Final Teaching Philosophy |
 |
|---|
Last summer, as I embarked on my journey as a Duke MAT student, it was with the hope that by pursuing a career in teaching I could merge my passion for science with my longing to play a positive role in the lives of teenagers and in my community. I expected to find teaching to be both incredibly rewarding and incredibly challenging. After seven months student teaching in the Durham schools, I have found that my expectations were correct on both accounts. As I look back over the philosophy statements that I wrote last summer, it is interesting to see which of my beliefs regarding teaching and learning about science remain unchanged and which have shifted following actual experience in the classroom.
One idea that I spent a good deal of space discussing in my preliminary teaching philosophy is the importance of a science teacher bringing passion for her subject into the classroom and using this passion to help make science come alive for her students. I also discussed the value of making learning hands-on and inquiry-based, giving students the opportunity to take part in scientific investigations for themselves and in doing so exposing them to the process-based nature of science. My philosophy expounded on the importance of exposing students to the multitude of ways in which science intersects with everyday life. It promoted the value in developing students’ abilities to think critically about scientific issues. Finally, I expressed the thought that, by teaching students about the natural world, they may learn to appreciate it in new ways.
After having taught for seven months, I still hold all of the above beliefs regarding teaching science. However, I also realize that successful teaching requires much more than just bringing passion for a subject area into the classroom. I now feel far more aware of the practical challenges of teaching. For example, although I did discuss classroom management to a small degree in my preliminary philosophy, I don’t think that I realized as I first began student teaching just how important successful classroom management is, or how challenging it can be to achieve. I now have a much greater appreciation for the importance of setting clear behavioral and academic expectations from the very first day of class.
Another aspect of teaching that I now have much more experience with than I did last summer is the fact that a teacher must be prepared to work with a classroom of individuals. No two students learn in exactly the same way or are at exactly the same level of understanding when it comes to content. Therefore, a teacher needs to try to differentiate instruction as much as possible to meet the needs of a diverse group of students. Before I began student teaching I didn’t really think about the fact that I might have students reading at an elementary school level and students reading at an advanced high school level within the same classroom. But, I experienced this during my first semester student teaching.
I still very much believe in the importance of hands-on, inquiry-based learning, as discussed in my preliminary philosophy. I think that for most students it is definitely true that more learning takes place when they are actively involved in DOING something rather than just listening to a teacher give them information. Furthermore, I think that students will come away with a better concept of science as a dynamic and ever-changing discipline if they participate in asking questions and problem-solving in class on a regular basis. However, at the same time, my experiences in the classroom have shown me that creating opportunities for in-depth, inquiry-based learning can be difficult to accomplish due to time constraints.
In the fall, I had the opportunity to student teach biology for an entire semester. Doing so allowed me to witness the pressure that biology teachers are under to get through the entire curriculum before the end-of-course test. Although I feel like the teachers I worked with did a good job of integrating inquiry-based lab activities into their classes as much as possible, having such an extensive curriculum makes it difficult to go really in-depth into any particular section of biology, a fact which I find unfortunate.
Thus, my student teaching experience has made me a stronger believer in the benefits of reducing the content of the science curriculum and instead spending a greater amount of time focused on a small number of essential themes, as suggested in the National Science Education Standards. When I analyzed the national and the North Carolina state science standards last summer, I found myself agreeing with most of what they proposed, and I still do. However, I see now, more than before, that a degree of disconnect exists between the goals of the standards and the existence of end-of-course tests which require students to recall many small details of the curriculum. As someone who hopes to teach in public schools, I understand that standardized testing is something I will need to learn to work with. However, my student teaching experiences this year definitely opened my eyes to the very real dilemma that testing can create for teachers who want to give students time to really interact with the subject matter, but at the same time also want their students to be exposed to everything that may show up on an end-of-course exam.
A final idea that I have come to understand about teaching science is that not all students will find the subject matter as fascinating as I do. But, I think it is important to jump on those instances where students are really interested by or engaged in something in class and get them to probe into it more deeply. For example, during fall semester, many of my students became excited when I exposed them to vegetables that they had never seen before. I was able to use the surprise expressed by some students at the thought that anyone would eat an artichoke, to get them to think about what anatomical plant parts the vegetable represented.
I think that one important way to get students to appreciate science is to try to expose them as much as possible to the natural world. As far back as I can remember I have had an appreciation for nature and wanted to understand it better. But, nature is also something that I was continuously exposed to from early childhood on. This is not the case for many students. I feel fortunate to have done my student teaching in two schools with easy access to natural areas where students could be taken for quick field trips. The last unit that I taught during my ESL earth science class was on freshwater resources. We spent four days during this unit outside at sites such as a nearby pond and a forested area next to the school. It was fun for me to see the excitement students experienced when they discovered tadpoles and crayfish at the pond or pinecones in the woods. I think that an essential component of any science education has to be giving students these kinds of experiences with nature. To truly appreciate nature and the scientific questions it presents, students must first KNOW nature.
Overall, I would say that my student teaching experiences have shown me that teaching science involves a constant balancing act. Teachers must balance the presentation of content with the pursuit of inquiry learning, the differing needs of a diverse group of students, and the time needed to present engaging lessons with the time needed to create a well-managed classroom. All of this presents quite a challenge. However, it is a challenge that I am excited about pursuing as I set out on my career as a science teacher.