Running head: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 1

Philosophy of Education

Marlene Rivera

California State University Dominguez Hills

March 25, 2019

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As a future educator, I am committed to providing a safe, caring, and productive student

learning environment in my classroom. Throughout my semesters I have learned about the

importance of being a culturally responsive teacher, promoting equity, and how essential it is to

learn about your school, students, and their community. It is crucial for a teacher to embrace and

incorporate these practices in their classroom to promote a fair community for all students.

To help start the school year successfully implementing routines and procedures at the

beginning of the school year can help with classroom management. Students will be asked to

create their own classroom rules as a class. I will guide my students to stay on target and help

them choose proper classroom rules. Once the rules are chosen and every classmate agrees to

them, students will sign their names at the bottom of the poster, symbolizing a contract (Personal

Observation). Their signature is their agreement to follow the classroom rules. Just like in a

regular contract, if rules are not followed there will be consequences. The class rules will then be

displayed on the wall where students will be able to see their signed contract at all times.

Another routine I saw during my fieldwork observations is the process of taking roll in a

manner that includes student working as well. When students enter the classroom, they know to

work on the problem written on the board and have their homework out. Meanwhile, the teacher

goes around checks homework and takes roll at the same time. I believe by enforcing a routine of

this manner in my classroom can help me build relationships with my students. This will allow

me to check in with my students one at a time and know how they are feeling.

The Metropolitan Center for Urban Education defines culturally responsive as, “teaching

which uses students’ backgrounds, rendering of social experiences, prior knowledge, and

learning styles in daily lessons” (pg. 2). I understand that not every child in my classroom will

have the same experiences as another student or as myself. Therefore, following and
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implementing the principles I learned of culturally responsive practices in my classroom is

crucial to allow me to equally guide each of my students to a path of success

It is important and a goal of mine to create a community in my future classroom in a way

that helps develop the students’ autonomy. I want students to feel comfortable to participate and

not be scared to ask questions or for help. Weinstein, Curran, and Tomlinson-Clarke (2003)

found that having students work with others can contribute to the goal of building a classroom

community.

My mission for this new journey is to expect more from my students than what is asked

for. I will continuously challenge my students with various critical thinking skills. I will also use

different methods I learned to encourage students to participate such as using “talking sticks” to

offer all students a balanced opportunity to participate as suggested by Pinto (pg.148). In

addition, I will lead in hands-on activities where students will have the opportunity to work with

each other to help develop their social and leadership skills. Having small group instruction such

as group rotations can help build a community amongst each other.

It is also important for me to create a welcoming environment where students can feel

accepted no matter what. As suggested in Metropolitan Center for Urban Education, having signs

or banners of people they can relate to and phrases in their native language can help students feel

welcomed (pg. 4). Moreover, learning about their family and background such as traditions or

norms can help me better understand my student so I can avoid any misunderstanding of my own

knowledge of general norms.

Being open to different strategies and teaching methods is something I plan to practice, I

am aware that not all students learn the same. My learning of pedagogies does not end here, I

will continue to expand my knowledge and find what works best for all my students. Keeping
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my goal in sight and all the different strategies I learned on hand throughout my career will help

my journey as an educator transform into a greater objective than what I originally believed I

was capable of.

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References

Carol Weinstein, Mary Curran & Saundra Tomlinson-Clarke (2003) Culturally responsive

classroom management: Awareness into action, theory into practice, 42:4, 269-276,

DOI: 10.1207/s15430421tip4204_2

Metropolitan Center for Urban Development (2008). Culturally responsive classroom

management strategies. Retrieved from

https://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/uploads/005/121/Culturally%20Responsive%20Cl

assroo %20Mgmt%20Strat2.pdf

Pinto, L. E. (2013). From Discipline to Culturally Responsive Engagement. Thousand Oaks, CA:

Corwin