Kimberly Wilson Teaching Philosophy To name oneself as a teacher is to live with one foot in the muck of the world

as we find it with its conventional patterns and received wisdom and the other foot striding toward a world that could be but isnt yet (Ayers, p.11). This quote from William Ayers (2010) book, To Teach: The Journey, in Comics, perfectly describes the courage it takes to make the decision to become an educator. While I know that I am willing to place myself in that area between what is and what could be, the struggle has been figuring out how I am going to determine what the world could be like and how I can help my students work to create that world. During my student teaching experience I realized, almost immediately, that you have to have a good reason for teaching if you hope to survive. It may seem idealistic, but what better reason can you think of than to make a difference in the world by making a difference in your students? At first, the thought of making a difference seemed like such a daunting task that I was terrified to mess up. I kept thinking that it should be harder than it was, so I must not be doing what I needed to in order to be an effective teacher. Thats when my field instructor told me something that made all the difference in how I see myself as a teacher. She told me that it may seem easier because teaching is what I am meant to do. After hearing that, I started paying attention to what I was doing instead of what I wasnt and it became easier to understand what my teaching philosophy actually is. Its actually pretty simple. I teach for my students and the people they are going to become. I do not deny that the curriculum is important and I want to be the best I can be at delivering the content in a meaningful way. However, I believe the best way to achieve true

Kimberly Wilson learning is to foster a desire to learn and grow within my students. I have encountered so many students who doubt their abilities and just shut down when they are confronted by something difficult. I want to show them that they are capable of so much more than they believe or have been told by others. I have high expectations for all of my students, but I also want them to have those expectations for themselves. In order to achieve my goals as a teacher, I have to help students create their own goals. High school students are, after all, almost adults. They are on the verge of being thrust into the world and I want them to be as prepared as possible. I believe the best way for me to do this is to create a community in my classroom that encourages students while challenging their beliefs about the world. Too often people are stuck inside a bubble of what they know to be true or what they dont know at all. I heard a professor say once that ignorance is a privilege. Most people have no idea how lucky they are to be ignorant about the terrible things that are happening in the world today or have happened in the past. This is a privilege that I want to take away from my students. It will be challenging and disturbing at times, but I absolutely believe that they can make a better future if they have a more complete view of the world. In order to challenge the thinking of my students, I may also have to challenge the curriculum or at least expand upon it. When it comes to challenging social studies, I like to refer to the book, A Different Mirror, by Ronald Takaki (2008). Takaki says, Within the lifetime of young people today, Americans of European ancestry will become a minority. Indeed, we will all be minorities. How can we prepare ourselves for this future, when the Master Narrative is such a powerful force in our thinking about the past? (p.5). This passage has been stuck in my head since the moment I read it. It drives me to teach history from a global perspective that makes the

Kimberly Wilson Master Narrative just another point of view among many, not the main or only one. There are so many truths out there and no one should ever get away with presenting just one. When I take into consideration that my classroom will be made up of individuals who all think, feel, and learn differently, I find that it becomes easier to put my teaching philosophy into place. My beliefs about what education should be hinges on the fact that students are people who need to be ready for what the world has to offer them and also what will be thrown in their paths. It is my sincere hope that students will leave my classroom with a better sense of who they are and what they can do to make a difference. That is why social studies is the right content for me. There is no other subject that allows us to look so deeply into the lives of people (past and present) and to analyze what that means to us as individuals and to the world as a whole. Teaching social studies is a great responsibility that I am honored to have.

Kimberly Wilson References: Ayers, W. & Alexander-Tanner, R. (2010). To Teach: The journey, in comics. New York: Teachers College Press Takaki, R. (1993/2008). A different mirror: A history of multicultural America. Revised Edition. New York: Bay Back Books