Alexah Mellis Portfolio Development 2/10/20

Introduction:

Teaching is one of the few career pathways that I believe requires the most amount of

introspection from its professionals. Throughout the variety of experiences in the classroom and

with my education classes, I have benefited mostly from the information that I have learned in

regard to the influence that I have on my present and future students. I think that the process of

becoming a teacher can be rigorous, but tends to be portrayed as a career choice that anyone can

easily pursue. Due to this, the education system in our country has been lacking the professionals

needed in this field to truly help children become confident and curious learners. I believe that

teaching is a means for facilitating human curiosity while simultaneously supporting children’s

cognitive, emotional, and physical development. Education is multifaceted and involves many

more factors than just a child’s assigned cognitive levels.

In this portfolio, I will share my beliefs about education and some of the work that I have

done to meet the needs of my students during my practicum experiences. I studied Elementary

Education at Wheelock College and Boston University and received my Bachelor’s Degree in

Elementary Education. For my program, I had the opportunity to student teach in a first and third

grade classroom in Brookline Public Schools. Currently, I am completing my Master’s Degree at

Boston University in Integrated Elementary and Special Education. Currently I am doing a year-

long internship at a K-8 inclusion school in Boston. I support students with disabilities in two

second grade classrooms. In May I will have a license in Moderate Disabilities PreK-8 for

teaching Special Education. Through my special education studies, I have learned an array of
strategies to meet the needs of my students while holding true to my beliefs about why education

is important for everyone.

Philosophy of Education:

Some of my strongest beliefs about education are:

● All children should have access to free education.

● All teachers should foster a safe and caring environment for all of their
students.
● Teachers should work especially hard to support the students with
disabilities, different cultural backgrounds, and
● Education is a right for everyone, and not a privilege.

First, I believe all children should have the right to be educated formally. No child is

unteachable and therefore I think it is important for education to be available for all developing

children. If children are denied this right, how do we expect to maintain high functioning

societies with children growing up without thorough education? For education to be the most

effective, I also believe that teachers need to foster a safe environment for all students.

Hammond (2015) writes that student information processing is effective when teachers respond

positively and constructively to students. This also ties into one of my other beliefs that teachers

need to work especially hard to support students who need differentiated instruction. All teachers

should have a multicultural and anti-biased background in teaching to support learning for a

diverse group of students with different upbringings. I believe, as a future teacher, that it is our

job to help all children develop a strong sense of self and that requires bringing attention to

cultural similarities and differences that may be represented in the classroom.

There is one particular cognitive theory that I believe all teachers should understand

when it comes to cognitive development with children. Vygotsky’s theory of Zone of Proximal

Development goes in depth about how student’s challenges should be a little harder than what
their skill level expects them to be (Gregory & Chapman, 2013). To me, this is where the teacher

has to decide where to support and where to let the children come up with their own ideas for

learning development. Educating children isn’t about giving them all of the information, it is

about helping them come to terms with the answers on their own with a teacher’s guidance. I

believe that a teacher’s work is very crucial to a child’s development and with that, we must set

as high standards for our teachers as we do for our students.

Hammond (2015) states that culture is something that everyone has and it is used by

everyone to make sense of the world around them. I agree strongly with this statement because

we tend to judge people who have different cultural backgrounds than ourselves without really

knowing much about the history and current state of their cultures. I think that all educators need

to be aware of the strong role that culture plays in children’s development. In terms of

introspection, it is very important for teachers to know their own cultural background as well and

to be aware of any possible biases that they might have unknowingly. Culturally responsive

teaching is a huge part of my philosophy of education, because I know that each one of my

students is going to have a different story and upbringing that needs to be validated and

appreciated. Multiculturalism will be at the base of my teaching style to ensure that my students

can grow as independent learners and have confidence in their valuable part to our classroom.

References

Gregory, H. & Chapman, C. (2013). Differentiated instruction strategies. One size doesn’t fit all.
Corwin.

Hammond, Z. (2015). Culturally responsive teaching and the brain: Promoting authentic
engagement and rigor among culturally and linguistically diverse students. Thousand
Oaks, CA: Corwin.