My Philosophy of Teaching

I believe that my role as an educator is much more than presenting the material to the

students and testing them over it. My occupation is about relationships; relationships with

students, parents, other teachers, and ultimately the community. When a society works together

to achieve one goal that will better our future, we can go much further than if we do not have

those relationships and common goals. Mister Rogers did not call people "friends" or

acquaintances" instead, he refers to others as neighbors (Tuttle, 2018). Growing up in the

church, we were always told to love our neighbors as we love ourselves, and then in school, we

were always taught the "golden rule," which was to treat others how you want to be treated. I

believe that by referring to others as your neighbor that you show others that you are more

willing to help them out, lend them that cup of sugar, and serve them whatever they may need. I

became a teacher so that I could serve my students and give them something valuable.

Education is valuable, but even more, so are relationships and know that someone cares.

When you build relationships with parents and students and the community, the students

come to realize that they have a support system that wants them to succeed. There will be

those cases where the parents are not invested in their children's lives. I believe, like Luke

Bryan, "that most people are good," we need to give them a chance. I have not yet met one

student that does not like to be praised, and I have also never met a parent yet that does not

feel good when we praise their child.

Ben Carson once said, "Do what you have to do so that you can be what you want to

be." This is an excellent mentality for students to come into class having. Every year we set

New Year's resolutions, and many people never accomplish what they want to do because they

do not want to do what they have to to get there. Ben Carson has an incredible story. Growing

up, his mother worked multiple jobs to care for his brother and him. They could not afford nice

things like the other children at school, and it was even a struggle to find food at times, but also
through the efforts Ben was able to persevere and go to college, attend Harvard, and be the first

person to separate twins joined at the back of the head. Ben was ranked at the bottom of his

class in middle school and was known as the "dumb kid," but then he did what he had to. He put

in what he had to do to get where he wanted to go. Every student must know that they can

achieve it if they can dream it, but they have to go through the entire process and not cheat

themselves.

I believe that education should prepare a student to go out into the real world and to be

successful. I like Robert Hutchin's philosophy on learning where we, as educators, should teach

students in a way that they understand the world around them. We are continually learning, and

we need to know how to make sense of all the crazy situations that may arise in life. Developing

a student's intellect is vital so that they can go out and make decisions for themselves. I also

feel that the teacher must balance essentialism and progressivism. Educators cannot just turn

students loose and expect them to learn. Their job as an educator is to scaffold by giving

structured lectures while at other times allowing students to make a mistake here and there,

allowing them to discover how to do things by themselves.

In my class, I will strive to provide students a positive, motivating environment that

encourages exploration and presents challenges that can apply to real life. Every student should

be treated like a neighbor and pushed to succeed so that when they graduate, they will be able

to accomplish what they dream.

Cohen, L. N. M. (1999). Philosophical Perspectives in Education . Retrieved from

https://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP3.html
Tuttle, S. (2018, July 13). Seven Lessons from Mister Rogers That Can Help Americans Be

Neighbors Again. Retrieved from

https://greatergood.berkeley.edu/article/item/seven_lessons_from_mister_rogers_That_c

an_help_americans_be_neighbors_again