A Partnership for Learning: My Educational Philosophy

The role of public education is to provide an equal opportunity to obtain an education in a safe and inclusive environment. With a solid educational foundation, students can then go on to pursue their life goals and become productive members of society. Student success within the educational system lies mainly with the students themselves, their teachers, and their parents or guardians. If teachers, students, and parents can form collaborative and supportive partnerships the educational process can be transformative. The teachers role is varied and complex. The teacher has to be a master of their content, a cheerleader and advocate for their students, adept at behavior management, an instructional leader and motivator, a role model, and much more. The teacher is the most influential variable in the classroom. If the teacher is successful at fulfilling all these roles their classes will be more successful academically. A teachers main struggle is engaging the students to learn. Once a teacher can get students minds engaged in the learning process behavior issues go down and test grades go up. However all a teacher can really do is offer motivation the student chooses how to respond to that motivation. Therefore the learning process is a partnership between the teacher and the student. Neither member can do one hundred percent of the work. Student and teacher must work together to reach the students full potential. The teacher is responsible for making the content as engaging and relatable as possible so that the student wants to give their best effort to learn but the student has to put forth the effort. Students have to be held accountable for their participation, effort, and work. The teacher is responsible for giving the student the proper information, tools, skills, support and encouragement. Students are responsible for their own behavior. A teacher cannot force them to do work, show up to class,

read, write, or behave. The student must choose to put forth the necessary effort to fulfill their part of the partnership in order to reach their full potential. Parental involvement can motivate students to do better in school. Just being aware of what classes their child has, asking if they have homework, or showing an interest in their education can convey to kids that the parent cares about their progress. Parents dont have to monitor homework or tutor their kids in every subject to get them to try harder. Parents who show an interest, offer appropriate earned praise, and attend students extracurricular activities communicate to their kids that they are invested in their childs academic life and that it is important. It would be wonderful if all parents could be more involved in school volunteer programs, PTA, and chaperoning but it is simply unrealistic. Many parents simply do not have the time. Communication between parent and teacher can be lifesaving in some instances and is vital for student growth. Every student has potential to learn. However not every student learns at the same pace or in the same way. Lesson differentiation is vital in diverse classrooms. Offering content in several different forms to appeal to different types of learners ensures that everyone can access the content successfully. That doesnt mean however that they should not be developing their other skills or modalities of learning. Keeping kids engaged relies on keeping them challenged and sometimes that means forcing them out of their comfort zone. Humans are naturally curious and within curiosity is the desire to learn. In every student there is a desire to learn and grow. It is the teachers job to formulate a curriculum that is relatable and accessible to their students. It is the students job to put in the work. It is the parents job to ensure the student is

educationally encouraged at home. If all three are working at their maximum potential there is no reason every child cant succeed.

Quotes that reflect my Educational Philosophy:

"A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron." -- Horace Mann "The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers rather than to fill it with the accumulation of others." -- Tyron Edwards "Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -- Benjamin Franklin "Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve." -- Mary Kay Ash I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. Teaching might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit.--John Steinbeck You can get help from teachers, but you are going to have to learn a lot by yourself, sitting alone in a room.--Dr. Seuss "The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires."--William Arthur Ward "The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery."--Mark Van Doren "The whole art of teaching is only the art of awakening the natural curiosity of young minds for the purpose of satisfying it afterwards."--Anatole France "Compassionate teachers fill a void left by working parents who aren't able to devote enough attention to their children. Teachers don't just teach; they can be vital personalities who help young people to mature, to understand the world and to understand themselves. A good education consists of much more than useful facts and marketable skills."--Charles Platt "The future of the world is in my classroom today, a future with the potential for good or bad... Several future presidents are learning from me today; so are the great writers of the next decades, and so are all the so-called ordinary people who will make the decisions in a democracy. I must never forget these same young people could be the thieves and murderers of the future. Only a teacher? Thank God I have a calling to the greatest profession of all! I must be

vigilant every day, lest I lose one fragile opportunity to improve tomorrow."--Ivan Welton Fitzwater