My Teaching Philosophy
“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child,” wrote George Bernard Shaw. This is my ultimate goal as a teacher. To help students find a passion for a subject and to motivate them to study and learn beyond the classroom walls. As a teacher of social studies, I hope to share my passion of this subject with my students. Social studies is not a subject for memorization and the reproduction of content. Rather I believe that social studies requires students to construct knowledge and skills in order to apply these to new problems. It is a subject that demands students to develop elaborate communication skills. It must also be authentic, in which the lessons I design will reflect my students, will tie into real world issues and will introduce my students to topics and concerns that they will encounter outside of the classroom. I aim to prepare my students to be effective citizens of a democratic society, where they can think for themselves, reason and embrace diversity. In this way studying social studies is not an end, but means to an end.
Developing a passion for social studies among students requires me to create a learning environment that is engaging and supportive. In order to do this, I must put forth an active effort to get to know my students as individuals and their communities. Only in learning about the individual interests, characters and abilities of my students will I be able to create lessons that engage and support each student. As a teacher I will strive to create a student-centered classroom, where my students are empowered to raise questions and to follow their curiosities and passions. I will teach them the tools they need to engage in material, so they can discover and learn and develop their own ideas through active participation and interaction with their peers. I will strive to create a safe environment, where my students feel comfortable expressing all aspects of their identity and can share their thoughts and explore ideas together. I strive to create an environment, where high expectations and accountability are held for all students. I aim to respect and trust my students and for my students to respect and trust me, so that we can journey down the path of education collaboratively and effectively.
“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child,” wrote George Bernard Shaw. This is my ultimate goal as a teacher. To help students find a passion for a subject and to motivate them to study and learn beyond the classroom walls. As a teacher of social studies, I hope to share my passion of this subject with my students. Social studies is not a subject for memorization and the reproduction of content. Rather I believe that social studies requires students to construct knowledge and skills in order to apply these to new problems. It is a subject that demands students to develop elaborate communication skills. It must also be authentic, in which the lessons I design will reflect my students, will tie into real world issues and will introduce my students to topics and concerns that they will encounter outside of the classroom. I aim to prepare my students to be effective citizens of a democratic society, where they can think for themselves, reason and embrace diversity. In this way studying social studies is not an end, but means to an end.
Developing a passion for social studies among students requires me to create a learning environment that is engaging and supportive. In order to do this, I must put forth an active effort to get to know my students as individuals and their communities. Only in learning about the individual interests, characters and abilities of my students will I be able to create lessons that engage and support each student. As a teacher I will strive to create a student-centered classroom, where my students are empowered to raise questions and to follow their curiosities and passions. I will teach them the tools they need to engage in material, so they can discover and learn and develop their own ideas through active participation and interaction with their peers. I will strive to create a safe environment, where my students feel comfortable expressing all aspects of their identity and can share their thoughts and explore ideas together. I strive to create an environment, where high expectations and accountability are held for all students. I aim to respect and trust my students and for my students to respect and trust me, so that we can journey down the path of education collaboratively and effectively.