My philosophy is helping the student overcome obstacles and help them succeed in life through grit, giving, growth, and gratitude.

Grit is having the stamina for the long term and hanging in there day in and day out through all challenges. We need to have the mindset of a marathon runner. I am committed to having the grit to help my students (Duckworth, 2016).

As a teacher, I believe it is through personal growth that I will be fulfilled and find success as a teacher. It is nothing external or a person. My personal growth will never stop and I want to learn and grow.

In terms of giving, I believe that the secret to living is giving and I want to give it all to my students. I want to empower the student with an “I am here to help you” mentality.

I am grateful to be given the opportunity to study as a teacher and to have these wonderful students and by expressing gratitude, I am happier and more fulfilled.

Education cannot be institutionalized or corralled (Rocha, S. 2014). In antiquity, middle ages and up until the mid-1800s in Canada, the United States and Europe, teachers were traditionally male (Houston, 2009). In the last 100 years, it has changed dramatically and now only 30% of teachers are male and most in secondary schools. The historical background is very patriarchal and from control and strict background (Houston, 2009).

Teaching has changed from a simple education activity into a complex profession. The profession develops the hearts and minds of these young children and prepares them for tomorrow.

In the traditional hierarchy paradigm, the teacher held the ultimate power and was in control of the be-all-and-end-all. The students had to come and just listen. There was no engagement on the part of the teacher. It was all about discipline. The communication was just one way.

Now the teacher has to communicate, has to engage the student, not focusing on being in control or not focusing on the student being scared of the teacher. It is a softer approach of engaging the students to focus on learning and being successful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Children, just like adults, often don’t get along. There are differences in style, in ways of thinking, in temperament in other factors such as skills, cultural background and gender when it comes to the grouping of students. How, then, can one promote the kind of attitudes that will lead to the inclusiveness that is needed? Linson (2009) makes the observation that just like adults, children thrive in situations where they are forced (with slight pressure) to confront a tough challenge as a team.

In a seeming contradiction, the travails of a task that has within it the possibility of failure are one of the best ways to build the kind of community spirit in students so that they feel like that they belong. It is this sense of facing a challenge together that fosters the kindness, caring, interconnectedness and camaraderie that can bridge differences, overcome social awkwardness and foster inclusivity.

Creating a positive environment for students seems, on the surface, but also the most obvious things to strive for as a foundational need. And yet, it is not something that is always achieved for all students. After all, some students may associate school with negativity due to a variety of reasons and being in a positive classroom may be one. Younger students, around five at Kindergarten, may not associate negativity with the classroom as much as children older than five would and most often, it’s a natural thing for people to assume and seems to make sense.

However, research shows the opposite as Dewar (2013) cites a study in which a twenty-year-old and a five-year-old were seated at the computer and right before they started to solve a problem, an image of their preschool teacher appeared on the screen for a split second so fast that they did not even notice. The students who had a positive relationship with their teacher did well and those that did not have a positive experience didn’t do well. The experiment was conducted on students from the same class, with the same teacher and the same curriculum. And the results were still the same.

And yet, the very same German researchers conducted the same experiment on older children in elementary school all the way to middle school, and they found that the impact on teacher relationship was less than for preschoolers and kindergartners. This seems to be because students have a less physical relationship with their teachers (hugging, patting on the back) as they grow older.

The experience that children have at the age of five or six with their teachers is, as the research above shows, crucial. It reemphasizes for me the importance of the role I play when I teach elementary students. Sometimes, in the hierarchy of things that are deemed important in the educational system. Teaching older students is given more weight because they are, after all, closer to the crucial decision to enter secondary or post-secondary to start their lives as teens or young adults. And yet, it is the mentoring, nurturing and loving of the children who are 5-6 years old that can have an impact for the rest of their lives.

After percolating on these facts, this is the most painful to me when I think about it even in an abstract manner, not all children are given the emotional support they need in the classroom. Why is that? Sometimes it’s because of the subconscious bias. Some children are easier to teach, to handle, to manage than others. Sometimes it’s the stress that teachers are undergoing in their lives, or it might be the stress associated with disciplining a class full of rowdy 5-year-olds.

Teachers often don’t get the administrative support they need. There are a plethora of problems. But what are the takeaways that I, as an individual, an aspiring teacher who wants to shape the futures of children what can I apply to my teaching methodology when it comes to creating a positive classroom climate for my students? I think the most important thing that can help me overcome all kinds of stress, biases and other negativity factors is the deep conviction that my actions, my engagements with these precious, impressionable young children can impact them in profound ways for the rest of their lives. This attitude should fuel enough motivation to drive any teacher to do everything humanly within his or her power to make sure that the kids under their care have a positive and emotionally sound relationship with their teacher.

It must be kept in mind, however, that the discussion above does not exclude older children from the kind of teacher-student relationship that fosters trust and a positive classroom climate. But as Watson (2004) points out, in her aptly entitled article “A curriculum of care,” the underlying philosophy that creates a positive learning environment for elementary-aged children also do the same for older kids. It can all be summed up in one word “empathy.” As Watson illustrates, Laura, the teacher who has part of the Child Development Project (CDP), set aside negative feelings that stemmed from her student misbehaving and instead injected much-needed empathy into the equation: “Once Laura realized that Tralin’s resistance to learning activities was not defiance or laziness… Laura was better able to provide Tralin with the support she needed…”. It is critical as instructors to learn and understand when a student is acting out or not being the usual self, there is some context as to why a student is acting in a manner that may be perceived as “difficult”.  Hence, I feel it’s worth taking the time to observe and seek the necessary help but first, we need to learn about the student’s life and what’s triggering them.

If we can get past the stress that such behaviour sometimes creates, then we can be better teachers, providing more emotional support for our 5-years-old or 14-year-olds, whichever the case may be.