My Philosophy of Teaching

William Butler Yeats once wrote, “Education is not just the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” In today’s educational community, it seems that there is less effort to light the fires that spark children’s innate inquisitiveness than there is to laboriously attempt to forcefully fill a thousand individual pails that have been created by the special interests of bureaucrats who have become distantly removed from the real needs of those serviced by public schools. Learning is a natural process that should emerge easily when children are given a safe and comfortable atmosphere monitored by caring and trusted adults. In kindergarten, most children eagerly approach their first days of school with wide-eyed anticipation. Unfortunately, it seems that for many it takes only a few years for that natural curiosity to be squelched by the myopic and narrow scope of an educational system that has become so overwhelmed with the responsibility of showing evidence of its accountability that the true needs of the children in its care are overlooked. Abraham Maslow’s hierarchy of needs tells us that a child must have his or her basic physiological, psychological, and social needs met before he or she can reach the level of self-actualization that is desirable for a confident, healthy, and productive member of society. In order to accomplish this, schools must accept their responsibilities for the growth and development of the whole child. However, an understanding of this idea reveals that each child will require a different pathway to reach this level of self-actualization. The logical conclusion is that all students cannot be taught or assessed in the same manner.

Dr. James Cromer once wrote that “no significant learning ever occurs without a significant relationship”. Once educators make the effort to develop these relationships with the students that they serve, the natural formation of the individualized plan develops, even if it is done in an informal manner. When students believe that there are adults in the school building who have a true understanding of their interests, talents, and needs, then the educational experience becomes relevant. The federal government’s interest in accountability through data has taken the human element out of education.

The children in America’s schools, in many ways, truly are the victims of low expectations. The most common misconception is that every student can be successful through the same process or program of study. For the most part, schools give students very little credit for being able to articulate their own unique educational interests and needs. However, most students can clearly describe what subjects and classes they enjoy and which classes or subject matter is troublesome. Even when students show an exceptional aptitude in a given area, there is little opportunity for any type of individualized educational program to be created for the average student. Only recently has the educational community embraced the concept of differentiated instruction, but even as that idea receives more attention and consideration, we still live in a country that ultimately chooses to assess all students through the same type of standardized instrumentation. Students need to have the opportunity to voice their individual concerns and desires for their educational studies to an advisor or panel of advisors who have enough of a personal relationship with the students to be able to develop plans of action and courses of study appropriate to the unique needs of the students.

The reason that many schools have a student population who demonstrate lackluster attitudes about their coursework is that these students have been given very little responsibility for creating their own individualized educational programs that meet their distinctive learning styles and interests. Hence, many students do not feel invested in their educational studies. In contrast, many students feel that their schooling is merely an obstacle that stands between them and their goals.

The real danger in education is that those with in positions of authority forget that this is ultimately a profession that is designed to care for the needs of young people who merely require experienced guidance in making a reality of their aspirations, not ours. Too often, we do not give our young people sufficient credit for the validity of their own dreams. Educating children and guiding them to become productive contributors to society is a complex task with no easy solution. It is a delicate art, not a precise science that can be easily categorized or expressed through data. It is only through the invaluable subtleties of human relationships that can develop the aptitude to determine individual needs of young people that will lead our children to their desired goals.