My Journey As An Educator

Education is the most powerful weapon, which you can use to change the world.  

Nelson Mandela, former President South Africa

This is the first post on my new blog. I’m just getting this new blog going, so for starters, I will be sharing with you my journey as an educator and my philosophy as a teacher.

My Journey in a nutshell…

Two years ago I made the decision to move from my home country Jamaica to the US, with hopes of gaining international experience that would help me grow and develop into a better educator. The journey thus far has had its fair share of ups and downs, but the challenges has pushed me out of my comfort zone and allowed me to grow tremendously as an educator. The successes I’ve experienced since arriving here has furthered propelled my love and passion for teaching. It’s my desire to be the very best at my profession; being the best means been exposed to diverse cultures and meeting the challenges that new culture presents, so I can grow and develop. Teaching in a first world country has allowed me to develop my pedagogy skills. It has exposed me to innovative methods that I can use to reach the children I encounter when I return home in the future.

As I’ve always shared with my associates, I didn’t choose teaching, teaching choice me. After completing my undergraduate studies in environmental Biology, I thought I was on track to become a successfully environmental planner. After numerous failed interviews, and a growing school loan debt, I decided to shift focus and just find a job of any sort, something that would get me started on generating an income. I ended up been approached by a family friend who knew about an upcoming vacancy at a local high school in my home town. I ended up being interviewed by the administrator who hired me; that commenced my journey as an educator.

It wasn’t my intention to stay in the profession beyond two years, I still had desires to pursue my career in environmental biology, but as the years went by I realized I was really enjoying the teaching profession, it gave me a platform to reach young people and help to mentor and guide them into becoming better citizens. I eventually decided to complete my post graduate diploma in education and training which provided me with the formal training that I lacked. Looking back, I am grateful for where this journey has taken me and I look forward to the training and knowledge I will garner upon completing my Master Degree in Educational Technology at America College of Education (ACE).

Teacher Philosophy: Reasoned Thought

People are inquisitive by nature; as an educator my goal is to encourage my students to probe ideas and seek answers to question as they pop up during the learning experience. This approach of reasoning out ideas and seeking answers to thought provoking questions, provides the opportunity to advance the critical thinking skills of my students. “Teachers should emphasize critical thinking and problem solving skills by challenging students to question, reason, investigate, and conjecture. Students should relish in the thrill of learning and discovery” (Wiggins, 2019). A key theme of my teaching approach is to advance the critical thinking skills among my students and that is promoted through reasoned thought. As a science teacher, my goal is to encourage my students to think in a rational manner. As we move from a culture where our students were often taught rote memorization of facts, my aim is to encourage my students to analyze trends and make real life connections with whatever content they are engaged with.

We live in an information rich society; with this comes the challenge of our students not giving much thought to what information is presented to them through the various online sources. Embedded in my lessons weekly are activities geared towards helping my students’ probe and test scientific hypothesis and ideas. This is done through lab experiments but the rise of virtual online stimulation provides another opportunity for my students to further their understanding and obtain answers to the what, why and how of how biological processes occur and their relevance to life. “The most important step a teacher can take to help students develop critical thinking skill is to create a positive learning environment by respecting and promoting intellectual diversity. This not only sets an example for students to follow, but it also allows students to share their ideas openly with other students and the teacher. Respecting and promoting intellectual diversity requires a deeper understanding of how diversity manifests inside and outside of the classroom” (Anthony, 2019).

I endeavor to create an environment where students are not afraid to ask their questions and seek clarification to concepts discussed. As they explore the various content areas in biology, it is my hope that they think critically about whatever assignment their given and make meaningful connections to the content and world experiences. I will seek to create a segment throughout the week’s lesson where students can ready pose their questions to the group and in an organized manner have them addressed using the scientific method. In guiding students to pursue excellence, it is my desire to cultivate within them a love for knowledge as we strive daily to stimulate curiosity and advance critical thinking.

This website will be geared towards the sharing of educational resources for teachers within the science field. For conversation starter, what philosophy drives your daily instruction?

Stay tuned for what is to come! Subscribe below to get notified when I post new updates.

Reference:

Anthony, R. M. (2019, June 21). University Center for the Advancement of Teaching. Retrieved from The Ohio State University: https://ucat.osu.edu/professional-development/teaching-portfolio/philosophy/anthony-robert/

Wiggins, D. (2019, June 21). Statement of Philosophy . Retrieved from http://www.geom.uiuc.edu/~dwiggins/philosophy.html