Philosophy Statement Revised. 12-6-06
After a semester in my TE 407 class, we were asked to revise the philosophy statement we wrote 4 months ago. We were also asked to write a narrative talking about what we changed and why. That part will follow.
It is my belief that the ultimate purpose of a teacher is to educate students in how to become ‘good citizens’. Although this phrase, ‘good citizen’, may differ from one person to another, I believe that a good citizen is a person who will gather information and then analyze the information as to make the best decision possible in order to fulfill their goals, whether it be to maximize their benefits, minimize harm done in the situation, or, most generally, make the best choice available. This ability of being able to make the best choice available is hugely important, as every adult has to make decisions every day, many of which have huge influence in their futures. In high school, the decisions made are becoming increasingly important in the students’ lives, and being able to make thoughtful decisions based on logic and rationalism is very important.
This making the best choice available can mean several things, and some explanation is needed. Indeed, one could think that the best choice available would be the one that has the largest benefit for the student, whereas one could think the best choice available would be the one that has the largest benefit for the society as a whole. Others might attempt to balance the two extremes in varying shade of grey, and still more others might decide that other things are important. Here, again, the teacher can play a role, albeit a silent role. Teachers, in my opinion, should not attempt to indoctrinate their students, but rather show them one model of where you exist on that spectrum. It is, in this way, students can decide for themselves what it means to be an adult.
From this fundamental purpose of a teacher, I believe that I will want to provide a good environment to hone these skills on a regular basis. A well-honed, analytical mind is trained and maintained through constantly approaching new problems, researching them, presenting a case, then defending against the dissenting opinions. Namely, the skill of thinking critically comes from debate, logical construction of arguments, and understanding that these situations are not isolated debates, but new ones are constantly formed and created.
But how can this be brought into the classroom? I believe that through several open debates, discussions, arguments, these skills can be honed and brought to bear on issues, not only the classical Social Studies, but also issues that are prevalent in the classroom. Depending on the curriculum, it could force the classroom away from the idea of a narrative story, where the students attempt to learn a huge amount of information from a lecture based classroom, and toward some sort of system where there are several major issues that are important and discussed in depth, and other topics might be used as a linkage between the two.
This, I believe, is where the student-teacher relationship should begin. Although there is a need for an aura of authority from the teacher, as to maintain discipline and order in the classroom, the teacher needs also to build a sort of professional relationship with the students, as s/he guides the student’s education in the direction of more complex and critical thought. This professional relationship can include, but is not limited to, understanding the basic personal life of the students, hopes and goals of the student, and a mutual respect, and will allow the teacher to motivate the student more easily than if this relationship was not present. The teacher must also show the student that critical thought does not happen on the school grounds only; it happens everyday in what some call the “Real World,” meaning the world that exists outside of the school walls. This real world, however exists inside the school walls as well. One cannot decide that real life starts at a certain point in life and only in certain places. Life is life, and the students’ existence is as real to them as my existence is to me. Students, however, will need to put the skills honed in the classroom to good use outside of the classroom.
This final point and goal of a teacher, allowing the student to realize that the problems that the student faces in school is not isolated, but is related to problems that exist outside of school, brings me to my final belief, the connection between teacher-student-social studies. It is my belief that social studies is the study of societies, either through social constructs such as economics, politics, through physical barriers such as those represented in geography, or through the beliefs of what happened in the past, history. Each of these studies are not isolated, as one directly affects the other in countless ways, and this web should not be studied merely in the classroom, but the students must realize that what happened in the past and why it happened have a lasting impact on current or recently occurred events. Hopefully, students from my class will come to this realization that historical events affect other historical events which affect current events as well as economic theories are played out in historical events, and etc. This sort of interconnectedness can stem from not only bringing in other subjects, but also stating that you are doing so. By declaring that you are bringing in other subjects, and showing how they interrelate, students might come to the understand the interconnectedness of the subjects.
Ultimately, I believe the role of a teacher, and more specifically a Social Studies teacher, is to create good citizens, people who will gather information, realize what the best choice is for them depending on their goals, and then act on those decisions. These citizens shall make a lasting impact on society as they will be willing to act on their decisions and beliefs.
