Essay On Educational Goals And Philosophy Statement

As an adult who was terribly spectacular at “playing school” as a teenager, I would be lying if I told you that I had conceptualized anything that even remotely resembled to what constitutes as “classroom management” before starting a teacher educator program. I was the student in each of my classes who had a side conversation every so often, but also shushed my peers when the teacher was trying to get the attention of the class and always turned their work in on time (even if I had put it off until the last minute.) Since many of my classes were relatively teacher-centric (i.e. we all faced forward, kept quiet, and took notes to perform well on our tests), I was able to navigate the system because I knew what teachers expected from me and …show more content…
I feel that I can be my best self, not only as just teacher but also as a person, when I can make connections with the individuals with whom I am interacting. For me, forming meaningful and purposeful relationships with students is essential to the authority I will attempt to implement in my class. It is my belief that by the process of forming meaningful relationships with and between students in a classroom setting in ways that do not feel contrived, students will be able to find meaningful ways to participate in classroom activities and take more out of them by knowing their ideas and opinions are supported. Not only does knowing my students and knowing them well have the potential of aiding the dynamic of my classroom by making it rooted in the sustainability of a community, but I feel much more confident in my ability to draw lines with students when necessary if I feel like I know …show more content…
The most pressing relates to the dynamic of authority in a community, as the idea of a community itself presents the notion that all members on are equal footing with one another. However, the reality of a classroom is that the teacher needs to have some semblance of power to ensure stability. When I first began to chew on this idea, I imagined a classroom as a totem pole, asking myself exactly how high in that ranking I needed to place myself to have a classroom that functioned in the way I hoped. I have come to the conclusion that this metaphor doesn’t fit the structure of the classroom management style I hope to establish. Rather than being above my students and exerting power from that position, my role in my classroom would be more effective if I was below them, in the sense that I would provide the foundation upon which they can exert their own agency and express their individuality. This is an idea that I am still attempting to process, and making an effort to visualize what that would actually look like in terms of my own