My Teaching Philosophy
It is imperative for a comfortable and effective learning environment, that the classroom atmosphere encourages respect and differences of other cultures. This attitude within the classroom provides the teacher with a toolbox of ideas that can act as a springboard for effective and appropriate lessons. In addition, respecting the culture of the students lowers the affective filter within the classroom creating an environment that welcomes learning and differences that will be reciprocated amongst peers if the teacher’s actions reflect this same attitude.
Gee (2012) discusses Antoine Destutt de Tracy’s views on ideologies stating that our beliefs and views of the world are based on our experiences and the environment in which we were raised. It is these elements that formulate a culture, and within this essay, it is what is meant by a “learner’s culture”. Kumaravadivelu (2003) states of reflective teaching that it, “…is a holistic approach that emphasizes creativity, artistry, and context sensitivity,” (p. 10). The key phrase here is “context sensitivity”. It is important that teachers remain intuitive to student needs within the classroom in order to present relevant and authentic material that is transformative for the student. Kumaravadivelu (2003) continues by calling teachers “transformative intellectuals,” bearing a responsibility on teachers to validate the experiences and backgrounds of all those within the classroom. This kind of teaching is “…inquiry oriented, socially contexualized, grounded on the commitment to world-making…” (Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 14). A commitment to world-making includes valuing student experiences and cultures. Kumaravadivelu’s (2003) attributes of a transformative teacher promote a classroom that is sensitive to learner culture and sees it not only as a tool for learning, but vital for the learner in order to cultivate feelings of validation, thus lowering the affective filter within the classroom. “Status and solidarity are the competing, conflicting, and yet intimately related fields of attraction and repulsion within which all uses of language are situated,” (Gee, 2012, p. 113). Here, Gee is writing about how we relate to each other in language, and how “we stake our claim,” when we speak. Teachers can send a message either of solidarity by finding ways to include learner cultures and ways of expressing, or they can exclude that culture by undermining it and treating that expression as less important. McGroarty (in Hornberger & McKay, 2010), discusses the five axioms of linguistic ideologies proposed by Kroskrity (2004 as in McGroarty), one of which states that it can never be assumed that a group of learners, though from one speech community, share the same ideologies, and further explains that an individual’s ideologies govern their cultural identity. This supports the idea that allowing students’ cultures to be a part of the classroom lowers the affective filter within that classroom, thus giving them something to identify with and creating an environment more suitable for acquiring language. If student’s language identities are validated those identities can aid in acquiring their new language by offering lessons using relevant information to their cultures and authentic experiences. Kumaravadivelu (2003) supports this idea when he says that the student must first recognize something in order to learn, and then “connect the known to the new,” (p. 188). What better way to make connections to new information than by deriving lessons and context from the culture represented in the students? Finally, we must also realize the expanded worldview within the definition of literacy, how this applies to the various cultures represented in the classroom, and how we can successfully incorporate these cultures using these expanding literacies. Gee (2012) discusses Freire’s “emancipatory literacy” in which students are empowered not just in understanding the word but also the world in which they live. In the study about Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households, Communities, and Classrooms, Gonzalez, Moll and Amanti (2005) reflect on a year’s worth of data in which teachers with anthropologists entered into student homes in order to develop “Funds of Knowledge” in which to base classroom practices. These teachers were able to develop authentic learning experiences for their students to engage in based on their cultures, opening doors for questions and interests that continued student learning well beyond the classroom. The dialogues created in these classrooms that value cultures and diversity, give students context for the content they are learning and generate insatiable curiosities. These teachers were guiding their students in reading the word and reading the world as they used real-life examples and experiences that were relevant to the students and applied this knowledge to their classroom education leading to a deeper understanding of their social and educational context, and ultimately their worldview, as these lessons opened doors of interest that could not be shut.
In order to implement this ideology into the very essence of my classroom, I plan to assess my students’ wants, needs, and goals for learning English at the beginning of each year, and will continue to assess them throughout the course of each semester. I plan to implement this by opening dialogue with my students on the first day about why they are taking the course and what they hope to achieve. I will then help students articulate individual goals for their language learning and finally either have them write a short biography, which they will present to the class within the first couple of weeks of school, or fill out a needs analysis in order to better prepare my instruction to fit student needs. If I can gauge my student interests, this will assist me in knowing how to address each lesson and gear it toward their goals and the culture that cradles those goals. Each lesson can then be framed within a context relevant to the goals and cultures represented within the classroom.
When students know they are being heard within the classroom and their teacher is empathizing with and working toward their goals alongside them, their objectives will remain within sight; as long as student goals are in sight, they are within reach. Using their own words to frame the relevance to each lesson will encourage them in pursuing those language goals and provide more learning opportunities within the classroom for English relevance. Offering that support to students will foster not only a greater motivation for the content, but also appreciations for helping one another achieve those goals. Nurturing this kind of mutual appreciation in the classroom promotes equity both in content and amongst peers by drawing attention to individual culture, thus placing a great deal of importance on what each person has to offer. I believe it will foster a support within the student body that will create a community of holistic achievement in the classroom. In other words, students, knowing each others’ goals will assist one another in working toward those goals as a community of support rather than individual achievements.
It is imperative for a comfortable and effective learning environment, that the classroom atmosphere encourages respect and differences of other cultures. This attitude within the classroom provides the teacher with a toolbox of ideas that can act as a springboard for effective and appropriate lessons. In addition, respecting the culture of the students lowers the affective filter within the classroom creating an environment that welcomes learning and differences that will be reciprocated amongst peers if the teacher’s actions reflect this same attitude.
Gee (2012) discusses Antoine Destutt de Tracy’s views on ideologies stating that our beliefs and views of the world are based on our experiences and the environment in which we were raised. It is these elements that formulate a culture, and within this essay, it is what is meant by a “learner’s culture”. Kumaravadivelu (2003) states of reflective teaching that it, “…is a holistic approach that emphasizes creativity, artistry, and context sensitivity,” (p. 10). The key phrase here is “context sensitivity”. It is important that teachers remain intuitive to student needs within the classroom in order to present relevant and authentic material that is transformative for the student. Kumaravadivelu (2003) continues by calling teachers “transformative intellectuals,” bearing a responsibility on teachers to validate the experiences and backgrounds of all those within the classroom. This kind of teaching is “…inquiry oriented, socially contexualized, grounded on the commitment to world-making…” (Kumaravadivelu, 2003, p. 14). A commitment to world-making includes valuing student experiences and cultures. Kumaravadivelu’s (2003) attributes of a transformative teacher promote a classroom that is sensitive to learner culture and sees it not only as a tool for learning, but vital for the learner in order to cultivate feelings of validation, thus lowering the affective filter within the classroom. “Status and solidarity are the competing, conflicting, and yet intimately related fields of attraction and repulsion within which all uses of language are situated,” (Gee, 2012, p. 113). Here, Gee is writing about how we relate to each other in language, and how “we stake our claim,” when we speak. Teachers can send a message either of solidarity by finding ways to include learner cultures and ways of expressing, or they can exclude that culture by undermining it and treating that expression as less important. McGroarty (in Hornberger & McKay, 2010), discusses the five axioms of linguistic ideologies proposed by Kroskrity (2004 as in McGroarty), one of which states that it can never be assumed that a group of learners, though from one speech community, share the same ideologies, and further explains that an individual’s ideologies govern their cultural identity. This supports the idea that allowing students’ cultures to be a part of the classroom lowers the affective filter within that classroom, thus giving them something to identify with and creating an environment more suitable for acquiring language. If student’s language identities are validated those identities can aid in acquiring their new language by offering lessons using relevant information to their cultures and authentic experiences. Kumaravadivelu (2003) supports this idea when he says that the student must first recognize something in order to learn, and then “connect the known to the new,” (p. 188). What better way to make connections to new information than by deriving lessons and context from the culture represented in the students? Finally, we must also realize the expanded worldview within the definition of literacy, how this applies to the various cultures represented in the classroom, and how we can successfully incorporate these cultures using these expanding literacies. Gee (2012) discusses Freire’s “emancipatory literacy” in which students are empowered not just in understanding the word but also the world in which they live. In the study about Funds of Knowledge: Theorizing Practices in Households, Communities, and Classrooms, Gonzalez, Moll and Amanti (2005) reflect on a year’s worth of data in which teachers with anthropologists entered into student homes in order to develop “Funds of Knowledge” in which to base classroom practices. These teachers were able to develop authentic learning experiences for their students to engage in based on their cultures, opening doors for questions and interests that continued student learning well beyond the classroom. The dialogues created in these classrooms that value cultures and diversity, give students context for the content they are learning and generate insatiable curiosities. These teachers were guiding their students in reading the word and reading the world as they used real-life examples and experiences that were relevant to the students and applied this knowledge to their classroom education leading to a deeper understanding of their social and educational context, and ultimately their worldview, as these lessons opened doors of interest that could not be shut.
In order to implement this ideology into the very essence of my classroom, I plan to assess my students’ wants, needs, and goals for learning English at the beginning of each year, and will continue to assess them throughout the course of each semester. I plan to implement this by opening dialogue with my students on the first day about why they are taking the course and what they hope to achieve. I will then help students articulate individual goals for their language learning and finally either have them write a short biography, which they will present to the class within the first couple of weeks of school, or fill out a needs analysis in order to better prepare my instruction to fit student needs. If I can gauge my student interests, this will assist me in knowing how to address each lesson and gear it toward their goals and the culture that cradles those goals. Each lesson can then be framed within a context relevant to the goals and cultures represented within the classroom.
When students know they are being heard within the classroom and their teacher is empathizing with and working toward their goals alongside them, their objectives will remain within sight; as long as student goals are in sight, they are within reach. Using their own words to frame the relevance to each lesson will encourage them in pursuing those language goals and provide more learning opportunities within the classroom for English relevance. Offering that support to students will foster not only a greater motivation for the content, but also appreciations for helping one another achieve those goals. Nurturing this kind of mutual appreciation in the classroom promotes equity both in content and amongst peers by drawing attention to individual culture, thus placing a great deal of importance on what each person has to offer. I believe it will foster a support within the student body that will create a community of holistic achievement in the classroom. In other words, students, knowing each others’ goals will assist one another in working toward those goals as a community of support rather than individual achievements.