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Philosophy of Education

Starting at the age of six or seven, I remember always waking up to the sound of a particular bird song. Fo

was just a sound that happened around me. I never knew where exactly it was coming from or what the bird look

Later on, the song became a representation of home and I decided to make an attempt to discover the bird on Goo

described the sound that I heard the best I could in the small search engine te

Google gave me nothing. Then, one day as I was walking outside I heard the

and looked up to catch a glimpse of a Black-capped Chickadee. This small

discovery of matching the song to a specific bird way up in that tree, and lat

coming to know its name, felt huge and the memory of it stays vivid for me

years later. At some point, I could have looked up a Black-capped Chickade

the Internet and heard a digital recording of it's songs instead there was mor

exploration and discovery process for me. As a kid, a part of me knew that

experiencing knowledge, discovering it, and seeing it in action surrounded b

complexity was the way I learned best. There was an inevitable richness to it.

My philosophy of education includes:

1 - Teaching in a way that provides a discovery process in which each student has agency and the ability to expe

knowledge happening.

2 - Using a strength based approach to teach, to focus on what students have to build upon instead of only on ho

have been categorized as deficient.

3 - Student-centered and constructivistpedagogy:

Focusing on the specific needs of students Listening to what students say they need

Providing the opportunity to build on prior knowledge and make meaning for oneself

Encouraging students to express knowledge in a variety of ways, make connections, and collaborate with

Emphasizing the importance of asking questions and creating a safe space for students to voice their thou

confusions, and insights so that discussions are grounded in what they have to say about the material. Furt

by showing that questions have intellectual value, I hope to encourage students to take their own thinking

learning more seriously.

4 - Valuing visibility and relevancy:

I strive to make material culturally relevant and authentically connected to the lives of my students. This that I work hard to be inclusive, to not make anyone feel invisible, and to be patient as well as understandi

students. I want everyone to feel safe, welcomed, and appreciated in my classroom. This includes embraci

interests, gifts, and learning styles, as well as being critical of sexism, racism, color blindness, classism, a

homophobia, transphobia, sizeism, religious prejudices, ageism, or essentialism taking place in any space.

not mean that I push certain politics onto my students it means that my words, actions, and treatment of m

are inevitably influenced by this philosophy and an attention to the dignity and resp

everyone has a right to.

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5 - Treating students with trust:

I try to be an example of someone who can listen to others, trust what other people say their experience is

them out, and not treat anyone in a degrading or demeaning manner. If a student is being dishonest, my ph

to address the situation with seriousness, while still treating the student with a mature level of respect.

6 - Valuing individual journeys in learning and risk-taking:

I give students the opportunity to go their own way with the

material, either individually or collaboratively, as an extension

of their construction of knowledge. I also encourage students

to be risk-takers in their educational endeavors and to test out

their ideas and understandings in the classroom, in preparation

for real-world problems and settings.