What is Your Educational Philosophy?

[Editor’s note: Ms. Teach4Life is the pseudonym of a tenth-year teacher currently in her first year at a Manhattan public school.]

While we may not think about our philosophy until it is time to begin the interview process, I feel that it is important to keep your personal philosophy close at hand. When those days come and go that are very hard, and I wonder to myself, Why am I a teacher?, I take a minute to read my educational philosophy and this small act seems to calm the storm of emotions within me.

Over the years, my personal philosophy has evolved. I remember my first interview, 10 years ago, and when I was asked this question, I basically froze on the spot. I’m sure I looked like a deer caught in headlights — headlights glaring at me waiting for an answer. Finally, I stuttered, “I think all kids can learn.” When I walked out of that interview, I knew that I needed to put some more thought into that one question alone — it does define who we are as teachers, and how we conduct the business of educating our students in our classrooms.

After five years of teaching or so, I adopted the following equation as my personal belief in the education of students:

Relationships + Relevance + Rigor = RESULTS!!!

This equation helps me to remain focused not only on developing challenging lesson plans for my students, but it also reminds me that the single most important factor in the education of my students is the relationship I hold with them and their parents.

Relationships

I spend a lot of time at the beginning of the year getting to know each student as an individual. Students are unique and want to be recognized as individuals, not classified into groups. Not only do I work closely with each student through interest inventories and personal interviews, but I also work very closely with the students’ parents. I have found time and time again that parents are most appreciative when I take the time to get know the family via frequent contacts (ALWAYS beginning with a “good call home”) and a wonderful activity I assign as “parent homework” entitled, “Tell Me About Your Child in One Million Words or Less.” Educators must have solid, meaningful relationships with the students they teach.

Relevance

Remember being in middle school or high school and asking that math or science teacher the following question: Why do we have to know this stuff? And do you remember the answer we most likely received? It was either something like, “Because I have to teach it.” Or it was blatantly ignored. Well, I vowed to never answer a student in such a way when I became a teacher — but I took that vow one step further. I want my students to see that the content I teach is relevant and necessary and essential to their development as adolescents and young adults conquering the world around them. This often means that I am spending hours creating meaningful lessons, so they can see the value of the knowledge and relate this information to their lives.

Rigor

When I think about how short the academic life of a student is, compared to the many years the student will spend outside of school, it reminds me why I believe so much in rigorous instruction. In my case, because I am an ELA teacher, I start each year saying to myself that I am the only reading and writing teacher my students will have this year. When you think of that on a bigger scale, a student only gets 13 reading and writing teachers from kindergarten through his or her senior year. There is NO time to waste! My students are constantly challenged through reading and writing, but we are having so much fun during the process!

It is my belief that when the above three factors are added together, students will be successful. The equation is always true!

Tagged: ELA, Manhattan, reading

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