The Journey to Teaching Essay example -- Essays Papers

The Journey to Teaching My philosophy on education In taking this course there is one overwhelming fact that has become clear to me- Teaching is an ongoing process in which I will be te Student,as much as I am the Educator. My philosophy on education has greatly expanded from doing all that I can to help children learn, to a string of many ideas, and thoughts, which will shape my classroom. These are what i will discuss in this reflection. Lisa Delpit and her book Other People's Children, was influential to helping shape my educational philosophy. In her book, Delpit draws attention to educating minorities, and gives many examples as to why it is so hard. One reason is the language barrier between the teacher, and his/her students. I feel that from reading this book it is necessary for teachers to understand that culture impacts many of the ways our children speak. Delpit gives an example of this when discussing a conversation between a white teacher and her black student. The teacher is correcting the black child on how to say "brother." The student is reading to the teacher and he pronounces the word "bruvver," at which time the teacheer stops him and tries to get him to say the word in proper dialect (Delpit, 1995, p.59). There are a few problems that Delpit raises with doing this. First she says that you do not allow the child to gain confidence in their reading, and second, the child is interrupted continuous ly. Therefore the child will not be able to advance in the same manner as the other students who can read in the proper dialect. Culture plays a tremendous role in educating our youth, not only directly, like the example above, but also in the relationships between parent and teacher. Delpit ca... ...to a classroom, and embracing differences will help to create a multicultural room, full of respect and individualism. Each teacher has indifidual thoughts and beliefs, which they will bring with them to establish their own classroom. Although these values may not be the same for everyone, we need to respect them, because if we do not allow teachers to teach in their own way, then we are in fact telling them we don't trust their capabilities. This course has helped me gain an incredible amount of perspective on teaching, and there is one thing that I learned on the first day of class that will stick with me always. I think it sums up the every day routine that a teacher goes through, and will help me maintain my principles and strength through the most trying times. "BEWARE AND BE BOLD," never give up on a student, and never be scared to stand up for what I believe.