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Teaching Philosophy

Cazine Wilson

Department of Education, CSU San Bernardino

Dr. Cynthia Geary

March 22, 2022

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Teaching Philosophy

We are all learners, constantly being exposed to new ideas and challenging our old

worldviews. Literacy is just one of the tools that allow us to achieve that. Literacy is a skill that

is necessary for students to be successful in many classes. Reading a scientific report or writing

an analysis of a primary historical resource both require the ability to read and write. Beyond

that, I believe that literacy is an extremely powerful tool that individuals can use to navigate the

world and continue their goal of lifelong learning. Many argue that one can use literacy to

participate in society (Gunderson, D’Silva, & Odo, 2019). Reading up on current news, sharing

one’s opinion on public forums, or reading a book about the history of one’s hometown are all

uses of literacy that result in the literate’s participation in society. The knowledge received and

shared with others can be used to do things as lofty as challenging oppression, as proposed by

Paulo Freire (1968). As a teacher, I believe that it is imperative to teach literacy as both an

intellectual and social skill.

Both professionally and personally, I have always enjoyed learning and sharing new

knowledge. My teaching experiences range from tutor to language instructor. While studying

abroad, I worked as an English writing tutor at a Korean university for Korean college students

seeking to leave their home country to study abroad. This was my first experience working with

students whose first language was not English, and it was through this experience I was able to

identify specific elements that students might frequently struggle with writing English. Literacy

in their first language did not always translate directly to English because writing elements such

as organization rules differ by language. Now, I work as an English Grammar instructor at the

university level for international students seeking to eventually pursue higher education in
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English. I have successfully been able to incorporate information learned during my tutoring

sessions into the lessons that I teach now.

On the other end of the education spectrum, I gained experience teaching elementary

school students in rural South Korea. At this age, many of my students were still building their

literacy skills in their first language. When Korean students enter middle school, education gets

much more intense with 12 hour-long days of school and after-school academies. For these two

reasons, the English curriculum at this level is mostly conversationally focused. However, I

made an effort to translate Korean stories into English and created lessons around them. The goal

with this was to bolster their literacy skills in English with familiar characters and themes.

Through this experience, I learned how useful students’ native cultures and languages can be

within the ELL classroom.

The Importance of Literacy

In Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Freire (1968/1970) posits that education can be used as a

tool of liberation by engaging both the oppressed and the oppressors in reflection upon the

current systems that keep people disenfranchised. This can be achieved through teaching

students critical thinking skills and empowering them to question and challenge the status quo.

Literacy and affiliated courses are a great avenue upon which this practice can be enacted. To

achieve proficiency in English reading comprehension, students need to be given a sufficient

amount of input to practice literacy skills. With that being said, I believe in incorporating

materials and texts that relate to students and their communities. Just as Sturk (1992, cited in

Flood, et. al, 2004) and her high school students used literacy to challenge the conditions of local

nursing homes. I believe that every literacy classroom is a place where students can improve
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their community. It is so important that students know that they are capable of interacting with

society in a meaningful and productive way, regardless of their age.

A core memory for me is the first time that I read James Baldwin’s 1963 address to

educators. The idea that the purpose of education is to enable a person to examine and question

the world around them (Baldwin, 1963) resonates greatly with me. Furthermore, Baldwin’s

belief that miseducation and ignorance oppress both Black and white people is an extremely

poignant one. Representing and centering minority cultures or oppressed people is not just

beneficial to the members of that group. Those that are a part of the majority group, the so-called

“oppressors,” can confront their biases and ignorance and, with patience and an open heart, learn

to question the ideas and mindsets that lead to racism, homophobia, and ableism. As a minority

teacher, it might be easiest to judge one’s students' ignorant viewpoints. However, as Baldwin

(1963) clearly stated, it is our responsibility to teach our students not to be bound by the current

systems in place because “... he has the right and the necessity to examine everything.”

Literacy Strategies

For young learners or beginner-level English language learners, it isn’t necessary to be

explicit in teaching literacy as a social tool. Even as students are learning basic elements of

literacy such as critical thinking, close reading, and vocabulary, they are preparing themselves

for this next step in their personal development. Graphic organizers are a great strategy because

they are a visual representation of the process that students should be following as they read.

They can also be used at all levels, whether it is a simple organizational chart to assist students in

identifying a text’s main ideas and details or one that asks students to answer higher order

questions such as making inferences about a topic based upon multiple readings.
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I’m also a believer in the power of collaboration as a tool for learning, especially in AN

ELL environment. group work. The students and the teacher bring to the classroom their unique

worldview and lived experiences. This interaction is beneficial for students’ growth both socially

and academically. In a mixed-level class, certain students may excel at one skill but struggle with

another. Thanks to this, students can engage in peer learning, modeling the skills they are great at

and practicing with their classmates the skills that they require additional help with. Project-

based learning and the framework for universal design for learning are two concepts in which I

am increasingly interested. I seek to implement them in my future classrooms as the opportunity

becomes available. Peer teaching is one such group strategy that I have had the opportunity to

use. It is a great tool for allowing students to find their own voice and to verbalize their thoughts

and ideas. In a literacy context, this can be done by students reading a text of their choice and

teaching what they have read to their group mates verbally or through technology such as a

PowerPoint presentation.

As social media and technology greatly affect our society both positively and negatively,

the presence of technology in the classroom grows too. Digital literacy is very important for

teachers to consider whether they are a fan of technology or not. Whether one is a millennial

worker or a Gen-Z/Gen-Alpha student, social media sites such as Facebook, Tiktok, or Twitter

are one of the leading sources of current news. Unfortunately, much of that information can be

incorrect or misleading. As students use the Internet and social media to learn about the world, it

would be unfair to ban its use in academic pursuits. For that reason, teaching students how to

navigate the information available online and verify its credibility is a vital role for teachers in

this digital age.

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Literacy is a vital tool for interaction with society, whether that interaction is in-person,

online, or through a newspaper. Through literacy, we share information, opinions, and dearly-

held beliefs. As a teacher, I believe that my job goes beyond teaching students to read English

words or to correctly write a subject and predicate. Students must learn how to take what has

been written by another person and truly understand it, whether on their own or with outside

assistance. It is equally important that they know how to respond, whether they agree or disagree.

Beyond this, students should use this knowledge to interact with their world, the laws in place,

and the systems that affect them daily. My philosophy is that I am to help them to achieve this.
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References

Baldwin, J. (1963). A talk to teachers [Speech transcript.] The Price of the Ticket, Collected

Non-Fiction 1948-1985.

Fecho, B. & Allen, J. (2004). Teacher inquiry into literacy, social justice, and power. In J.

Flood, D. Lapp, J.R. Squire, & J. Jensen (Eds.), Methods of research on teaching the

English language arts: The methodology chapters from the handbook of research on

teaching the English language arts (pp. 211-244). Taylor & Francis Group.

http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/csusb/detail.action?docID=227477.

Freire, P. (with Macedo, D.). (2005). The pedagogy of the oppressed (M. Bergman Ramos,

Trans.). (30th-anniversary edition). The Continuum International Publishing Group.

(Original work published 1968)