Philosophy of Education
When I first started teaching, the plan was simple: Become a teacher, go on to graduate school, and eventually settle into an English doctorate. I was to spend the last years of my life at a small college in the northeast, living in a colonial-style cottage complete with a fireplace and a large dog.
At the time I considered teaching to be a brief stop rather than a final destination.
In the past few years, though, I have truly grown to appreciate what it means to be a teacher. When I started teaching I fell into many of the traps that come with the job. I taught the standards well, but failed to truly engage the students. Over the past few years I have developed instructional methods that not only teach, but keep students engaged. Seeing students progress is an amazing experience, but watching them actively enjoying themselves is something very special.
I believe that education through media is the future for our students. As the world grows more technologically advanced, the opportunity for a quality education increases. This leads to a bright future where students at a Los Angeles public school can communicate with students from all over the world. This is a future where our students can produce short films of their lives and where a global community is felt even within the walls of a classroom.
When learning Romeo and Juliet, the students will be able to see Shakespeare performed in a replica of the The Globe and interview the actors afterwards. When studying ancient Greece, the students can take a virtual tour of the ruins. Classroom discussions will turn into global discussions as students teleconference with peers from all over the world.
As technology advances, it also becomes easier to engage students. In The English Teacher’s Companion, Jim Burke discusses the importance of interactivity in the classroom. Students love to interact with one another, and technology is making a student-centered classroom more of a reality. While students are still reluctant to write in class, several of them will spend time tweeting their latest adventures or writing on their best friend’s Facebook wall. With the rise of social networking systems, and the ability to create media, students can not only produce more, but also share what they have created.
Lev Vygotsky suggested that some of our strongest learning comes from interacting with our peers. If this is the case, I see a bright future for our students.
-Cletus Ganschow
References
Burke, J. (1999). The English teacher’s companion. Portsmouth, NH: Boynton/Cook Publishers.
Vygotsky, L.S. (1978). Mind in society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 57.
