In many classrooms today, students have become comfortable in their role as recipients of knowledge. As a result they have become heedless of their potential to construct knowledge or form their own thoughts and opinions. In many instances throughout my student-teaching experience, I have witnessed students regurgitate thoughts and ideas to appease teachers. Particularly with the strong implications of standardized testing, students have gradually become victims of rote instruction. Hence, one of my prominent objectives as an educator is to ignite fervency in all of my students through engaging and thoughtful instruction.
I believe that every student possess a special talent that marks their own personalities. My appreciation for diversity enables different talents to come together and learn from one another. As an educator, I want to create a space for students to exchange knowledge, explore their environment, and grow as active participants of learning. My comprehensive vision for teaching and learning consists of an innovative, interactive, meaningful, engaging, and challenging instruction tailored to the needs and interests of the students.
While nurturing the talents and interests of students, I will challenge students to become reflective and introspective, as it is a critical element to their character development, and to the roles that they play in school and in the home. At this fledgling time of their lives, it is important that students begin to understand and build tolerance for others. One way to accomplish this is to ground students in the concepts of respect, unity, and understanding by establishing a classroom community, and by incorporating interactive community activities and projects as part of daily instruction.
Individualistic learning is also a form of instruction I value as an educator. In a classroom filled with diverse learning styles, I believe that reaching out to students on an individual and personal level is significant to their academic and social growth. Establishing a relationship and connecting with my students is a priority of mine that I value and sought to constantly improve. I want to give my students a sense of security to be themselves, and to serve as a trusted and supportive adult in their lives.
Parental involvement is also an integral component of my teaching pedagogy. Having gained a wealth of experience working with children and families, I strongly value the rapports that I’ve established with parents, and highly consider the effects of parental involvement to a child’s overall development. I believe that establishing a positive rapport with parents and including them in their child’s educational experience greatly impacts the academic and developmental growth of their child/ren.
My zeal to see students grow, and to build a generation of leaders is why I chose to become an educator. In the words of education reformer, Horace Mann, “Let us not be content to wait and see what will happen; but give us the determination to make the right things happen.” It is the in this adage that drives me to be proactive in my teaching, and to motivate my students to be vested in their education. My vision is for students to become cognizant of their inner voice, and to allow their inner voice to, one day, speak volumes of justice, equity, and righteousness.