Educational Philosophy
Leaving law school in 2012, to pursue a field in education, was by far one of the best decisions I made. Albeit, the career transition was quite a daunting undertaking, it was greatly facilitated by my passion for teaching and desire for being a lifelong learner. It is with this passion for teaching and curiosity to learn that I hope to inspire my students to find their sense of purpose in the world. I believe that every child deserves a quality education, one that not only addresses their academic development, but their psycho-social and moral development as well.
The driving force in my teaching career is based on the philosophy of educating the whole child and putting students first. As a student-centered educator, I believe that teaching is much more than delivering curriculum; it is about creating meaningful relationships with students and fostering a spirit of inquisitive learning by promoting a safe and inclusive environment whereby students can learn from making mistakes. In short, my holistic approach to teaching is centred on a social-constructivist framework and is based on the foundation that education is critical in helping students self-actualize as human beings.
A few years ago, I came across a quote by John C. Maxwell that embodies my vision of holistic education, “students don’t care about what you know, until they know that you care.” This quote reinforces Nel Nodding’s concept of the ‘ethics of care’ and also alludes to the importance of promoting the social and emotional wellbeing of children. At the start of each academic year, I make an overt point of getting to know my students on a more personal level by having them complete a “Student Profile” and having them share a little about themselves with the class. Fostering a caring community through relationship building is critical for teaching and learning to flourish. The information collected from this activity reinforces the idea that, one needs to know their students to know how to care for them (bell hooks). For example, some of the questions I pose are the following: do you have a preferred name and/or pronoun?, what’s your cultural/ethnic background?, how do you learn best?, what can Ms. Seminara do to help you learn better? The questions that touch on identity are incredibly important in helping me ensure that my students’ identities are reflected in the history curriculum and thereby challenge what Chimamanda Adichie refers to as “the danger of a single story.” One way of doing this is by including culturally diverse authors throughout the units and to reach out to members of the community that can speak to a particular topic (i.e. inviting an Elder to speak about Residential Schooling in Canada). The other questions regarding the learning process is meant to spark a habit of metacognitive reflection among learners and to let them know that, from day one, I am committed to making their success my number one priority.
I have also found the application of Nodding ‘ethics of care’ philosophy to be particularly powerful when addressing discipline from a restorative approach (done with dignity) vs a punitive, more traditional approach. By engaging in restorative justice practices, which are based in Indigenous traditions around the world, I try to reinforce proactive classroom management principles of fostering a sense of belonging, inclusion and community among my students. However, when harm is committed, and a reactionary approach is needed, students are taught how to restore the harm/relationship by developing their empathic and perspective taking skills (i.e. through the use of Restorative Circles).
The underlying assumptions of my teaching and learning philosophy are based on the social-constructivist epistemology, proposed by Vygotsky and reinforced by Benjamin Franklin’s famous saying, “Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn.” As evidenced by this quote, I believe that teaching and learning is a complex interactive process that is reinforced by social interaction and the co-construction of knowledge. As such, an exploratory form of instruction that is inquiry/project-based is ideal to achieve these aims for it allows students to engage with topics in a deeper and more meaningful way (Dewey).
At the root of my pedagogy also lies a growth mindset (Carol Dweck) philosophy that helps foster learning, especially critical thinking skills. As an advocate of this kind of mindset, I believe that all students can learn and achieve academic success with effort and perseverance. Broadening my definition of success with students shows them that scores and grades, although important, are not the only things that matter. If students are to believe this as much as I do, then they can be more in tune with learning “how to learn” and not only “what to learn.” I reinforce this by teaching studying/learning strategies that can help them become active and independent learners, as opposed to passive learners that Freire refers to as “depositories of knowledge” in his banking model of education. For example, in the context of my History classes, students are taught how to think like a historian by developing historical thinking skills (i.e. by establishing historical significance; using primary source evidence; identifying continuity and change; analyzing cause and consequence; taking historical perspectives and understanding the ethical dimension of historical interpretations). Given today’s reality whereby information is easily accessible online, it’s vital that students develop competency-based skills (i.e. 21st century skills like the 4 C’s: communication, collaboration, critical thinking and creativity) in addition to the acquisition of knowledge.
In addition to addressing the "how" and "what" to learn, it is also important to address "why" something matters (Simon Sinek). In my case, as a History teacher, I try reminding students that history matters because it is about people, because it encompasses who we are, where we came from and where we are going. As young citizens, I want students to embark on a quest to remember, understand and imagine the past, in order to make sense of time and build a rapport with it. As David McCullough, acclaimed author and historian, once stated, “[history] isn’t just part of our civic responsibility. […] It’s an enlargement of the experience of being alive, just the way literature or art or music is."
For learning to be effective, meaningful and relevant, instruction must be well designed. In his book Visible Learning for Literacy Douglas Fisher says, “every student deserves a great teacher, not by chance, but by design.” Starting with the end in mind, I design my units and lessons using the Backwards Design framework. I like this framework as it promotes student-centered learning and allows me to ensure a coherent alignment between the unit objectives, assessments and learning experiences/instructional methods. Above all, it allows for one to be deliberate in planning for inclusion (i.e. meeting the needs of diverse learners) and avoids retrofitting.
In pursuit to making learning more inclusive, I also strive to incorporate Universal Design principles during the curriculum design process. For example, a particular Universal Design principle that I consistently apply is ‘tolerance for error.’ This can be evidenced through my consistent use of formative assessments (i.e. KWL charts, think-pair-shares, exit cards, google forms, recoding, Kahoots, etc). Formatives are really helpful not only for students to keep track of their progress, but also in helping me adjust my teaching to what my students know at a given time. The idea is to keep an up-to-date pulse on student learning and to reinforce the message that learning is about risk-taking.
They say it takes a village to raise a child. The same can be said of our students. This is why I strongly believe in building bridges between students, parents, and members of the community to facilitate successful outcomes. Being in a position where I can positively influence and inspire today's youth to achieve their potential is incredibly rewarding and a responsibility that I don’t take lightly. As influential role models, teachers have the unique opportunity to help students become the best versions of themselves, or what Maslow referred to as “self-actualization.”