About a year ago, my wife, Mary, was accepted into the graduate program at the University of Nevada to continue her studies of speech and language pathology. What that meant was uprooting from the place that we had known for the previous 13 years and move north from Las Vegas to Reno. In that year, while there is so much I miss about Las Vegas, including my friends and "family" and the city as a whole, there is also so much I love about Reno and the surrounding area. I feel like my family and I have settled in nicely and I have no desire to leave; I have even gone as far as saying that I love my school and community so much that I want to retire from there. Only 16 more years to go!
Will this be me on retirement day? Perhaps, but hopefully, I age better than Ric Flair did! |
Part of making the move to Northern Nevada required me to be flexible in obtaining a job. Positions in my subject area were thin to non-existent, so districts informed me that I could teach special education so long as I took the required classes to become certified. I enrolled in a master's program through Western Governors University and between the program and working as a special education teacher for the last 7 months or so, I have learned how much I love working in special education and I am very happy with my career shift.
As I am getting close to completing my degree, I am working on the final portfolio for the program. Part of the portfolio requires a philosophy of teaching and learning. I have written these for previous degree programs, including my bachelor's and my first master's degree. It is something that I think about on a regular basis as well. That being said, I wanted to share my philosophy as part of this blog post.
From about the time of my sophomore year in high school, I knew that I wanted to be a teacher. So many of my teachers throughout my years of public school were a tremendous influence on my desire to become a teacher. Over the course of obtaining my bachelor’s degree in education, a Master’s of Education, an Educational Specialist in school administration, and now, a Master’s of Science in Special Education, plus nearly 14 years as a teacher in a multitude of roles, I have developed a strong philosophy of what it means to be a teacher and what my role and influence on student learning is and should be.
Teaching is one of the most important aspects of my life. Teaching gives me the opportunity to make a positive influence on students that may not have much positivity in their life because of economic conditions, lack of parental figures, or physical or emotional abuse. Teaching gives me the opportunity to share things that I am passionate about, such as my love of history, trying new lessons and technology tools, and interacting with young people. Teaching also gives me the opportunity to impact the future of my community and my nation. The students I work with today are going to be tomorrow’s leaders, auto mechanics, lawyers, farmers, soldiers and sailors, and so much more, and I am honored to be a part of each and every one of their journeys.
As an educator, I have many beliefs regarding teaching and student learning, including that students’ education should be focused on college and career readiness and teaching and learning should be focused on active learning strategies. Every teacher and school in the United States should strive for 100% high school graduation rates, however, the focus should not simply be getting students to the finish line. Students should finish high school, with their diploma, prepared for further education in college, a vocational trade school, or other educational endeavors or a long-term career that does not require further education. The major difference between completing high school and college and career readiness is that college and career readiness focuses on more than achievement in academic core subject areas, but focuses on skills such as problem-solving, collaboration, and critical thinking, and exposure to other skills such as computer science and trade skills such as welding and mechanics (Morningstar, Lombardi, & Test, 2018). It is my belief that not all students are going to college and that many students are pressured to go to college instead of pursuing a career that does not require a college degree, careers that even pay much more than many jobs that require a degree. Schools need to put more of an emphasis on college and career readiness skills and expose students to careers and educational opportunities that do not require college. In order to achieve these goals, it is my belief that active learning strategies and technology must be the focus of teaching in our schools. Active learning includes many different styles of learning, including collaborative learning, cooperative learning, and problem-based learning, all designed to build students’ college and career readiness skills and help students become actively involved in content, not simply consumers of content; active learning has also been shown to improve students’ retention and understanding of content, as well as students’ satisfaction with classes that incorporate active learning (Hyun, Ediger, & Lee, 2017).
As a teacher, I want my students to actively work toward building their college and career readiness skills. I want to instill a culture of problem-solving and collaboration amongst my students. I believe that one of the best ways to instill these skills in my students is through project-based learning (PBL). Project-based learning presents students with a question, a problem in which to solve. Through research and collaboration, students create a product to demonstrate their learning and their solutions to the problem presented. It requires students to think outside the box and to work together to solve the problem instead of relying on the teacher to give students the solution. Because of the structure of project-based learning, it will help students build those college and career readiness skills that are so important to their post-secondary success. And rather than assessment relying on how students respond to a series of multiple-choice questions or other methods of lower depth of knowledge response questions, assessment relies on students’ critical thinking skills in which teachers assess using objective rubrics. This does not mean I do not believe in assessing students’ knowledge through lower depth of knowledge questions; if students are to be assessed in such a manner, I believe that knowledge should be presented in a repetitive manner, with multiple opportunities to demonstrate learning, such as presenting students with an assessment multiple times throughout a unit of study.
Perhaps one of the most important aspects of an effective classroom, however, is the positive relationships that must be built between the teacher, students, and families. A positive relationship between the teacher, students, and families consists of open and respectful communication, mutual respect for and toward one another, trust in one another, and an environment that promotes emotional and physical safety for all stakeholders. To build these relationships, one must be open in communication and communicate in a multitude of ways, such as phone, email, websites and social media. I also have used apps such as Remind to communicate with students and their families. Communication needs to be frequent and students and families should be informed of positive events, not just negative events, in the classroom. By sharing positive news with students and families, it will make the times in which negative news must be shared easier and support from families will be more likely to occur.
I also believe that a positive relationship with students, families, and colleagues requires one to get to know individuals on an individual basis, not simply an academic or professional basis. By making a personal connection with students and their families and letting others get to know oneself on a personal level, it shows a human side and builds respect and trust between the teacher, students, and families. I like to talk to students about their interests in music, sports, and other hobbies, as well as learn about their culture, their ancestry, and other aspects of their family’s roots. Students that feel safe in revealing themselves as people and see their teacher as more than simply a teacher will be more likely to invest in their education and families will be more likely to support the teacher.
As a professional educator, I live by this philosophy on a daily basis. I strive to instill my philosophy in every decision I make that has an effect on student learning because ultimately, everything that I do as an educator should have student learning outcomes as its focus. I strive to build positive relationships with my students, their families, and my colleagues so meeting student success goals are better within reach. And whether I continue to teach for five more years or 30 more years, this philosophy will continue to drive my instruction and adjust as I become a better and more experienced educator.
References
Hyun, J., Ediger, R., & Lee, D. (2017). Students’ Satisfaction on Their Learning Process in Active Learning and Traditional Classrooms. International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education, 29(1), 108–118. Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.wgu.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1135821&site=eds-live&scope=site
Morningstar, M. E., Lombardi, A., & Test, D. (2018). Including College and Career Readiness within a Multitiered Systems of Support Framework. AERA Open, 4(1). Retrieved from http://search.ebscohost.com.wgu.idm.oclc.org/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eric&AN=EJ1194142&site=eds-live&scope=site
While you may not need to write a philosophy formally, it is something that one should think about on a regular basis. I also believe that one should share their philosophy to create a dialogue that can spark fundamental change in our educational system. I encourage you to do so through whatever means in which you are comfortable. Through conversation and establishing our personal belief systems, we can all be #BetterTogether!
Until next time...
lol! The Ric Flair!
ReplyDeleteHello Kyle, first of all, thank you so much for sharing such an informative blog post. The topic you chose for the blog is excellent and well-presented about the philosophy of teaching and learning. I hope to read more blog post from you in the future.
ReplyDeleteMy life philosophy: "Life is about relationships and experiences."
ReplyDeleteMy teaching philosophy very close to that.
It also includes the goal of teaching students how to expand their thinking toward topics and realize that they should take in all the information they can on a topic and then form their own opinion.
The part about forming own opinions is key. Provide factual information, allow for one to interpret. Too bad so much of the media no longer believes in this...
Delete