Learning

about students should be an interest of any educator. Without a

general interest in students lives an educator will never be effective. With such a

large variety of students it is impossible to maximize the effectiveness of your

classroom while lacking understanding of the individual students within it. The

cultivation of an environment built on trust and understanding is essential to a

productive educational environment. Why would a student be willing to follow

someone with whom they have never connected with on a personal level, because

they are forced to obey? No. A level of openness is required to promote growth and

understanding guiding someone though that which they do not understand is often

an uncomfortable process. Building the foundation of a trusting relationship is key.

When your hand becomes Dirmer, which in a leadership position it inevitably will,

your students will trust that it is their best interest you have in mind. This can only

be accomplished through understanding not marginalization. Gay kids, white kids,

handicap kids, all kids need to know that you as their educator you have their best

interest in mind. This approach allows for the implementation of a system that

allows you to challenge them, appreciate their success and pick them up when

things do not workout.

Sadly it is all too often that parents will not become involved. With the

invention of programs like school loop and Google translate we, as educators, must

attempt to reduce this lack of involvement as much as possible by reaching out and

building connections in ways we can. We must be willing to adapt. Adaptation in the

face of challenges is the only way to help our students survive and thrive. I keep this

in mind in dealing with all students but especially the physically handicapped.
Sometimes when kids are so down and out the only thing left is humor, they need a

friend. It is a necessary way to keep them engaged whenever possible, a distraction

from their ailment. Breaking a cycle of rumination to remain in the present moment

is an obstacle faced by many students; they often have so much going on beyond the

walls of the school. Both students and educators must remain attentive in order to

grow. I believe growth is the ultimate goal of education and we must have the ability

to understand in order to promote it. Having the ability to understand where a

student currently stands (socially, mentally, physically) is the key to understanding

how to get them to where they are capable of going. It is the maximization of

individual potential for the overall betterment of society.

People are people and kids are kids, there will be times when they falter and

sometimes it is in the worst way. Kids especially need to be given a chance to grow

from their mistakes without the fear that their teacher is going to hold a grudge. The

school year is long so when a student has a behavioral issue, which they ultimately

will, a teacher must remain in a place of perspective and awareness rather than a

place of emotion. Students will ultimately feed off of the energy of their teacher and

many times look to inDluence it e.g. attempt to have you boil over. Students are

curious and will test the person in charge i.e. the teacher. Ultimately, when the

discipline is implemented the teacher must stand Dirm and remain objective when

reporting the issue. After the issue has been addressed and corrective measures

have been set into place with the co-operation of the discipline ofDice, the most

important thing for an educator to do is re-connect with their student. A

conversation that conveys a message of moving forward in a positive corrected

manner, one that reiterates that there is no grudge and you look forward to moving

on from the situation with the expectation that the student has an understanding of

their mistake and are willing to learn from the experience. The student needs to be

reminded that you are there to support them and ultimately you are on their side. As

the teacher goes the students will often follow. Time and time again I see the

example of a teacher having a side discussion with another staff member, once this

occurs the students always see this as a green light to begin talking. The same goes

with professionalism, if a teacher presents and maintains a professional demeanor

the kids will reDlect this a majority of the time. An awareness and understanding of

not only our students, but also ourselves is critical.

A steady dose of togetherness within the classroom, the school and ultimately

the community is very important and this should always be kept in mind, however,

at the same time the individual will be assessed on their own merit. Although part of

their assessment will be dependent on their ability to coexist amongst their peers

the group should never be allowed to stiDle individual merit. Group interactions that

foster individual growth should be permitted and implemented before individual

testing as a method to maximize the individual potential. Groups are often only as

strong as the strength of the individuals within it. Sometimes I Dind it can be

beneDicial to put students who may need improvement in the proximity to

individuals who are already excelling, if the needs improvement student has the

potential to be in the latter category the contrasts can not only be enlightening but

motivating. It comes back to understanding individuals within a class and managing

them in best way possible based on their abilities. Co-operation with other staff
members is advantageous in Dinding reoccurring problem areas with needs

improvement students and addressing them through joint effort. From one

perspective the issue maybe a matter of opinion, from multiple perspectives a

reoccurring theme has more validity and is easier to address as a group.

Using cooperation to foster growth and understanding for all students from an

aware and professional standpoint is crucial to effectively educating a diverse group

of students.

In regards to an educator’s responsibility to maintain and uphold federal and

state laws, the laws have been enacted in order to protect people who have been

excluded and victimized. There is no compromise regarding educators and their

responsibility to make sure these laws are followed and maintained. If there is any

indication that someone with a disability, a person of color, people who are LGBTQ

or anyone else is having their rights infringed upon, is being victimized or denied

access to their rights, educators have a duty to be their Dirst line of protection. It is

not an issue that is up for debate. It is the moral and legal obligation of educators to

report any illegal action that is a detriment to the lives and education of any student

regardless of their backgrounds. Anyone with enough malice in their heart to let

someone be victimized should be removed from any profession; cowardice and

political motivation are also no excuse.

In fairness to this assignment I must look back to comments I made in my

original statements of purpose to adequately describe how this course has altered

my philosophy of education. Quotes on my philosophy of education from my original

statements of purpose were as follows: “I hope to influence students in a positive

direction by challenging them while also offering a healthy amount of encouragement.”

“The challenges that some students face are undoubtedly greater than others. Ultimately

what I decided was to challenge the students. Empathy was important but pity only

perpetuated a cycle of self-loathing and misery that only deepened the hole that most of

the kids had been set up to climb out of.” Looking back now from the completion of this

course I still believe in the essence of these words that I wrote and the course reinforced

some of my initial ideas, yet, I do look back with a broadened perspective. The “hole”

that “kids had been set up to climb out of”, was described more adequately by the reading

and lectures within the course. If had taken this course prior, the ways in which I decided

to “challenge” students would have been more informed. For example, if I felt a kid

needed to get better at English or even Science, albeit for their own good, I may have just

tried to drill it into them the best way I knew without fully being aware of the certain

cultural obstacles they faced. Specifically, I now look back and see a large deficit of

equity of pedagogy as noted by (Banks, 1996) and the personal cultural and social factors

that can impede objective learning of students from different backgrounds. It is not that I

did not understand there was problems I was really just unequipped to fully realize

exactly what or the levels of the problems were and how students might feel from the

other perspective. The kids were mainly respectful and looking back I think some of them

just lacked the ability to adequately express things from their side. I guess the

implementation of equity of pedagogy (Banks, 1996) was largely ignored because I was

coming from a mindset of we need to do it this way without fully realizing the issues of

cultural identity loss. It is not that I wanted to down anybody’s culture but in hindsight
there may have been times where I did come on a little strong in insisting on doing it the

English way or how we do it here in the United States. I guess all around I’m more aware

of the other side of the “invisible borders” described in Borderlands or the loss of

identities described in Subtractive Schooling. I don’t feel completely guilty just more

aware. I still think if people want to live in the United States learning English and

standing up during the pledge of allegiance out of respect for the country that is providing

you with the new opportunity that you sought is important but I have added value to the

importance of encouraging students to be more open about relating and sharing their own

culture and the influences of their daily lives in school and in the classroom. I feel better

equipped and more knowledgeable as a result of this course.