Alexis Wash

Teaching Philosophy

My aspirations as a teacher in Minnesota is to help my class and school become

more culturally responsive and work towards closing the achievement gap. Teaching in a
state where only 1% of the people in the profession look similar to me, I believe that it is
important for me to acknowledge differences and similarities with both students and my
colleagues. As a teacher in Minnesota, there is a high possibility that I will be the only
teacher of color a student may have throughout their entire k-12 academic career. In a
state where the population of students of color is continuously growing, those students
must see themselves represented in education. I plan not only being that representation,
but also the voice for those students who wish to see themselves represented more in their
academics. My philosophy for teaching is incorporate diversity into lesson so all students
feel represented in their education.

I believe that I can use my knowledge and skills to help close the achievement gap
by making learning more memorable and authentic. I want to have a classroom that has
various representations of other cultures to create a safe space. I believe that students
learn better when she or he feels acknowledge and comfortable with their surroundings.
Through read aloud, authentic lessons, posters, and community circle talks, I believe I
can use those tools as a way to increase cultural awareness between students in the school
and my classroom. All students need to be given an equal chance at success and
opportunities to achieve that.

I plan on continuing my education by studying Education Policy and Leadership

so I can gain more skills to better help me achieve my goals. I want to be able to use
those skills to better understand how to influence change through research. I want to
collaborate with administrators and schools to find ways to close the achievement gap.
Through collaboration I want to use my knowledge and new learned skills to help other
educators like me who believe in the same philosophy.