never be so excessive or negative that it stunts the motivation and progress of the class. The best way I can create an environment that is both positive and cooperative is to emphasize collaborative learning and to create a community in which every student respects their classmates’ rights to learn.