Teaching Philosophy (2009)

My teaching philosophy begins with my faith, from which comes a command:  to love one another; as there is no greater command than this.  Love encompasses patience and kindness; it is neither proud nor easily angered; and it always trusts, always hopes and always perseveres.  To love all men is a challenge I accept - it's the hardest thing to do! - and that's why it is the foundation of my teaching philosophy.

To build a home of love requires the work of many hands, a group endeavor that shall only succeed with open and honest communication.  I am one worker alone, but in gathering with people of similar understanding, if not acceptance, there is strength.  Whether these people are strangers, my students, colleagues, or even the janitorial staff, I've learned that candor can smooth over many rough patches, making these paths straight; and without a doubt, in teaching, it, in conjunction with much humility, can redeem lessons and lead to professional breakthroughs, because, of course, while blessings and encouragement spur people on to greater things, so do criticism and rebuke.  I strive to let frank talk be a cornerstone of who I am.

How best to build a house?  There are such myriad architectural styles and other options from which to choose, from building materials to a location, that to determine the best fit for the circumstances seems to be the only rational response.  Consequently, so far as ideas go, I like to generate the ones that more perfectly fit the context in which I find my teaching and learning - call it, "pragmatic creativity."  When brainstorming, whether with colleagues to improve the ELC or by myself to plan a lesson, I'll seek the most useful, if feasible, solution first, and then allow my thinking to branch out.  In addition, I do my best to maintain a degree of flexibility, adaptability, in the event that one solution fails quickly and another is demanded, no matter at the meeting table or in the middle of a lesson.  Rapid, prolific, utilitarian thinking is what I bring to the creative process.

On a related, concrete note, I firmly believe in the power of harnessing new technologies to generate solutions for my students and my colleagues, because technology undoubtedly advances the tools - the ideas - that we workers use both inside and outside the classroom.  Without technology, we would be building stone dwellings instead of sleek aluminum edifices, and working with one person sitting at the opposite desk rather than collaborating with thousands of other educators at one's fingertips.  There is value in adopting and disseminating new ideas to people, even to those who at the time may not have the desire to know, because expedient solutions will always be needed in the education realm, whether we have them or not; and I purpose to stockpile them!

Finally, the principal of the school at which I worked from 2005-2006 told me at the time that it was still too early to tell whether or not I would be a good teacher.  The honesty, wisdom and prescience of my former boss were evident that day; and to be sure, in the summer of 2009, more than three years after that sharing, the answer to the question is still elusive.  The pursuit of this truth, however, is the building process which, at length, shall yield a final product, a more definitive (and hopefully, more perfect) model of teaching, whose mortar is love, honesty and humility, and in which all education stakeholders – students; teachers; parents; and administrators – can find joy, peace and learning.