Schools, Teachers, Students, and the Community Must Work Together :: Teaching Philosophy Education

Schools, Teachers, Students, and the Community Must Work Together Two weeks into my junior professional experience at County Middle School, I had what Dr. Bill has coined an "Aha!" moment. I was writing examples of regional dialects on the board, and pronouncing the sound variations between the dialects when I turned around and noticed my students’ expressions. They were completely engaged in the lesson. They were practicing the pronunciation of the dialects and giggling about how we all sounded. The scene was surreal. I was so overcome with the dynamic, that I stopped the lesson for a moment, took a deep breath, and thought to myself, "This is it. This is the moment that I have been thinking about since the first day I decided to become a teacher." I exhaled deeply, quietly smiled to myself, and proceeded with the lesson. That experience has taught me critical information about my teaching platform and what I believe the role of a school is in a community. Schools are a vital feature of communities. My vision of the school that I am most drawn to is a school that seeks to educate students beyond local knowledge and basic skills. By merging cultural and academic studies, schools have a tremendous opportunity to empower and enrich the lives of young people. With current emerging technological advances and a world economy, schools have a responsibility to prepare students to thrive in their local communities, but also in a global community. In order for schools to achieve these goals, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community share the responsibility of providing leadership and guidance to the students. Schools are the catalyst for learning, but teachers are the vehicles that have the challenging job of transporting and imparting the information. Teachers have a responsibility to impart academic information that is culturally relevant and age-appropriate. A successful teacher knows that teaching is a full-time job, which requires a personal commitment to continuous, professional development and research of teaching strategies. In other words, teachers have to continue to be students of the profession, seeking to implement current research and diversity into the curriculum whenever possible. Schools, Teachers, Students, and the Community Must Work Together :: Teaching Philosophy Education Schools, Teachers, Students, and the Community Must Work Together Two weeks into my junior professional experience at County Middle School, I had what Dr. Bill has coined an "Aha!" moment. I was writing examples of regional dialects on the board, and pronouncing the sound variations between the dialects when I turned around and noticed my students’ expressions. They were completely engaged in the lesson. They were practicing the pronunciation of the dialects and giggling about how we all sounded. The scene was surreal. I was so overcome with the dynamic, that I stopped the lesson for a moment, took a deep breath, and thought to myself, "This is it. This is the moment that I have been thinking about since the first day I decided to become a teacher." I exhaled deeply, quietly smiled to myself, and proceeded with the lesson. That experience has taught me critical information about my teaching platform and what I believe the role of a school is in a community. Schools are a vital feature of communities. My vision of the school that I am most drawn to is a school that seeks to educate students beyond local knowledge and basic skills. By merging cultural and academic studies, schools have a tremendous opportunity to empower and enrich the lives of young people. With current emerging technological advances and a world economy, schools have a responsibility to prepare students to thrive in their local communities, but also in a global community. In order for schools to achieve these goals, parents, teachers, administrators, and the community share the responsibility of providing leadership and guidance to the students. Schools are the catalyst for learning, but teachers are the vehicles that have the challenging job of transporting and imparting the information. Teachers have a responsibility to impart academic information that is culturally relevant and age-appropriate. A successful teacher knows that teaching is a full-time job, which requires a personal commitment to continuous, professional development and research of teaching strategies. In other words, teachers have to continue to be students of the profession, seeking to implement current research and diversity into the curriculum whenever possible.