My current teaching philosophy is grounded in Culturally Responsive Teaching, Trauma-Informed Teaching, developing advocacy through student leadership, and continually improving effectiveness. I believe in the teacher being the facilitator in the classroom, which challenges traditional euro-centric views of teaching. As a facilitator of learning, one is bridging students’ experiences with class content, and learning is reciprocal between the facilitator and the students (Friere, 2018).  My students are encouraged to be scientists, analysts, evaluators, and creators in a safe environment where individual differences are accepted and valued. Diaz Rico described the relationship between Culturally Responsive Teaching and student learning when he said, “the culture that students bring from the home is the foundation for their learning” (p. 249, 2013). As educators, we need to build on our student’s prior knowledge and leverage their previous experiences to help them reach a place of deep, lasting, authentic learning. A type of learning that is relevant to them and their lives. Our students need to feel valued and affirmed in the classroom in ALL of their identities in order to reach their fullest potential. Garcia, M. (2010) helped to redefine my role as an educator, she described teachers as cultural bridges who bring the knowledge from students' daily lived experiences together with the content being presented in class.

 

As an educator in America, it is necessary for one to examine the history of racism and oppression and the environment of inequity it has created for our students today. Race is a critical component of our students’ identities, in order for deeper learning for all students to occur race must be viewed through an assets lens where their identities are valued and affirmed in the classroom. Furthermore, race is often rooted in the traumatic experiences my students have overcome. To effectively examine trauma race needs to be an integral part of the conversation. Stevenson (p. 184, 2014) said, “educators are ethically bound to know better, see better, and do better, for the sake of children’s learning.” Educators are responsible for facilitating this place of healing in their classrooms. Being racial literate means that as an educator you have a strong sense of your students’ racial identities and how they influence your students inside and outside of the classroom. In order to have a clear understanding of your students’ racial identities, you must first critically examine your own racial identity. Teachers often enter the field unaware of how their identities will impact their students. To be an effective educator one truly has to understand their students- their cultural backgrounds, their specific strengths and weaknesses, and their communities. One cannot expect to meet the needs of their students and families if they do not understand them. Examining how one’s identities will impact an educator’s students is a crucial step towards having a trauma-informed classroom (Stevenson, 2014). Without an understanding of one’s identity, one may be contributing to the trauma the student is experiencing rather than serving as an area of support. Ladson-Billings (2014) stated race is central to analyzing inequality, in a similar fashion race is central to analyze trauma.​

 

 My mission as an educator is to empower and support my students. I play a critical and crucial role in my students' growth and development. I support my students by creating lessons that every student can access, cultivating a safe and accepting class environment, and listening and responding to my students' needs. I joined Teach for America with very a romanticized vision of the education system and my ability to disrupt it. While I have and will continue to make a difference in my students’ lives, I have begun to see how truly massive and invasive the system is. Over time my understanding of the education system and my ability to impact has become less romanticized and more action-based. I now feel less overwhelmed by inadequacies in the American education system and I am keener of the specific ways I can disrupt the education system and empower my students to the same. I have grown tremendously as an educator; I began my commitment with Teach for America without any formal teaching experience. One salient example of growth for myself and my students is their performance on the biology benchmark. In the fall my students took a biology diagnostic test and only three of my ninety students scored basic or higher. During the spring semester, my students retook the biology diagnostic and over 90% of my students scored basic or higher. My class had more students scoring advanced or proficient than the honors class.

 

Transformational educators develop student leadership inside and outside of the classroom. Student leadership is a hallmark of a culturally responsive classroom because it shows that power and accountability are being shared between students and teachers. I started developing student leadership by creating student jobs in my classroom and now I am the faculty advisor who founded student council at my school. Student leadership pushes students to take initiative and to take accountability for their own learning. Educators can use student leadership roles to develop a meaningful experience that separates them from their peers (Worthen & Patrick, 2014). I have used my position to develop public speaking skills, graphic design skills, video editing, filming, event planning skills, and community outreach strategies in my students. These skills will open doors for my students as they leave my classroom and apply to jobs, scholarships, elected positions, and academic programs because these skills make them more competitive and differentiated them from their peers (The Glossary of Education Reform, 2014). I encourage all educators and stakeholders reading this to think about how you could use student leadership to increase your students’ access and make your classes more culturally relevant in your school setting and community. 

 

Often I see educators enter the field with a desire to help students and communities they view are impoverished, however, teachers are not saviors; teachers should not enter the classroom and community to help students. Teachers, instead, are skilled professionals who work with students to cultivate the strengths of those who teach, foster the development of the next generation, and use education as a tool to break barriers and increase access.  As my practice has improved, I have refined my view as an educator. I now see myself as a facilitator of learning who views students from an asset-based lens, is culturally relevant, and trauma-informed. My teaching philosophy has transformed what education looks like for my students and led to remarkable personal, emotional, and academic growth for my students. To ensure that I live up to the degree I earned as a Master of Science in Education I commit to continuing my effectiveness as an educator by staying up to date and providing my students with learning activities that are supported by research and data. I will continue to be reflective in my practice, always striving to do better, and implementing feedback. Lastly, I will always be an advocate for equity who teaches students to be advocates as well. Teaching as a profession is full of trial and error. I am constantly learning and refining my practice. I have created a digital archive of all of my lesson plans, assignments, and PowerPoint and have made annotations and reflections for future implementation that will be passed down to future educators at my school. 

 

At the time of writing this, I must admit that I am leaving the classroom. I enrolled in PGSP-Sandford Psy.D. Consortium at Palo Alto University. The knowledge and experiences that I gathered as an educator will be invaluable as I study child psychology and work with school-age children as my clinical population. I joined Teach for America and I made a commitment to changing the educational system in the United States until one day when the system is equitable for all regardless of identity. Determined to live out my commitment I have made the following plans after leaving my classroom this June. During my five-year program, I have decided to support myself through substitute teaching and have already applied to the Palo Alto School district. As a substitute teacher, I will continue to impact children and live out my teaching philosophy. Once I earn my doctorate and become a clinical psychologist, I would like to specialize in school-age children and hope to work at least part-time in a school. I would eventually like to use my experience as a Teach for America educator, a Master of Science in Education, and a clinical child psychologist to impact and shape educational and mental health policy at the federal or state level. 

 

References

 

Diaz-Rico, L. T., & Weed, K. Z. (2013). The crosscultural, language, and academic

 

        development handbook: A complete K–12 reference guide (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River,

 

        NJ: Pearson.

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 Freire, P. (2018). Pedagogy of the oppressed. Bloomsbury publishing USA.

 

Garcia, M. (2010, June 17). An Introduction to culturally relevant pedagogy [Video file].

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       Retrieved from ​relevant-pedagogy

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Ladson-Billings, G. (2014). Race, Research, and Urban Education. 433-449.​

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Stevenson, H. (2014). Promoting Racial Literacy in Schools. Differences that Make a     

 

       Difference. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

 

The Glossary of Education Reform. (2014, March 10). Access. Retrieved from 

    

       https://www.edglossary.org/access/

 

Worthen, M., & Patrick, S. (2014, October). Course access: Equitable opportunities for 

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      college and career ready students (Rep.). Retrieved from 

 

      https://www.inacol.org/resource/course-access-equitable-opportunities

 

     -for-college-and-career-ready-students/