Thy Credo of Education

By James Vincent

Image you are back in first grade and your teacher asks you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”  Now, most of your fellow classmates want to be firemen, doctors, lawyers, famous singers, or nurses.  Others want to be just like their mommy or daddy, but you know exactly what it is you are destined to become.  “I want to be a teacher,” you say in a loud, prideful voice, waiting for all to be caught in awe with your response.  Though your teacher suggests you are just being a typical child, in your mind being a teacher is the most rewarding job imaginable.

In first grade, I wanted to become a teacher.  I have always seen teaching as a way to reach out to children in ways only I can explain.  Teaching runs in my family.  Seeing each of my sisters choose a career in education has only reinforced my desire to teach.

In high school, I took several courses involving teaching methods and learning styles, and have developed three distinct motivations for teaching.  My first reason is my love of children.  Children have a need to learn new things and experience wonderful adventures.  I feel they could learn to love education with just as much passion as they do ordinary life.  When I cadet taught at my elementary school, I was able to experience the joy learning brings to the students’ lives.  Seeing the students’ faces light up when they understood what I was teaching them was such a rewarding experience.

My desire for the power to change the environment in which my students learn plays another role in my motivation for teaching.  No matter grade I teach, I will always be able to adjust to my room at any given moment.  If one week I decide I do not like the setup of the room, I can change it.  If I decide I want to set up stations around the room instead of having the students sit in straight rows, I can change it.  If I realize learning by hands-on is more effective for my students than learning by reading, then I can change it.  As a teacher, I have the power to affect the minds of every student who walks through my door.  The possession of this power is a great responsibility.  As an educator, I am bound to the responsibility of shaping the minds and characters of the children of the future.

Robert Frost’s The Road Not Taken illustrates how the choices we make decide the essence of their consequences and of our very lives.  “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood” (5).   I see my life as the yellow wood, because just as the yellow wood encompasses the two roads, so too, does my life encompass my decisions.  “And sorry I could not travel both / and be one traveler, long I stood / and looked down one as far as I could / to where it bent in the undergrowth” (5).   I had two choices: to be a teacher or to not be a teacher.  Just as one person cannot travel two roads at the same time, I cannot decide to be a teacher only part of the time and then not be a teacher the other part.  I have to make a commitment and stick with it.  “I doubted if I should ever come back / I shall be telling this with a sigh / somewhere ages and ages hence: / Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— / I took the one less traveled by, / and that has made all the difference” (5). As a child I have always wanted to make a difference in another’s life.  As I travel down the road of education, I will be forced to make choices.  From these choices, I hope to make a positive affect in the lives of my students.  Being able to walk this long road and touch the life of a child will make all the difference in my life.

After looking over the different philosophies of education, I find myself leaning towards progressivism.  This particular philosophy has caught my eye because it states the universe is always changing.  Progressivism includes the advancement of technology. I believe creating a curriculum centered on the students’ comprehension skills, abilities and interests is extremely important.  This type of curriculum ensures each student will be educated to the fullest of their individual ability, while staying up-to-date with the recent technology.

Years from now, after I have retired and settled down for good, I will look back on my choices and ask myself the following questions, “Did I accomplish what I set out to do?  Did I fulfill all of my motivations?  Did I enjoy my time with the students?  Did I make every change possible to ensure the success of my students?  Did I affect my students positively or negatively?  Did I make a positive difference in my students’ lives?  Did I motivate each child to reach their own potential?  What could I have done to ensure my role as a teacher was fulfilled?”  When the day is done and the books are shut, my greatest hope is I will be able to answer, “Yes,” to all of them.

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