Isaac Cochran

HIST397
Teaching Philosophy
History is a story about all people, all over the world. I am a natural story-teller at heart,
and the chance to bring these epic tales of everyday people to life while instilling an adoration of
critical thinking is why I have always wanted to lead my own classroom. In my lesson I taught at
Francis Joseph Reitz high school, I offered students the ability to engage with history and
historical methods on their own terms through a Choice Board focused on the Cuban Missile
Crisis during 1963. Students took advantage of the assessments available that best allowed them
to complete the work and explore more about their personal learning styles, helping myself as an
educator learn what best engages them to their fullest capabilities.
To achieve this, my first goal is to develop critical thinking skills to engage with global
challenges and find creative ways to transfer those skills to other professions. To nurture unique
and creative thinking to question previously understood methods and traditions with the hope of
constant improvement is shown by my students putting their own creative spin on understood
historical context. Traditions, like fact-recollection and transmission, has its place as the
foundation of learning; a building block upon which my students can expand their perspectives
from a safe environment. The newer generations are more globalized now than ever before, and
they are engaged in the constant struggle between misinformation and misinterpretation every
day. In my class, students will build their houses of scrutinization on stone, not sand. To help
distinguish between authenticity and misinformation, my students link the burning of books in
Nazi Germany to the destruction of Mesoamerican texts, architecture, and traditions in
Spanish-controlled Mexico.
Building analysis and collaborative skills using multiple perspectives of primary and
secondary sources is my second goal for all my classes. In my World History class, analyzing the
grand narratives of nations, regions, cities, familial groups, and individuals forms a narrative of
lasting cause and effect through logical consequence. Analyzing Julius Caesar’s Commentaries
on the Gallic Wars from multiple perspectives lends multiple avenues of thought and exciting
grounds for discussion. My students engage in debates using agendas they have pulled from
primary sources to debate and discuss broad positions and improve their public speaking. Group
work also helps foster community, and regularly engaging groups together to learn from and
engage in discourse is the method by which safe and nurturing learning environments can be
created.
Community, cooperation, and building empathy through challenging previously
understood perspectives is my third goal for my classes. My students analyze historical methods
and inquire into the lives of contemporary agents. Social history is a rising and influential school,
and I want to promote that school by encouraging my students to dive into rabbit holes to learn
more about the lives of everyday people. My class looks at first-hand accounts of Norwegian
fishing communities during global Women’s Suffrage Movements, Japanese court life during the
Crusades, and others like the daily routines of Senegalese Skirmishers during the First and
Second World Wars. Creative exploration, critical examination, and cooperative effort help my
students understand that people throughout history occasionally face the same challenges,
challenges that they will apply themselves to one day.
To achieve this goal of community and creating a safe learning environment, my class
does group work regularly and in a variety of ways. My students group together to bring a
myriad of perspectives and opportunities to learn while analyzing the same primary or secondary
source. In class debates, my students group into three sections, two sections debate one another
on a particular issue in history in a Reacting To The Past activity and must convince the third
group to join their side on that issue. An example of this activity would be the debate between
the Greek city-states allied with the Achaemenid Persian Empire and the city-states opposing
them to convince those still neutral to join the war on their side.
Teaching is something I have always believed in. Contributing to the cause of education
larger than myself is best measured when I get the look of amazement in a student’s eyes right
before they express that “ah ha!” moment that is worth a fortune and more. I have always strived
for becoming the best student before I became a good teacher, growing as an individual by
enlightening my perspective in and out of class. Student perspectives also help me grow as an
educator and an individual, learning more about my students’ potential can help me foster and
encourage them to be the next generation’s leaders.