Cooper Smith

Teaching Philosophy

My teaching philosophy is one that is student centered, with students taking control of

their education within the student interest driven structure that I will provide for them. I believe

that classroom discussions and other opportunities for students to actively voice their opinions

and understandings about the content are crucial. Social Studies classes often have a reputation

for being boring, with students left wondering why they are being forced to learn about white

people from 500 or 1000 years ago. To combat this, I want my students to play an active role in

understanding the past and how past events, decisions, and themes affect the world we live in

today. I would accomplish this by tailoring my lessons to address the gaps in students’ prior

knowledge and by providing alternative viewpoints and sources for students to study and learn

from. An example of this would be having students research the American annexation of Hawaii

from the perspectives of the Hawaiians, the American People, American Politicians, and

American Businesses, and then having a class debate where students debate the annexation from

these perspectives. This activity would not only force students to consider the perspectives of

historical figures and groups but would also build students’ communication skills.

The student-centered structure that I want my students to explore history with is one that

follows a chronological-topical approach while utilizing controversy in order to drive student

exploration. The chronological-topical approach to history simply makes the most sense for a

new teacher. It is easy for students to understand and is effective at providing a general overview

of a time frame while still allowing for occasional detours that will examine specific topics more

closely. I believe that examining themes throughout history makes class feel more explorative,
with students being able to dig through sources in order to find examples of themes like the

double-standards of freedom in the US. These examples then naturally lead into questions that

the group can work through together. Some examples of where thematic units could have great

effect are in civics classes. A civics class is the ideal place to practice thematic learning as it is

easy to examine themes like Women’s Rights, the impacts of immigration, and other topics as

they progress over time. For this reason, I would avoid relying too heavily on textbooks, so

student’s still feel like they have a say in their learning.

I believe that utilizing conflict as a tool will promote higher levels of learning by

encouraging students to analyze and evaluate the source material to inform their understanding

of the conflict. I think that this can be an especially useful strategy for examining Native

American History and certain political issues. Much of studying Native American history is

comprised of evaluating the treatment of the Native American tribes by the US government

which lends itself to class discussion and debate. This strategy could be used in a geography

class as well. Studying Human Geography poses questions based on issues that we face today;

issues like over population could be explored by splitting the class into perspectives and tasking

them with researching an argument that they would present in a class debate. This method could

also be used to have students research controversial borders around the world.

The class debates and other activities that I hope to hold in my classes are going to be

based on problem-based learning. While groupwork often receives criticism for groups where

only one person does the work, but I believe that the benefits out way the criticism and potential

drawbacks. By placing students in small groups of 3-4 people, students will be in groups small

enough where their voice will be heard and their contribution to group work will be more

obvious. Working and sitting in table groups will also allow students to ask questions to their
peers, giving them an opportunity to apply what they have learned by teaching it to one another.

This also continues the theme of student-centered learning by drawing clarifying questions away

from the teacher.