Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING PAPER

Philosophy of Teaching Paper

Laura Jarrett

Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University

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Equality and Opportunity: Modern American Schooling

The American public school system was expected to give every child in the

United States an all-encompassing, thorough education. Public schools were to teach

young Americans societal norms, provide an even playing field in career opportunities,

and grant those in lower social classes a mechanism to move up in socioeconomic status.

Horace Mann, the father of public schools, believed that schooling was the key to a good

society.

Modern American schools models our society in most every way. American

schools are diverse, multicultural, multilingual institutions that breed bullying, racism,

and an emphasis on the negatives of differences by educating from only one races

perspective. Using only one culture as the definitive ruling in public schooling leads to

deculturalization, racial tension, and gender inequalityand if you believe that it is a

modern practice, you are wrong. Native Americans in the 1800s were stripped of their

names, clothing, and culture and handed white clothing, told to cut their hair, and only

speak English. Asian Americans in the mid-twentieth century were looked at with

suspicion and placed in internment camps. When their children were allowed into the

predominantly white institutions, they were expected to be the smartest student that

couldnt possibly have a learning disability.

These past inequalities were prominent and publicized while the segregation in

modern schools is covert. Segregation in schools is continued through the twenty-first

century through second-generation segregation, which Spring (2010) defines as forms of

racial segregation that are a result of school practices (p. 115). Second-generation

segregation includes tracking, extracurricular activities, and even social events. This type
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of segregation can occur in balanced racial populations. Minorities can have differing

rules and stricter consequences for school-based offenses than their white counterparts.

Not only do these students have to deal with bullying, racial slurs, and instructors

treating them differently, the standardized tests that affect their future are biased. The

SAT, which determines whether high school seniors get into college, is skewed towards

white males, especially those that come from middle-to-high socioeconomic status. A

student that does not know what a garage is will not be able to answer a question that is

contingent on a mans garage. A child that has not eaten in three days and does not know

where they will get their next meal does not care how they do on a standardized test.

I believe that Mann was correct in saying that schools can change the public but

he only stated one part of the equation. If schools can change society, society must be

able to change the schools. If we want our schools to be stronger and our students to learn

more, society has to gain more respect for public schools, education, and the profession

in general. Minimal credentials and somewhat acceptable test scores do not make an

acceptable teacher. Instead of lessening the profession by allowing lowering standards in

order to put a warm body in a classroom, the American school system should employ

credible educators that want/need to be helping the next generation and are willing to

continue their own education. Change societys perception of learning and the profession

of teaching and our schools will improve and grow.

High Stakes to Choose Correctly: Modern American Schooling

In the past fifty years, the state and federal government have increased their

power and influence over what could and should be included in the curriculum of public

schools. No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top state specific goals and ideals that
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every American public school should be enforcing as well as what to do with schools that

are not meeting the standards that these administrations believe are exemplar. Schools

can be closed and teachers can be fired if test scores are not met nor exceeded. On top of

this stress, each different states has its own specific testing philosophies and procedures

that the schools have to follow to keep its accreditation.

Many educators that are in charge of classes in which standardized tests could

determine the future of the child, the teacher, and the school only teach towards the test.

These teachers cite that they could lose their jobs or be docked pay if their students do

not pass the test, resulting in a curriculum that cannot be changed or improved. Teaching

towards a test was never the goal of the American school systemit causes laziness in

both students and their teachers. I have taken classes that end in a standardized test and

we were not allowed to look beyond the test and its expected material. We were told

there was no time for outside informationthat statement stops a childs creativity and

their growing need for exploration. How can we teach children to love to learn when the

next moment they are told that there is no time for their questions or their own interests?

Children do not need to be given a test in which their whole educational career

rests and has no importance in their lives. Students should be taught a variety of

informationsome that will help them in later work and relationships, some information

that is just entertaining, and some that will make them love to learnthrough different

techniques. The love of education and the will to learn is what makes us human. Instead

of teaching children how to be the best follower or worker, children should be taught to

ask questions and be given intellectual freedom. We do not need one-size-fits-all testing

in which low-ability and highability students are made to feel inadequate. Having high-
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stakes testing in schools tells children that they are a number that is only there until they

are pushed into the next grade.

Deep breathing: How your philosophy has changed

This course was the first time that I actually sat down with the issues and

problems of the American schooling system. Both my parents are teachershave been

for more than thirty years. I have no illusions to how inefficient and frankly, stupid the

mechanics of our system have become. However, my parents tried to keep the child-like

wonder about education in my eyesuntil I told them my senior year in high school that

I would be going to Virginia Tech to get my bachelor degree in Biology and my master

degree in Education. Since then, every week I receive an email from my mother that

deals with education. Not to say that they are not supportive, they arebut they want me

to know every aspect of what I am getting myself intotheir exact words.

I knew that I would have to deal with helicopter parents, students and parents that

do not care about biology or school, standardized tests, and making sure that the students

enjoyed and got some kind of inspiration and education from my course. This class

showed me the inequality of educational opportunity. I saw racism firsthand in my town,

county, state but I never thought about second generation segregation in my own

classroom or school. This course showed me the baggage that every student and teacher

comes into the classroom with and how we (the American school system) have, usually

wrongfully, dealt with those differences. I know that I will need to deal with these

differences in the most beneficial and valuable way possible. This will be my most

important struggle.

R-E-S-P-E-C-T: A New Philosophy

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To be able to successfully educate the next generations, I will have to work in

tandem with my administration, principal, fellow teachers, parents, and students to create

a safe haven in which my students will learn to become scientists, good citizens, and

wonderful, socially-conscious people. Our school systems need to provide more

nutritious lunches, more inclusive classrooms, continuing education for teachers, and a

mentor technique for struggling or new teachers. However, our schools are not the only

aspect that needs to change for the betterour society needs to be more inclusive,

continue education for our citizens, and fight the war on poverty. These issues will not be

the only struggles that I will have to deal with as a teacher and a member of the

community. I will also have to deal with the baggage brought into every classroom and

the struggles of being a teacher in an unpopular subject.

Biology in middle school is not usually a subject towards which many students

look forward. I want my students to be curious and creativeI want to instill in them a

love for school and learning. To be able to accomplish my goals, I will show my students

that education is more than just answering questions, taking exams, and getting graded.

Our classroom will respect that the federal and state governments have set standards that

we have to reach but we will not be chained down nor scared by those examinations. We

will learn to explore, create, and discover new learning strategies, a wide variety of

scientific studies, and master the major biological concepts that they will expand on later

in life.

Another aspect of teaching that I will struggle with will be helping young girls in

STEM courses. As a woman that has moved through her education in a subject that was

dominated by males, I want to be an inspiration to young women who may not be able to
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see themselves achieving a career in science. It is not just pushing young women into the

STEM fields but showing girls that they can find what they love and make a career out of

it, no matter what certain gender roles may have historically said.

Every teacher has to deal with one struggle throughout their careersthe

differences of their students. Differences that include race, gender, educational ability,

socioeconomic status, culture, language, and many more aspects of their lives that they

bring into every classroom in which they come. These dissimilarities will not be glossed

over nor magnified to make someone feel horrible or uncomfortable. We will talk about

how these differences make us individuals who could work together with understanding

and no preconceptions. No disrespect will be tolerated in my classroom. My classroom

will be a place in which outside troubles can be laid down and pencils picked up. I will

explain to my classes that they do not know the background of the student next to them

and should not make a disparaging comment about a topic in which they do not fully

understand. Respect is the key for me.

My class will be a safe haven for every studentthey should know that I will

always be willing and able to help them. I will make real connections with each of my

students and get to know them on a more personal level. I will go to community events,

sporting events, and church services to further convey myself in the community. I will be

the educator that is able to teach their students a topic but also how to be good citizens

and good people, not just children who are sufficient at bubbling in answers. My goal for

my career, besides the goals set by state and federal government agencies, is to make a

difference in the life of my students. I want to be the teacher that former students come

back to my classroom and say hi, the teacher that current students want to stay and talk to
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after school, the teacher that is in a grocery store ten years after Ive retired and former

students stop and want to catch up on our lives. I will notcannotjust teach what is on

a state-mandated document. I will be the teacher that affects the education, the lives, and

the heart of her students.

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References

Spring, J. American Education (15th ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.