Professional Educator Discussion

Professional Educator Discussion and Reflection

Mary Armas

National University, Professor G. Hooker

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Table of Contents

Abstract................................................................................................................................3

Professional Educator Discussion and Reflection...............................................................4

Collaboration with Amanda.................................................................................................4

Identify Values and Effects on Teaching..........................................................................4

Exhibiting Fairness/Support........................................................................................6

References............................................................................................................................8
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Abstract

As an educator it is important to reflect upon our teaching philosophy and our personal values

and beliefs to ensure that we are creating our classrooms to be a safe and respectful learning

environment for all of our students. By demonstrating these values in our teaching practices, we

can continue to develop into a skilled and experienced teacher.

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Professional Educator Discussion and Reflection

Collaboration with Partners

During my interaction with Amanda we were able to discuss our background and

experience in the field. Amanda has her degree in Agriculture and Business from Fresno State

and prior to Covid-19, she was working as a Paraprofessional in an elementary setting. She is

getting her Multiple Subject Credential and master’s with National University. We had very

similar backgrounds and ambitions, so we were a good match and we got along very well. She

was easy to talk to and very helpful for me personally, as I was also looking into becoming a

Paraprofessional after quitting my previous job. We created a good dialogue and we both felt like

we instantly became colleagues. When discussing our future goals and future classrooms we had

a slightly different approach to our personal teaching philosophy. Amanda’s survey revealed that

she matched up with the Essentialism perspective and a close second was the Progressivist’s

approach but felt that she was a balance of all of them. Although our two philosophies are quite

different when it comes to content and methodology, I can see how her teaching philosophy

would create an organized and efficient classroom that as a student, I would thrive in. My

teaching philosophy of a mixture of Progressivist’s and Social Revisionist’s philosophy would

seemingly create a more philosophical and open-ended classroom environment as opposed to a

more content and academically driven curriculum and classroom. When Amanda and I discussed

how our classrooms would be reflective of that philosophy we both wanted to be sure to include

our love of learning and build strong bonds with our students.
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Identify Values and Effects on Teaching

Upon self-reflection of my core values, I felt like my loyalty, compassion, integrity, and curiosity

would be most evident and advantageous in my daily teaching. I feel that each of these ideals

would help me to build a strong bond with my students, encourage a love of learning, and would

also create a classroom environment that earns the respect of my students. Loyalty has often been

my greatest strength as well as my biggest fault. My best example is the fact that I have served

my community for over 20 years, starting at the age of thirteen when I began volunteering for the

city’s community center. Since then I have always remained a part of my city’s youth programs

and continued to serve my communities early childhood programs. I have only worked at three

jobs my entire life each spanning over 6 years, including a family business. This loyalty to my

career has also cost me as I have not explored outside of my small city and limited my career and

interaction with others. I think in a classroom setting, loyalty and integrity, are automatic and are

requirements for a teacher to exhibit. I believe that each child deserves to have someone who is

devoted to their education, who is reliable, dependable, honest and trustworthy. I believe all of

these traits are synonymous with loyalty and integrity. I cannot imagine a teacher being without

these traits.

Compassion is also imperative in teaching. A child needs someone, especially outside of the

home, to care about them and show them kindness and understanding. Teachers are so

multifaceted and should not be boxed into a category of just educators. They are therapists,

nurses, comedians, coaches, mentors and so many other jobs wrapped into one. As a teacher I

would want to show compassion to each of my students and ensure that their lives and stories are

just as important as everyone else’s.

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My curiosity stems from my love of learning. As a child, any time I asked my dad a question,

whether it be homework related or not, he would always say “look it up!” Of course, this is

before the days of accessible internet and Google. My dad had a large collection of

encyclopedias in our living room and it would be my task to find my own answer. I learned to

avoid asking my dad and just go straight to the source from then on, but it became a hobby rather

than a mundane task to research my interests. In my previous classrooms, I made it a point to

have information constantly at my fingertips for my students, whether it was through technology

or our classroom library. So, in case I couldn't answer their question, we could discover the

answer together. I want to bring this curiosity into my future classrooms as well. I believe that

you can never stop learning and I would want to encourage my students’ curiosity and questions

and have them learn through exploration and investigation.

Exhibiting Fairness/Support Based off of the sixth Teacher Performance Expectations:

Developing as a Professional Educator, I feel that the best way to exhibit support and caring for

all students is to be open and communicative with students about their individual needs. As part

of my teaching philosophy I intend to attempt to have a holistic approach to teaching a child. It

is important to have a dialogue about their home life, family, and living conditions. It would be

careless to ignore signs of poverty and still expect a child to type and print an essay for class, or

to ask them to bring in food for a class potluck when their own meals may be limited. It might be

difficult to achieve but asking for an open and secure dialogue from parents and previous

teachers to give as much information as possible to assist in their academics in my classroom

would be beneficial for each student.

I believe that to be an educator is to constantly be learning. I have taken a course in junior

college called Anti-bias Seminar, this was a class designed to teach educators how to
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acknowledge their own biases and explore how to create a classroom that celebrates others rather

than discriminates against them. One way that we did this was to share experiences with

colleagues. Becoming aware of my own bias’s made me a better teacher and recognize what I

needed to change. Other teachers may have input that could encourage teachers and children to

accept other’s differences in a way that I may not have thought of. For instance, I have seen

schools put on events such as International Weeks where students can share and celebrate their

cultures. I believe it would be important to have professional development meetings to encourage

teachers to share ideas about how to create a safe and compassionate learning environment and

create a curriculum that would explore children’s differences and similarities without judgement.

Based off of discussions with my new colleagues, reflecting on my values as an educator

and discovery of my teaching philosophy, I believe that I can use my strengths to create a

classroom that will benefit all of my students.

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References

California Teaching Performance Expectations:

Commission on Teacher Credentialing. (2016). California Teaching Performance Expectations.
Retrieved from https://www.ctc.ca.gov/docs/default-source/educator-prep/standards/adopted-
tpes-2016.pdf?sfvrsn=8cb2c410_0.
 

Code of Ethics:
Association of American Educators. (2018). Code of Ethics for Educators. Retrieved
from  https://www.aaeteachers.org/index.php/about-us/aae-code-of-ethics.
 
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