Philosophy of Teaching and Learning

Blog #3:  What is your general philosophy of teaching and learning? How have your previous educational experiences affected your philosophy? What is critical thinking? What is reflective practice? Why are these important?  Describe an "aha" moment you had this week, if any. 

I've been wondering this week about whether my philosophy of teaching has evolved over the course of the past 22 years in the classroom.  In most ways, I've decided, it hasn't.  What I consider good teaching now is essentially the same as it has always been.  From when I was just 23 years old to now at 45, I  have always strived to be what Booth calls an authentic teacher.  When I am able to relate to students as fellow human beings, work cooperatively with colleagues, and improve my practice through official and unofficial professional development, I am happier, more confident, and I believe, more effective in the classroom.  And conversely, when I am not doing those things, I feel less successful.

There have been students over the years whom I just could not reach. From the student who insisted on hating English no matter what I tried, to the student whose parents felt that A- I gave her was a personal vendetta against their daughter, there have been challenges in "liking", and thus relating to certain students. There have been times, whether because of my schedule or the personalities of my colleagues when I didn't do much collaborating and felt isolated in my teaching.  And of course, life can get crazy and sometimes professional development takes a back seat to simply surviving day to day. In all of those cases, my teaching has suffered and my students' learning experiences were less than they could have been.  I think the main way in which I have changed is that I now truly know this about my practice; I know I have to work extra hard at times to "kill" certain students with kindness, to reach out to colleagues who are difficult to reach, and to carve out at least some time for my own learning.

Studies have found over and over that the relationships students have with their teachers is the single biggest factor in improving student achievement, and yet, I find that at least large public schools do little to foster those relationships.  Increasing class sizes, less time spent on pursuit of personal inquiry projects and more on standardized testing, and pressure for teachers to spend more and more time on data collection and other record keeping are not exactly encouraging positive relationships to be built among teachers and students.

During an internship at a small private school last year, I had an aha moment.  The teachers were able to spend time before school started in small groups with the counselors "getting to know" the individual students they would have that year.  The counselors shared data, stories about past successes and challenges, and even notes from parents while the teachers took copious notes.  During workshop week this year back at my large public high school, I spent quite a bit of time discussing how to manage students en masse: enforcing dress code and cell phone violations, etc.  It was a completely different approach, one influenced by the size of the student population, sure, but also the school's philosophy about what matters.