Altruism. I think ultimately this is the purpose of humanity and it is certainly my purpose in wanting to become a teacher. I believe in helping and guiding children to reach their full potential as human beings, socially, academically, and morally. Certainly a major purpose in teaching is to academically equip students with the information they need to move to the next academic level, to develop critical thinkers, problem-solvers, and innovators. I agree fully with the mission statement of APS' Academic Department: "We strive to offer all of our students equal access to a successful learning experience with the goal of producing life-long learners. On a daily basis, we focus on providing the tools needed for a post secondary educational setting, or for a career. Ultimately, the reason we do what we do is to invest into our future citizens, our community and tomorrow's leaders." (www.aps.edu/academics/academic-plan).
The classroom setting must be first of all be a safe, caring environment. There should be rules for respecting one another even if we don't agree with everyone's opinions. Each student must feel accepted and included and valued for the unique individual they are. If kids can learn to do this in school and continue this practice throughout their lives, our society will become more civil than it is today. The classroom also must have an atmosphere conducive to learning.
There is a movie from the mid 1990's called, "Babe," where a pig learns
to be a world class champion sheep herder. The moral of the movie was that everyone has the
potential to do something unexpectedly great. I believe this is true for every student. This is at the core of my beliefs. I will strive to help each one discover their "inner greatness."
Giants are going to crush the Patriots by 14 points. It's just what Giants do.
I agree teaching is to produce life long learners, but I think its important not to focus too much on the outcome and more on the process and the experiences students get out of their time in school. In the book, "Letters to a Young Teacher" that i'm reading for class, the author says something that really resonated with me. He says, 'The best of teachers are not merely the technicians of proficiency; they are also ministers of innocence, practitioners of tender expectations. They stalwartly refuse to see their pupils as so many economic units for a corporate society, little pint-sized deficits or assets of America's economy, into whom they are expected to pump "added value". Teachers like there believe that every child who has been entrusted to their care comes into their classroom with inherent value to begin with.' The point being that the focus should not be on "proficiency and productivity" and meeting state accountability requirements, but instead on recognizing the preexisting value in children and focusing on their educational experience as a whole.
ReplyDeleteI think teaching does incorporate everything you mentioned. I think that as teachers we are not respected for the amount of responsibility we are faced with on a daily basis. It seems like parents expect all of these things from us but we have to remember that academia comes first. I am not saying by any means that any of these other aspects are not as important, but they are as vital to our profession. Having to respect others even if we may not care for certain individuals is life skill that many students do not learn. I like that you want to create a safe and caring environment and celebrate everyone’s differences. I think you will be a great driving force for your students with an empowering spirit. I really like the movie “Babe” too. I think that each individual deserves the right to discover the “inner greatness.
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I agree with the reply that it is not always the outcome that is most important. Often times educators get caught up in the “proficiency and productivity” of their students, and their educational experience becomes a preconditioning to pass a state standardized test. It is important that we help children to reach their full potential, and not just limit them to the educational experience that requires them to pass a test to arise to the next grade. We should strive to help students with the learning experience that helps them to be continual learners throughout their lives, and this may require us to be more empathetic to being creative outside standardized testing, that we will sometimes be required to administer.
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