Amy's 2nd blog

My personal philosophies come from my past, and from all that I've been through and experienced. I believe people are inherently good. I believe there is more good in this world than evil.  I'm thankful for the upbringing I've had. Therefore, I am excited to teach in a way that reflects this. The golden rule has never escaped me, no matter what life has presented to me-which has not always been sunshine and lolly pops. That being said, my philosophy of education is evolving.  I see it now in its early development stage. I expect it to change with the more I learn and the more experiences I gain.  I've never written a personal philosophy of education before. I grew up in a small town. Went to college in a huge and diverse city.  I never had to think about teaching mulitculturally until I became involved as a tutor at the literary services of Wisconsin.  I taught English as a second language to primarily native Spanish speakers.  I used the first 15 minutes of each session as a get-to-know-you conversation.  It allowed me and the student to relax, get acquainted, and grasp where our language skills were at.  Difference is apparent and instead of ignoring it, it should be embraced and addressed in an open way.  It can be terrifying.  I know I was incredibly intimidated with my limited amount of Spanish speaking skills but I moved forward.  I was honest about my skill level and the students were honest if they understood me or not.  If not, I took another approach.  Those tutoring sessions were incredibly challenging but so rewarding because I felt like they operated solely on respect.
I liked how in Perkin's and Gomez's article and through "Linnea's story", she explains how she tried to take a 'colorblind approach to instruction,' but then went on to say how this created more tensions within her classroom.  It also hindered her performace as a teacher and almost ruined her relationship with her student, Plumer.  Instead of accepting her inexperience within a diverse setting, she feared to address it in a positive way.  This story's honesty acknowledges the importance of how knowing one's self is vital to one's career, especially as a teacher.
I believe teaching is situational.  Many believe they are to teach to a class as a whole.  The students are individuals which as teachers I believe are not to lose sight of. Getting to know these individuals is key to know who you are dealing with and how to get your point across. A good teacher was always someone who made me feel like I mattered as an individual and whom expressed care as to whether I grasped the content presented to me.
I believe education should be built on interest. And I know that it helps when teaching that we're interested to. While tutoring, I would ask students what they wanted to work on for that session. I understand that most teachers don't have this kind of freedom for their classrooms but even asking them and giving them a choice, relieves tension. I believe education and teaching are about respect; respect for one's self and others' ability. Education is at the same time, a personal experience.  There is sense of ownership to it which is important because it's linked with self pride.     
    If I tie myself to beliefs that i deem positive, and project them to students, I won't fail myself.  For example, I believe reading to children is positive and beneficial to their development. It was my favorite thing when I was little so is there projection here, yes, but to a beneficial point.  Can we argue that in this example, there is harm or ill intent even if it stems from my personal experiences?  How else do we grow as individuals if not from learning from experience?  Acknowledging inexperience, fears within, strengths, weaknesses, differences makes for a solid base of furthering education and exploring openness to change for one's philosophy of such.