Educational Philosophy
One of the main objectives of my day is to laugh at least once. If you have a good laugh, it was a sign of a successful and memorable day. A chuckle is sufficient for a good day. If you didn’t laugh on any particular day, it doesn’t mean that it was wasted; it just means there was room for improvement. I prioritize laughing as one of my main objectives because laughing is an effective way to relieve stress and also a way to live in the present moment. When you are able to share a laugh; I think is one the best ways to connect to another human.
If I did not find a laugh in my workday and if I have time to do so, I will look up various comedians to complete the objective. I try to differentiate the comedians to better embrace diverse stances on various opinions, all to try and view a different perspective. When I find something that completes the objective, I try to write it down and save it. If I am struggling in my search to find a chuckle, I have a comedian I can always rely on, George Carlin. He was known for his astute but sometimes-ridiculed daily life observations of the United States, Religion, “Things”, you name it. Sometimes, he crossed the “proverbial line” with some of his remarks, but if you view his work, he was able to say the true reality of life situations. His observations made you think critically about certain situations, such as addressing the multiple lenses of a single story. He did an excellent job making people feel uncomfortable; he did not coddle the audience. He was successfully able to share his views. Sometimes the ideas were contrary to the status quo. In regards to education, Carlin stated that teachers should, “Teach them to question what they read. Teach them to question everything!” This quote really resonates with the inquisitive nature of education, as all participants in the education process are held accountable to pursue unknown knowledge. In order for these participants to discover these fragments of unknown knowledge, they must learn how to question and how to formulate a plan of action in order to grapple with the unknown.
In response to the questioning, not only should students question everything, future educators must truly question themselves as to why this career is chosen. Arduous days are ahead for the life of a teacher. Unexpected situations, unwanted frustrations, belief in apparent self-limitations, will all play in what will be the practice of teaching. It deters students from pursuing the ever changing, constantly evolving craft. Like the student, even experienced and veteran teachers are frightened of positive transformation and seemingly become inelastic and defiant to innovative and or experimental practice. Countless times in the graduate experiences, family, friends, acquaintances, work colleagues etc. all question why the choice to pursue this work is undertaken.
My decision to partake in the education field came from the best advice I received from a professor in my senior thesis course at UConn. He implored us to not pursue a doctorate in History; professors lose the love of History that brought them there in the first place because of the constant need to publish work. He clarified that the work professors publish contains the critique of other historians, and over time, it can be deteriorating. I did not want to be a doctorate in History but what I appreciated was the fact that he told us a truth that was apparent to him, that was a value judgment from his experience as an educator, and the fact that he told us to not pursue something because of something that I have rarely seen as a student; he cared about our future professions. He gave me an opportunity to evaluate one reason why I wanted to become a teacher.
My professor was empathetic yet sincere about how his approach the world. As my professor was kind enough to lend a critique about his field, in the classroom, I would like to lend a helpful thought about a growing problem in the world of education. Colleagues and teachers talk about it but this problem is not being addressed to its potential. In my years of experiences as an intern, a substitute teacher, a paraprofessional, and a camp counselor, I have viewed that student’s have a very warped sense of reality. Their aspirations are fantastic but the methods of which they think they can go about achieving them are not feasible. This isn’t a new phenomenon, but with the help of technology, specifically the application called Instagram, students “follow” other students around the world achieving significant monetary success from their endeavors. The students then think and begin to question, “Well if they can do it, why can’t I?” This problem is a double edge sword. One the one hand, teachers need to nurture and adjust to their students creativity so it can grow in a productive manner. The contrary is, if the student is not creative in their approach, they have nothing to fall back on. It is a teacher’s mission to successfully provide their students with the necessary tools to access their own levels of creativity. Teachers must also drive home to their students a work ethic that combines student success in the classroom with meaningful assessments that critically challenge their own beliefs. If the teachers and the education system do not complete this, this craft does a disservice to the students.
So why do I want to become a teacher? I love the idea of working with young adults to grapple with life’s complex systems and ideas. My desire is to be able to go into a class and learn with the students, by viewing student’s perspectives on the world around them, their critiques, their biases, all in the process of understanding. At the end of the day, the students who will enter my classroom are people; with diverse backgrounds and histories not only from their entirety of their existence, but even day-to-day operations. Even though we are in a classroom setting and from what I understand, I would be the only educator to twenty-five students; their thoughts will be valued and challenged. Teachers are both the masters of the content and the deliverer of the content to the students to allow for critically thoughtful conceptualization. I would like to have the opportunity to learn to become a master of both.
There will be rough days ahead, so what would I like to do? I would like to share a laugh with people who may not get one while also being able to provide meaningful educative experience to students. By introducing laughter in a class, whether it be corny jokes, or interesting perspectives along side informative videos, activities, photos, articles, etc. all collectively can potentially become hooks that promotes positive engagement amongst students. With this, most importantly even for a brief moment, I just want to share a laugh.
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