Philosophy of Education

What motivates people to learn? What motivates any living creature to learn? We learn to live.All of us, whether we are trying to survive in a West African desert, or become an airplane pilot, what drives us is the need to know how to take care of ourselves in complex and changing environments. I may come from diverse backgrounds, have different abilities, speak different languages at home, or come from countries where education is the defining factor between living a life of poverty or moving up the social ladder. When my kindergartners come to their first Physical Education class, many of them don’t know what to expect, or the importance of fitness and health, and one of my first tasks as a teacher is to assure them that their curiosity, imagination, and exuberance they naturally instill will be honored and encourage, not squelched or inhibited. What a child brings from home, from their community, must be valued as much as what I hope to teach them. Children should be seen, heard, and listened too, not just because they have the right to self-expression, but because without their input, we have little access to what makes their hearts and minds tick. Therefore we as educators can’t bring out the best of who they are , or teach them how to expect and nurture the best of themselves.

I show up for my students because I know how it feels to not have someone show up for you and believe this builds trust and rapport from the very beginning. I come with a plan, with my own ideas, with my own passions and talents. I also make sure to hold a safe space for each student to fill their own ideas, to provide choice, passions, and undiscovered talents. Teaching is a reciprocal practice; although I present myself as an authority figure, and perhaps an authority in my subject matter, to deny that my students also come with their own sense of how and why things work is to deny their humanity, and to create an environment where learning is limited. Sometimes I catch myself lecturing, and then look out at all the blank faces of my students, and I am reminded of this and venture a question. I am learning more and more to trust that students-all students- have a natural desire and ability to learn, and that I can learn, if I keep showing up with all that I am, and all I desire to be, will reach each and every child that shows up in my classroom. 

As a teacher who is still learning how to teach, I am learning mostly how to learn from my own mistakes. I make them every day and am constantly improvising with plan A, B, and C because that's what teachers do. I believe that blossoming humanity in me is the key to becoming a better teacher, which is what I model for my students. If my classroom is not the safe laboratory in which children can practice the art of making mistakes and learning from them, then I have failed in my role as an educator.