Autonomy ○ Respect ○ Practical Life Skills ○ Critical Thinking ○ Community Involvement

Statement of Teaching and Learning Philosophy

I believe that a teacher must show respect to their students at all times, and in turn be worthy of respect themselves. Respecting students means respecting their time, their feelings, their interests, and their selves. As teachers we achieve this through differentiated instruction, and by encouraging discovery learning. A teacher is a teacher of everything: social-emotional learning, mindfulness, self regulation, how to construct a safe community, taking intellectual risks, and what it is to be human in addition to all of the literacy and academic skills we cover. Our classrooms, then, should act as incubators for the natural, intrinsic motivation and curiosity of students. It is the responsibility of both the teacher and student to ensure the student is in control of their own learning.  In borrowed words, “Don’t mold, unfold!”

Our classrooms should not be islands, separated physically or intellectually from the real world. They should be safe learning spaces, practice spaces, where we teach and learn the skills and knowledge that will assist us in the world beyond the walls. Insofar as we all lead different lives, what we teach and learn in the classroom will vary from individual to individual. As well, it is insufficient to teach only those things that we often associate with school: reading, writing, math, history… We must endeavour to transform these things into real applications, make the connection between theory and practicality clear. In my classroom there will be space to learn practical skills: changing a bicycle tire, assembling a wooden chair, sewing on a button, using a compass. I will do this to make the more theoretical subjects real for my students, as well as to give my students with various funds of knowledge opportunities to excel. If students leave my classroom with their intrinsic human curiosity and desire to learn in tact, with a few more skills to help them accomplish that learning, my class will have been a success. It is not enough to teach skills and knowledge, only to quell students’ enthusiasm in the process. In another set of borrowed words, from Mark Twain this time, “The man who doesn’t read good books has no advantage over the man who can’t read them.”