My education philosophy statement

 “The paradox of education is precisely this - that as one begins to become conscious one begins to examine the society in which he is being educated. The purpose of education, finally, is to create in a person the ability to look at the world for himself, to make his own decisions, to say to himself this is black or this is white, to decide for himself whether there is a God in heaven or not. To ask questions of the universe, and then learn to live with those questions, is the way he achieves his own identity.” (James Baldwin- A talk to Teachers,)

I remember when I started mentoring Migrant Students back in 2011, I kept hearing over and over, my teachers don’t understand us, they don’t get our culture. I resonated with these comments because I shared a similar experience growing up in Mount Vernon. School was never a welcoming environment for me, so through my mentoring work, I was inspired to become a teacher. The journey was not easy and took a lot of emotional work to get through it. We don’t talk about what becoming a teacher is like, but especially for people of color the journey is different because for every teacher of color I have met, we all share a few things we all had a bad school experience, difficult upbringing or both. My personal experience is what really drives the decisions in the classroom, I want to make sure that every student is seen and that every student is exposed to a diverse curriculum.  According to Rios and Longoria, “the central goals of culturally responsive teaching are to use the “cultural knowledge, prior experiences, frames of reference, and performance styles of ethnically diverse to ensure that learning to both relevant and effective. (Rios & Longoria, 2021, p.71) So with that in mind I make sure my curriculum is full of diverse texts and resources.  

My goal is for my students is for them to build empathy for other people and the world. One way I do this is by decolonizing my curriculum and my classroom space. I was raised in an education system that only values white education, if we look back to history, one thing that comes to mind is the Indian Boarding Schools, where native American kids were forced out of their homes and put in boarding  schools where they were assimilated to what white people called a “civilized society”. They were stripped of their culture, traditions, language, and history. We keep seeing the same pattern over and over with different ethnic groups.

              My second goal for my students is that they develop the skills to think for themselves. Freire mentions “that to teach is not to transfer knowledge but to create the possibilities for production or construction of knowledge. (Freire, 1998,p.30) I truly believe that my students need to be pushed to think critically about the world, it’s hard for my students sometimes to think for themselves, for some they have never been taught how to think for themselves. There is times in the classroom where I really push their thinking and I can see that sometimes its frustrating for them because they just want the answer. Too often though, there is no answer, and they need to understand that it’s up to them to come to their own conclusions.

              In Bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, she talks about vulnerability, that if as educators we ask students to be vulnerable and we don’t do the same then it be seen as coercive. She talks about how she doesn’t ask students to take risks she wouldn’t take, when she does takes risks, to makes it so that the educator is seen more as a human than someone that holds all knowledge. (Hooks, 1994,pg. 21) I believe it is extremely important to be open with your students. One way I do that is by sharing my experiences, I obviously only share what I feel comfortable sharing, but doing so builds relationships with them. They get to know me as their teacher, but they also get to know me, without the teacher hat. It's helps in a way because I come off as more authentic more real as past and current students have told me. For me teaching is much more than just academics, I believe is also about helping students develop empathy for the world, I do that by bringing authentic materials into my curriculum. It’s about how students see themselves in the world, who they are, where do they come from, what knowledge do they come with and how they can share that knowledge. That’s why my teaching philosophy is all about decolonizing education. There is this indigenous mexica concept called Xinachtil: planting the seeds of knowledge. That’s what I am trying to do with my students, planting the seed of knowledge for them to grow. I want my students to leave my classroom having learned that they have the power to advocate and create change in the world.

Personal Learning Next Steps/ Timeline

June 2023- Graduate with Masters in Language & Literacy

Fall 2023- get a literacy specialist job

Fall 2024 – Start Program for Admin Cert.

Fall 2025 – become a Vice Principal or Principal

 

Works Cited

Rios, Francisco., & Longoria A. (2021). Creating a home in schools: Sustaining Identities for Black Indigenous and Teachers of Color. New York, NY.

Freire, P. (1998). Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage. Oxford, England

Hooks, B. (1994).Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. New York, NY.

Freire, P. (1970) Pedagogy of the Oppressed. New York, NY.

Kendi,I. (2019) How to be an antiracist. New York. NY