I believe...
...students come first.
...every student has potential.
...thinking is a lifetime strategy.
The work of humans is to take action that changes the world.
I believe in the transformative power of education. Education must be equitable. Students must have equal opportunities to learn and achieve their highest potential. Teachers must be self-reflective. All stakeholders must be equally active in the pursuit of social justice, by openly and aggressively ending oppression and inequality of all types.
Classrooms must be student-centered and educational policy should be holistic.
Paulo Freire, father of the critical pedagogy movement, maintains that students come to a classroom with a wide range of experiences and wisdom, unlike the image of helplessness and ignorance that often informs, directs, and dictates educational policy. My pedagogical beliefs are rooted in the idea that the sort of education which teachers should promote tends toward democracy in the classroom, with students making use of dialogue and unique experience and actually developing and working through real knowledge. When this happens, students simultaneously realize that they too have a useful consciousness alongside their teacher and fellow students; a consciousness which they can further develop and eventually use to effect change within the context of history.
Through dialogue, students are able to participate in the classroom in a humanizing way - a way which sees them as useful individuals with freedom of thought and ability. No longer silent subjects ignored under the teacher’s authority, students begin to see themselves as individuals who have the power to participate both in the classroom and in the world. Rather than educators taking on the role of regulating the way the world enters into the students and adapting students to better fit into the world, educators must live in solidarity with the students. Teacher as student. Student as teacher.
Now, the bigger question...what will I do in the STEAM classroom? How will I teach?
Above all else, perhaps, I believe in human potential. Every student, every day has the power to reach his or her potential. To be a part of that, even in the smallest, unknown way, is only one of several reasons why teaching is the most important job in the world.
I promise...
...to maintain a classroom that is safe, orderly, supportive and respectful.
...to express clear expectations at all times.
...to maintain clear, consistently enforced consequences to negative behaviors.
...to maintain academic rigor.
...to keep my sense of humor.
...to practice restraint and tolerance.
...to act as a “guide from the side” instead of a “sage on the stage.”
...to teach to my student’s learning styles.
...to use assessment effectively to adapt my teaching style and the lessons taught.
...to promote STEAM literacy through engaging, project-based lessons.
...to teach relevant, authentic lessons.
...to self-reflect.
...to understand that I will have off-days and students will too and each day is an opportunity to start fresh.
...to always learn new things.
...to revisit and update this list frequently throughout my teaching career.
...students come first.
...every student has potential.
...thinking is a lifetime strategy.
The work of humans is to take action that changes the world.
I believe in the transformative power of education. Education must be equitable. Students must have equal opportunities to learn and achieve their highest potential. Teachers must be self-reflective. All stakeholders must be equally active in the pursuit of social justice, by openly and aggressively ending oppression and inequality of all types.
Classrooms must be student-centered and educational policy should be holistic.
Paulo Freire, father of the critical pedagogy movement, maintains that students come to a classroom with a wide range of experiences and wisdom, unlike the image of helplessness and ignorance that often informs, directs, and dictates educational policy. My pedagogical beliefs are rooted in the idea that the sort of education which teachers should promote tends toward democracy in the classroom, with students making use of dialogue and unique experience and actually developing and working through real knowledge. When this happens, students simultaneously realize that they too have a useful consciousness alongside their teacher and fellow students; a consciousness which they can further develop and eventually use to effect change within the context of history.
Through dialogue, students are able to participate in the classroom in a humanizing way - a way which sees them as useful individuals with freedom of thought and ability. No longer silent subjects ignored under the teacher’s authority, students begin to see themselves as individuals who have the power to participate both in the classroom and in the world. Rather than educators taking on the role of regulating the way the world enters into the students and adapting students to better fit into the world, educators must live in solidarity with the students. Teacher as student. Student as teacher.
Now, the bigger question...what will I do in the STEAM classroom? How will I teach?
Above all else, perhaps, I believe in human potential. Every student, every day has the power to reach his or her potential. To be a part of that, even in the smallest, unknown way, is only one of several reasons why teaching is the most important job in the world.
I promise...
...to maintain a classroom that is safe, orderly, supportive and respectful.
...to express clear expectations at all times.
...to maintain clear, consistently enforced consequences to negative behaviors.
...to maintain academic rigor.
...to keep my sense of humor.
...to practice restraint and tolerance.
...to act as a “guide from the side” instead of a “sage on the stage.”
...to teach to my student’s learning styles.
...to use assessment effectively to adapt my teaching style and the lessons taught.
...to promote STEAM literacy through engaging, project-based lessons.
...to teach relevant, authentic lessons.
...to self-reflect.
...to understand that I will have off-days and students will too and each day is an opportunity to start fresh.
...to always learn new things.
...to revisit and update this list frequently throughout my teaching career.