Filosofía de Enseñanza/Teaching Philosophy
I believe in validating diversity; I believe that critical thought, creativity, and imagination are absolutely vital attributes that we, as teachers, must strive to develop in our students. I am passionate about freedom and obsessed with the question posed by ethics: what is the good life? I want to understand the social mechanisms by which some students fail and others succeed in order to rail against those obstacles, in hopes of contributing to a more just society. But the issue is larger than merely finding ways by which students can succeed at school. A central question related to this greater concern is: what are the purposes of schooling, both manifest and latent? And so, for me, the larger issue is how do the purposes and outcomes of schooling jibe with the central question of ethics?
My philosophy of teaching is centered on attempting to help my students find something in which to employ their creative faculties—a form of art, something about music, or mathematics, or science, literature, poetry—that they love. I choose this as my goal, because I think it is something that can be accomplished at the same time as I prepare them for high-stakes, standardized tests. To accomplish this task requires that one be student-centered, that I recognize that every student is different, e.g. that they learn differently, are differently abled, live within differing cultural contexts, have different home lives, etc. This means that I must make the attempt to get to know each of my students individually and personally, to establish a strong relationship with them, so that I can gain the opportunity to inform them about their selves.
I don’t want for my students, as they grow up, to be content with flipping burgers and owning the latest cell phones, content with living vicariously through the television. My hope is that if young folks can find something intellectually demanding that they love, they will be more capable and willing to make of their lives a project.
My philosophy of teaching is centered on attempting to help my students find something in which to employ their creative faculties—a form of art, something about music, or mathematics, or science, literature, poetry—that they love. I choose this as my goal, because I think it is something that can be accomplished at the same time as I prepare them for high-stakes, standardized tests. To accomplish this task requires that one be student-centered, that I recognize that every student is different, e.g. that they learn differently, are differently abled, live within differing cultural contexts, have different home lives, etc. This means that I must make the attempt to get to know each of my students individually and personally, to establish a strong relationship with them, so that I can gain the opportunity to inform them about their selves.
I don’t want for my students, as they grow up, to be content with flipping burgers and owning the latest cell phones, content with living vicariously through the television. My hope is that if young folks can find something intellectually demanding that they love, they will be more capable and willing to make of their lives a project.