Reflection 1.1
My vision of myself as a fantastic teacher:
-engaging -flexible -trusted -consistent -mindful -honest & real with my students -organized -inclusive -inspired & inspiring -a student and learner
Reflection 1.2
What I mean by
Love(ing) children means... Seeing them as whole people with worth and potential, capable of growth and learning, and full of knowledge and experience from which I can learn. My love for youth is like my love for other people, but somehow I am more forgiving and able to invest myself in their lives.
Want(ing) to help students means... Understanding that I don't know what students need--I have to ask, to inquire, to encourage, and be there to support the dreams and wishes of students. I want to foster growth and development.
Another reason I want to teach includes... Believing that we can do better for ourselves and for each other, and knowing the energy spent on youth is never in vain.
Reflection 1.3
What will sustain me?
Loving children will sustain me if I continue to remind myself that love is an action, and never simply a feeling (bell hooks).
Loving children will not sustain me if I cannot also love myself and understand my relationship to my students.
Wanting to help students will not sustain me if I don't also love them. Our liberations are bound to one another.
Reflection 1.4
Love and help reexamined
Similarities: Recognizing difference. Affirming, understanding, and responding to needs.
Differences: I hadn't thought about my ability to practice love and help. Becoming highly-developed in these areas means I can improve and love/help more fully.
Reflection 1.11
Dale Spender's new interpretations
I love the idea of creating new knowledge. It seems crucial in this statement and in thinking about knowledge to understanding how perspectives are normalized and become "common knowledge." Truth is relative to one's position in the world, and those belonging to many dominant identity groups often decide what counts as knowledge (real, legitimate, the truth). That is not to say we haven't been hugely influenced by radical philosophy and epistemologies--they come from a realization like Spender's. There is always another story to be told; a story that is real and authentic and relevant, but lacking validation because of institutional, cultural, and individual power that keeps the story hidden.
Reflection 1.12
Your philosophy of education: How would you answer the following questions?
1. What is the main purpose of schools?
I struggle to find a singular purpose, because I think schools have many purposes and children can and will have different experiences. I hope that schools provide a safe space for 8 hours a day, work to prepare students to make choices and have options when they graduate, develop skills that will be useful, introduce students to perspectives and ideas that one might encounter or need to consider, inspire students to contribute, inspire students to ask questions... my list could go on and on.
2. How does this purpose relate to or serve a diverse society?
This purpose is entirely wrapped up in the reality of our diverse society--we've got to have people with many skills and ideas, we've got to value our differences, and we must recognize that not one of us experiences the world in exactly the same way. Schools should help students ask questions related to power and privilege so that they can understand themselves within a diverse society and work to change it, should they see a need. (They'll see a need...)
3. How does this purpose relate to or serve a socially stratified society?
If students are asking questions and being critical while learning skills, they have more agency and ability to change and make decisions based on what kind of a future they'd like to see and be a part of. All students need to be interrogating identity as it relates to circumstance, especially if we expect to have more equity. I also think that educating FOR equity is a hugely important place to start effecting the stratification we see.
4. What are the implications of what you wrote above for the work of a teacher?
I have a lot to learn, and I need to be intentional about expanding my own knowledge and perspective to do my part in the missions of an educational system. I need to constantly reflect on my intent and my impact, and I need to be committed enough to social justice to accept mistakes and embrace the challenge.
Reflection 1.13
My vision revisited
As a teacher I envision myself...
Constantly and continuously being challenged by my students, learning about their realities and encouraging them to consider others'. I still hope to be flexible, mindful, consistent, trusting/trusted, honest and real, inspired/inspiring... I think I will also work to be conscious and intentional about embracing diversity in and out of the classroom.
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5 comments:
Good thinking going on in there! Here's to finding and developing the tools and the perseverance, courage, wisdom to achieve these worthy goals. Loving you, Ma
Yo
1.1
what does real with my students? Can you be "real" and still be an authoritarian figure.
1.2
"The energy spent on youth is never in vain". I find this to be something every teacher should believe.
1.3
I think the term "love" can be used too often because the feeling is worth nothing if there are no actions behind it
1.4
I've never thought of practicing help and love either. Can we realistically do this for every child?
1.11
Common knowledge is often created by those in power who don't want those of non-dominant groups to voice there opinions, i.e. the lack of Native American history in our social studies classes.
1.12
We all have a lot to learn because we won't become fantastic teachers overnight.
1.13
How do we embrace diversity? What does it really mean?
You want to be forgiving...an interesting position for a teachers. I wonder what that looks like for a teacher in a classroom and how that might help you achieve your goals. Supporting. It is an art to support while challenging your students, as you want to build trust but you want them to also grow and there is usually little growth without risk. Perspectives. Safety. These two seem to go hand in hand. Asking questions. Not only thinking of questions but having the courage to ask them. How can you empower students to ask those questions? Challenged. If you are open to being challenged by your students, I think a lot of these other kinds of things will come along...
Hi, Larkin!
Yay--I figured it out! Sorry to you and Patrick for taking off so fast today--the idea of a nap was like crossing an event horizon and I had to go.
Anyway...
1.1- A lot of the descriptive words you used either came up for me too or resonated with me when I read your blog. I really liked and focused on the last bit (inspired and inspiring/a student and learner). I think a mindset of teaching and learning is NECESSARY. The great thing about this kind of sharing is that everyone gets more out of the process.
1.2- I really love what you say in this reflection. I relate strongly to what you are sharing. When I think of our future students, I think of my own teenagers--their insight, intelligence and potential. It's hard for me to understand anyone who sees a child as unintelligent or untrustworthy. It's harder still to imagine why such a person would wish to become a teacher.
Why do you think you are more forgiving toward children? What about childlike adults--is it certain personality traits or status as a minor?
1.3- Our liberations are bound to one another...Wow! This sentence is a wonderful articulation and means a lot to me.
Experiencing the MAT while being a member of a family, I'm already working hard to maintain balance. I think balance will become more important when we get our first teaching jobs. If we compromise our own health and balance, we won't be as effective for our students. I think that helps me restrain my habit of working too hard sometimes.
1.11- Studying history has made me hungry to find the small stories that may have been lost or overlooked. Those stories are out there, and we live with amazing access to information right now. I wonder how we as teachers can best expose our students to hidden stories? Do you have any ideas?
1.12- I sometimes grow frustrated when people don't perceive how much can be gained from diversity. I need to channel this frustration into new strategies to highlight the benefits of diversity for my students.
I think that it's going to take a lot of teachers educating FOR diversity in their classrooms to change things from small to big.
Thank you for your thoughts!
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