Teaching/Facilitator’s Statement
Learning is a lifelong journey in which I am now and forever more a student. I believe that learning should not be hierarchal but cyclical in that all points or persons in a learning system holds the ability to be both instructor and student simultaneously. This opens the door to reciprocity, an exchange of information and a remembering of latent knowledge.
As an educator I strive to emphasize the student’s own power and knowledge they already possess. I leverage this knowledge to create experiences that allow the student to process new information and use it in their own lives. This experiential view is in line with the works of John Dewey in that he proposed that life must be experienced, not just discussed (Dewey, 1973). Here, it should be distinguished that I believe myself to be a facilitator over a teacher. I facilitate learning, guiding students to process new information and use it how they see fit. As a facilitator I may share opinions on information, but I do so while acknowledging that mine is just one perspective and invite the perspectives of others to have a voice and to be recognized.
I believe information, content, and curriculum can and should change over time. This change reflects the changing of cultures and worldviews. Our world is not stagnant so we should review and amend what is to be learned, however, I do not believe that this should be the only consideration when amending curriculum. I believe how we teach, lead, present, or facilitate is just as important, if not more so than the content itself. As educators I believe we have the responsibility to encourage personal thought and growth. An example of this may be not just putting students in groups to research a topic. They should be prompted to process the sheer act of working together in addition to content learned. Our social-emotional skills could and should be enveloped into the curriculum presented.
My general teaching philosophies lend themselves to be culturally responsive as I emphasize the voice of others and place myself in the same learning cycle as the perceived students. While I lend my opinion, I acknowledge that is it my own and strive to validate differing opinions, emphasizing the power of their own opinion and voice in the overarching life system.
In summary, here is a compilation of highlighted philosophies:
1. Learning is Cyclical: There is always something to learn from every person and therefore place myself on the cycle with the students.
2. Space for Perspective: Every student comes in with their own story, background, and history. Each is valuable to the learning process as it will dictate how they perceive new information.
3. To Learn is to Experience: Learning should be experiential to promote greater connection to the new information.
4. Facilitator Not a Teacher: To facilitate allows the student’s background to dictate and move curriculum forward.
5. Facilitator Self-Awareness: The facilitator needs to know where they end, and others begin. They must be aware of their own projections and understand that when they project, they minimize the student’s experience.
6. Life is Fluid: As with life, learning should also be fluid and be reconsidered with each new group that comes in.
7. Social-Emotional Learning: Social-emotional learning is just as if not more important than the content itself. We struggle as adults not because we do not know the breeding habits of a bee, but because we cannot effectively communicate, show empathy, manage conflict, and collaborate with others.
The gardener facilitates growth by planting seeds and watches them grow while providing additional support when needed.