My Educational Philosophy
Akin to Marty Mcfly’s mind-boggling skill in Back to the Future, I believe that an educator should have the ability to travel in time. It is my philosophy that I, as an effective educator, must have the prescience to see each of my students as the finished article (when they are successful in adulthood) and set my standards accordingly. I can then design individualized schemes of work to help them realize and reach their potentials.
It starts with motivation. I think there is some truth in that an educator is only as good as his student and that a student is only as good as his educator; essentially, it is a partnership. It is the educator’s responsibility to spark an interest in learning. My units of study evolve every year based on current events. I keep it fresh and I keep it relevant. I use a variety of music, film, literature, and experience to bring the world into the classroom. I believe that students need to be involved in their own learning and I like to use a variety of role-plays and class discussions to fuel their thirst for knowledge. I use low-tech teaching devices such as Response Cards to ensure 100% student participation. I also integrate computer technology into students’ assignments to give them the appropriate skills that they will need once they leave school. I go into every class with the objective of inclusion – every student can learn! Ultimately, if one of my students does not show any enthusiasm or participate in class activities, I have failed my responsibility.
It is the students’ responsibility to push themselves further into the realms of independent study for continued learning. I kick-start my students’ interests in current events by showing them a variety of topical TV footages or news articles. I take great pride when they independently subscribe to magazines like The Economist and The New Yorker and when I overhear them have numerous debates on a wide range of topics with their classmates. Students from other classes argue about which smart phone is better; students from my classes discuss conflicts in the Middle East. Once they understand and appreciate that knowledge is power, they build up vast stockpiles. It is my duty as a Language Arts educator to enable my students to write. It is my philosophy as an educator to teach students the skills to differentiate between subjective and objective information so that they have the ability to exercise their right of freedom of educated thought.
Indeed, I believe that my job is more than being an educator: I am a reflective practitioner that facilitates students’ growing understanding and experiences of the world. I am always searching and implementing new teaching ideas and strategies and assessing their effectiveness; I believe and appreciate that the profession is constantly evolving.
My classroom management strategies help to create a safe and effective learning environment whilst at the same time allow students to take educational risks, make mistakes, and learn from them. From the outset of a class, I aim to lower student anxiety by having them learn the classroom expectations and by giving them an outline of what will be studied during the school year. I also use a lot of humor and anecdotes to help each class transition along smoothly. Once a student’s emotional barriers have been removed, he/she will have a greater potential to learn new skills and concepts. I command, and not demand, respect by giving praise and constructive criticism at the appropriate times. In addition, I use my Marty Mcfly time traveling skills to anticipate negative interactions and events before they happen. For example, I will subtly place certain students in certain collaborative learning groups to avoid conflicts, or I will reverbalize assignments to students who I know will have difficulty and will not otherwise produce their work on-time. The skill of anticipation is crucial to effective classroom management.
Finally, I design year-long units of work based on the themes of Voices of Protest, Barriers, and Journey to encourage and enforce understanding and acceptance of all cultures and beliefs in all of my classes. To paraphrase Jane Goodall’s foreword in Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea, it is only when we truly understand about people and their lives in other countries, cultures or religions (or indeed, non-religions) that the world becomes a happy and safer place. It is my responsibility as an educator of the next several generations of students that this belief resonates through all of them loud and clear.
Edward Storey, February, 2010.
Akin to Marty Mcfly’s mind-boggling skill in Back to the Future, I believe that an educator should have the ability to travel in time. It is my philosophy that I, as an effective educator, must have the prescience to see each of my students as the finished article (when they are successful in adulthood) and set my standards accordingly. I can then design individualized schemes of work to help them realize and reach their potentials.
It starts with motivation. I think there is some truth in that an educator is only as good as his student and that a student is only as good as his educator; essentially, it is a partnership. It is the educator’s responsibility to spark an interest in learning. My units of study evolve every year based on current events. I keep it fresh and I keep it relevant. I use a variety of music, film, literature, and experience to bring the world into the classroom. I believe that students need to be involved in their own learning and I like to use a variety of role-plays and class discussions to fuel their thirst for knowledge. I use low-tech teaching devices such as Response Cards to ensure 100% student participation. I also integrate computer technology into students’ assignments to give them the appropriate skills that they will need once they leave school. I go into every class with the objective of inclusion – every student can learn! Ultimately, if one of my students does not show any enthusiasm or participate in class activities, I have failed my responsibility.
It is the students’ responsibility to push themselves further into the realms of independent study for continued learning. I kick-start my students’ interests in current events by showing them a variety of topical TV footages or news articles. I take great pride when they independently subscribe to magazines like The Economist and The New Yorker and when I overhear them have numerous debates on a wide range of topics with their classmates. Students from other classes argue about which smart phone is better; students from my classes discuss conflicts in the Middle East. Once they understand and appreciate that knowledge is power, they build up vast stockpiles. It is my duty as a Language Arts educator to enable my students to write. It is my philosophy as an educator to teach students the skills to differentiate between subjective and objective information so that they have the ability to exercise their right of freedom of educated thought.
Indeed, I believe that my job is more than being an educator: I am a reflective practitioner that facilitates students’ growing understanding and experiences of the world. I am always searching and implementing new teaching ideas and strategies and assessing their effectiveness; I believe and appreciate that the profession is constantly evolving.
My classroom management strategies help to create a safe and effective learning environment whilst at the same time allow students to take educational risks, make mistakes, and learn from them. From the outset of a class, I aim to lower student anxiety by having them learn the classroom expectations and by giving them an outline of what will be studied during the school year. I also use a lot of humor and anecdotes to help each class transition along smoothly. Once a student’s emotional barriers have been removed, he/she will have a greater potential to learn new skills and concepts. I command, and not demand, respect by giving praise and constructive criticism at the appropriate times. In addition, I use my Marty Mcfly time traveling skills to anticipate negative interactions and events before they happen. For example, I will subtly place certain students in certain collaborative learning groups to avoid conflicts, or I will reverbalize assignments to students who I know will have difficulty and will not otherwise produce their work on-time. The skill of anticipation is crucial to effective classroom management.
Finally, I design year-long units of work based on the themes of Voices of Protest, Barriers, and Journey to encourage and enforce understanding and acceptance of all cultures and beliefs in all of my classes. To paraphrase Jane Goodall’s foreword in Greg Mortenson’s Three Cups of Tea, it is only when we truly understand about people and their lives in other countries, cultures or religions (or indeed, non-religions) that the world becomes a happy and safer place. It is my responsibility as an educator of the next several generations of students that this belief resonates through all of them loud and clear.
Edward Storey, February, 2010.