TEP – Philosophy of Teaching

I understand this career is more than a simple job position – it is emotionally-demanding,

endurance-requiring, and oftentimes chaotic, but I am prepared and excited to take on this

challenge with my background and beliefs in mind.

I grew up in a tight-knit community in Southwest, Virginia. I had an incredible

childhood, loving family, and supportive group of friends who always encouraged me to do the

best I could in all aspects of my life - especially in school. I fell in love with this place that I call

home; it was perfect.

Upon arriving to the University of Virginia for my undergraduate experience, I learned

that I was wrong about this idea. During the very first week of classes as a first-year

undergraduate student, I was prompted to take a quiz on implicit bias that all incoming students

are required to take. Through this thirty-minute activity, I was not only taught the meaning of the

phrase “implicit bias,” but I also became aware of my tainted perspective. I then began to

conduct some research on my end to truly grasp the meaning of my results and how to move

forward with this knowledge. With a few simple Google searches, I realized that my high school

demographics featured about 87% of students being white, and I became well-aware that this

lack of exposure to diversity in school played a huge role in my outlook on life. I then took this

information and milled it over while reading about many real-life events happening at UVA that

addressed acts of cultural and racial inequities including the opening of a new multi-cultural

student center, the Black Lives Matter movement, and student-lead marches on Grounds to
combat police brutality. Through these experiences, I learned the importance of researching

and listening to voices of color.

From there, I entered the graduate teaching program also at the University of Virginia,

and I began to work more closely with these ideas of inclusivity in the classroom as it relates to

social inequities and how I fit into this larger education system. My classes have openly

discussed: how to physically prepare a classroom for all learners to have equal access to success,

how to facilitate challenging but necessary conversations such as the usage of the “n-word” in

literature, and how to emotionally support students of all backgrounds despite my identity of

being a white woman. In the context of the larger system through my clinical placement, I have

grown to understand that English education can often uphold the white voice in literature which

indirectly perpetuates the overarching grip of white supremacy which can be addressed and

combatted through including a classroom library that is representative of the students and having

an inclusive syllabus that extends this sentiment throughout the entirety of the school year. With

this awareness from both class and placement, I am prepared to continue my personal education

journey by taking what I have learned as a student and transfer it into my own classroom from

the perspective of the teacher. Through these experiences, I have learned to reflect on my

background, recognize my privilege, and actively lead students into productive work that

upholds values of inclusion and understanding.

As I enter into the next step of my teaching journey, I plan to return to a place that is

similar to my hometown, although, it will be with much greater awareness and understanding.

After arriving at college and being exposed to such a new lifestyle, I spent many times feeling

underprepared by my high school experience for life outside my hometown county’s lines, and I

don’t want any of my students to have to experience this kind of shock that really left me feeling
lost; I looked at my past with anger, my present with confusion, and my future with great

uncertainty. But now, as a teacher, I have the opportunity to enlighten students who were just

like my high-school-self before they reach this point of deficit thinking. I am a teacher who

believes in appreciating differences, promoting inclusion, facilitating perspective-sharing

discussions, and collaboratively working towards bettering an imperfect community.