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My Pedagogical Philosophy

I plan to become an educator engaged critically, thoughtfully, and ethically in education

on a local and global scale. My field experiences in education have guided me closer to my

initial professional goal and aligned my pedagogical philosophy around Pugach’s Five

Career-Long Professional Development Commitments.

The concept of reflection and taking responsibility for my pedagogical decisions has been

a critical reflection. Educators do not have control over much of what happens inside school or to

their students outside of school. I am aware of my control over what happens in my classroom

and the role I must play within my community. However, my contemplation is never over— it is

ever-evolving.

Learning From Multiple Sources of Knowledge Throughout Your Careers

My pedagogical philosophy starts with what I already knew about teaching: my own

experience as a student. Some central values include an understanding that an excellent teacher

extends the lesson beyond the classroom, giving students a voice to feel heard, and building

personal connections. My previous experiences working with students also impact my reflection.

For example, the high schoolers I worked with at Brighton High taught me the importance of

creativity, flexibility, and the need to prioritize students over the content. However, my formal

education and previous professional experiences represent only a starting point for a lifelong

dedication to professional growth (and high schoolers are not like third graders).

Now I see that one aspect of learning from multiple sources is making the familiar

strange. The observations from my first pre-practicum in third grade allowed me to temporarily

suspend what I know about teaching and look at education through a new lens. The routine of the
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classroom becomes easier to question. Areas of improvement become more precise, and practical

techniques are backed up with data.

After gaining the observational skills to look at the classroom through a critical lens, I

began to open my mind to new approaches to education as a whole. Through the values of

abolitionist teaching, I strive for culturally sustaining teaching practices and values.

Using the Curriculum Responsibly

I strive to uproot the power of the hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum affects

everything from how students feel about school to what they know about society. Teaching the

curriculum goes beyond prioritizing student needs— it requires the teacher to actively discern

what they want their students to learn and consider what the current curriculum teaches.

Education can either function as a tool to teach the younger generation the logic of the current

societal systems, or it becomes a mechanism for freedom to teach students how to critically

participate in revolutionizing the world.

Using the curriculum responsibly requires a teacher to ensure that there are windows and

mirrors in the curriculum— particularly within literature. All students have the right to a

curriculum that mirrors their diverse experiences. There must be windows into the experiences of

others.

However, pedagogy can move beyond mirrors and windows in the curriculum. Prismatic

books shed light on the world for all readers by blurring cultural borders, dismantling

stereotypes, and questioning real-world practices. Social justice through responsibility-enacting

curricula involves simple yet intentional methods so that various backgrounds are represented.

Crossing Your Own Familiar Borders to Embrace Diversity

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I believe in using education as an agent for social justice. However, my commitment to

cross my familiar borders to embrace diversity is not a simple feat. I aspire to fully cross

cultures, comprehend systems of oppression, and understand how to fully connect with my

students.

Throughout my teaching lessons, I grapple with several questions about Pugach’s third

commitment. For example, how can I center my students in my lessons? How can I best serve

emergent bilingual learners as a monolingual person?

‘Celebrating differences’ and ‘embracing diversity’ is not enough. We can focus assets

while harboring a racist ideology. The opposite of a deficit view is a clear, unbending,

institutionalized commitment to racial justice. Multicultural classroom practices are not ending

points. They are starting points.

Meeting the Needs of Individual Students in the Context of the Classroom and the School

I quickly realized in my pre-practicums that it is challenging to maintain attention and

diligent care for all of my students’ needs. Being in a classroom felt overwhelming after learning

about the complex commitments teachers must make for their students.

Meanwhile, I began to learn about concepts such as the universal design for learning.

UDL allows all students better access to lessons from the beginning— not as an afterthought. For

example, creating a strong classroom community in the face of high rates of disproportionally

allows all students to feel confident and accomplished.

My supervisors are often thoroughly impressed with the way I connect with my students.

I believe the connections I made are partially due to my reflection on Pugach’s fourth

commitment. I find myself looking into meeting the other needs of individual students in my

classroom.
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Contributing Actively to the Profession

From a young age, I have felt haunted by the phantoms of societal indignity attached to

my family’s constant questions of my chosen career path.

However, the phantoms of societal indignity are powerful and pervasive in this underpaid

and too-often de-professionalized profession. In a similar vein to Pugach’s fifth commitment, I

now hope that my participation in the profession will help move it forward positively and

equitably regarding status, respect, and salary.

Teaching is a complex intellectual act that requires teachers, on a daily basis, to make

professional judgments that directly affect the lives of the students they teach.

I am now not only committed to teaching for social justice. Today, I am dedicated to

learning to teach social justice through inquiry. From diversifying modes of assessment to

making activism explicit parts of the curriculum in my field experiences, I have a better grasp of

the role I want to pursue as a future educator.