Teaching Credo:

Helping Others to Succeed

            It has always been my dream to become a teacher.  My goal is to teach English at the secondary level.  Helping others to learn and understand what they are reading while writing at a higher level has always held great appeal to me.  My appreciation of the English language came when a special teacher taught me to love reading in the fourth grade. It is my wish to help others discover the many worlds that exist hidden inside the covers of books.  I also want to help others to write well so that they may excel in life.  Understanding the English language is a must in the fast paced world that we live in today. 

            With improvements regularly being made, and the English language becoming universal, being able to use and understand the language will allow people to succeed in life.  I wish to assist new generations as they prepare to enter the real world through a combination of the many philosophies of teaching.

            I believe that schools need to focus on the basics with students before they move on to more complex and technical ideas as stated by the essentialism philosophy.  Schools should not look down upon or push away the vocational and life oriented courses.  Many students are skill smart but struggle with book work and standardized tests.  By teaching student’s basics such as reading, writing and the comprehension of literature we are giving them basics to build upon in whatever field they may choose.

            According to progressivism, students should be given the right to show their individual personalities while in school.  I believe that individuality in the classroom helps students to gain confidence and allows for better group discussions, work, and activities.  When students are able to work together, it allows the teacher to get to know them and understand where they are coming from in life in order to make lessons more fun and interesting.

            By keeping students interested, a teacher has a better chance of helping them to develop their minds and find new ways of thinking.  Teachers are there to help students to develop their higher faculties while learning to control their lower ones.   This perennialistic way of thinking is a key example of why I wish to teach: helping others to learn in order to succeed in life.  Perennialism is also centered on great books.  As an English teacher I would be able to share my love and knowledge of great authors, books, and the ideas they encompass with my students.  I do not believe in a fixed national curriculum though.  I believe that by forcing all students to learn, and teachers to teach, the exact same things year after year, takes the joy out of both learning and teaching.  Learning should be done for the want of knowledge, not because somebody says that you need to know something.

            Existentialism portrays the ideas that individuals must create their own meaning in life.  In order to do this, students must learn about things that excite their curiosity and have purpose.  By learning about things that interest them, they take on minds of their own.  Though I do not believe in the promotion of self-esteem at the expense of subject matter or that learning should be entirely self-paced.  Many students, when left on there own, lack the motivation and drive necessary to learn without a helping hand.  Teachers still need to enforce due dates and assign homework to be sure that students are making advancements.  Classes can still cater to student needs and curiosities without lacking structure.

            It is my wish to have a classroom that is fun and challenging, but open to students when they have troubles or questions.  Teaching ideas that are easily understood but make a person think and question as they grow and form opinions of their own is a goal of mine.  I hope to excite a passion to learn and succeed in all my students.