So here’s the assignment: write an essay. This is your life map. Designed to help me better understand my own decision to become a teacher and to clarify existing values and beliefs I have of the role of teacher and education, this essay focused on answering just one question: Who am I becoming as a teacher?
Who am I becoming as a teacher grows directly out of my experiences as a student. As a child I lived in foster homes in three different states and before that I lived in apartments and trailer parks. I didn’t go to church, never took a “family” vacation and never owned a bicycle. There was also a lot of other change in my life but the only thing that remained consistent was school. I understood the systems and the relationships. While I didn’t make lasting friendships with either teachers or other students my interactions with them left a lasting mark. My memory of some of these interactions may not be very strong but the feelings I still feel are.
Philosophical Perspective
One day in the fourth grade I was surprised twice. My third grade teacher had called me to her classroom to sign her newspaper. It turns out, I was in one of the photos! I remember her telling me about how she will save this signature because one day I will be famous and she will want to have something to remember me by. She told me she was proud of me. I remember not knowing how to take this–at the time, I was a poor kid who lived in a foster home who walked to school.
This interaction left a lasting impact because until this moment I never knew anyone to
take this much interest in me. I want to be a teacher like Mrs. Morgan because she was
an inspiring teacher. No matter their socioeconomic background, I believe she felt this
same way about all her students because it was an intrinsic part of her philosophy–we
will do great things.
Sociological Perspective
Just before the fifth grade I moved from Indianapolis to Portland and it was interesting. In my class in Indianapolis there were only a few white kids–Dewey (the class bully), Patrick Muncie, a girl with long blonde hair and me. When I moved to Portland there was only one black kid–Lynn Hamilton. My best friend in Indianapolis was Tywaun Matheny and now he was Joe Puckett. I remember having a slight accent when I first moved and other students thought I was trying to act “black.” I didn’t like that, not because I am white but because the implication was that there was something wrong with being black.
I want to be a teacher that sees my students as different from the others because
(regardless of race or culture) they each have their own voice and story. I also want to be a teacher that sees my students as similar because they are all on their own educational journey discovering who they are and who they are going to be.
Environmental Perspective
As a sixth grader, I was in a 5th/6th split class. Our teachers even split the teaching.
Over the course of the year we transformed the entire classroom into a rainforest. We
built trees that stretched to the ceiling, made flowers that grew out of the walls and put
up poetry. The learning came alive–everything we did related to the Amazon. I have
more vivid memory of this classroom than I do of any other.
I want to be a teacher that uses the space well. I want my students to see their environment as a “teacher” as well. For me, this goes beyond the contained environment of the classroom, and to other environments as well (like the Amazon!).
Ethical Perspective
During the course of my sixth grade year, not really knowing at first what I was doing, I
copied some words from a book for a paper I wrote. My teachers immediately recognized that these words were not mine. In a private meeting they shared with me what I did and demonstrated the weight of what I had done. They had shown grace to
me and I had learned a tough lesson.
I want to be a teacher who has a relationship with my students so that my students will
understand the weight of some tough lessons that I have the opportunity to teach.
Historical Perspective
I don’t remember ever having a class where the desks were in neat, very neat columns
and rows. That is until my sophomore English class. Sit up straight! Look forward! No
talking! Nothing but writing. Mr. Eivers was a legend–old school, strict and couldn’t
take a joke. He was famous for stamping in red “REDO” on any paper submitted with a mistake. Mr. Eivers taught writing and probably taught it the same way for 30 years.
This experience always contrasts sharply with any of my other classes. Mr. Eivers also
gives me a contrasting view on teaching.
I want to be a teacher that grows the longer I teach. I don’t want to teach the same things the same way every year. I want to remain connected to my students and make a relevant impact.
Political Perspective
My junior year government class was co-taught by a student teacher who was not shy
about sharing her political views. Unfortunately most of my fellow students agreed with her. While I did not have an opinion yet–I was not yet of voting age and was still
primarily concerned with other things–I decided that I would take the opposite point of view. I relished the chance to be the only one, to be the devil’s advocate, to be contrarian. I started to “read up” on issues so that I could healthily participate in the ongoing conversation. Subsequently, I got involved in the community; I went to school
board meetings. I began writing for the school newspaper. I started to grow a voice.
This experience taught me the value of discovery and the value of critical thinking. As a
teacher I want to be involved in growing my students’ voices. I want my students to be
able to one day take their voices outside of the classroom and into the community and
make change. After high school I attended college, got married and started a family. When I look back I realize how far I have come, how much I have grown. I have nothing but positive things to say about school. I think I turned out alright, too, and I have my teachers to thank.
What does it mean to be a teacher? A teacher is someone who inspires students to do
great things and become great (even when they don’t know how yet). A teacher is
someone who cares for his or her students and treats each one justly. A teacher is
someone who creates spaces in which students can learn and wrestle with what they are learning. A teacher is someone who shows that there is a right and a wrong but that
there is grace, too–there is more to our character (who we are and what we do) than just walking a straight line. A teacher is someone who grows in their craft and continues to challenge his or her students personally and professionally. A teacher is someone who challenges me to ask questions, to think, to ask more questions and to think critically.
So here’s the assignment: write an essay. Not just any ol’ essay. No, we need an essay that proves that you can collect your thoughts and organize them on paper. Prove to us that you can write. With that kind of pressure, it’s no wonder I struggled with this.
I’ve attached an admission statement that I wrote as part of an application to a graduate program. I haven’t written an essay in a couple of years. I needed something to post and somehow decided that this was it. Here’s the actual assignment:
David Purpel, philosopher of education, writes, “The major question we need to ask educators is not ‘What is your philosophy of education?’ but ‘What is your philosophy of life and what are its ramifications for education?’” In a concise and well-written essay of not more than three double-spaced pages, please state your philosophy of life and its ramifications for education.
Almost to a fault, I believe that trying everything at least once is a good thing, finishing what you’ve started is even better and giving it your best shot is above all most important. These three core beliefs, of course, challenge me in all areas of life–school, sports and even in the workplace. Yet, above all, these three core beliefs shape the way I live my life and make decisions. These three core beliefs also shape the way I look at each student I teach.
Furthermore I believe that each student is a unique individual who can stand on their own merit but shouldn’t be forced to stand alone. Each student is a part of a community of learners and each student needs the community in the same way the community needs him or her.
I believe that students should be afforded opportunities to discover things for themselves. Trying everything at least once means not accepting ‘no’ for an answer. It also means you cannot have an opinion on the matter if you have not tried it. Our students today grow up with more choices than ever before, including the choice to engage or not in school. The relationship between teaching and learning goes beyond assignments such as memorizing and performing a soliloquy or identifying a constellation or solving for the variable. It’s reorienting our students to look at something as if it were new and inviting them to think critically about its meaning and uses. No longer can teachers rely on the content to be challenging enough. Now the experience of learning must intrinsically challenge the students to choose to invest in it. The intersection of an invested student and an invested teacher is where discovery happens.
I believe that students should be helped to develop a deep love for themselves, for others and for their environment. Finishing what you have started means seeing a process all the way through. This is especially important for feelings of success and having a firm grasp of what it means to fail. Certainly a builder cannot construct a building without first laying a foundation. In this same way every part of what a student learns goes toward the completion of a grand building. Teachers have the unique task of teaching the students to visualize the completed structure while learning how to appreciate each step of the way.
Anyone can be called upon to teach, but I believe it takes a unique blend of teacher and mentor and coach to teach and guide and mold each student. Giving it your best shot cannot apply solely to a student’s effort–it must also apply to a teacher’s diligence in perfecting his or her craft. Giving it your best shot means not reserving any dignity in case you do fail.
No one can be a teacher unless he or she is a student first. I believe that teachers should continue to grow and learn. In this way teachers model these same values for their students. In no other way can teachers and students exist within the same community of learners. Every year there are 24 reasons why trying everything at least once is a good thing, finishing what you’ve started is even better and giving it your best shot is above all most important. And every year these same 24 must be taught these same three core beliefs so they too can live a life that is both challenging and rewarding!
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