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Khalil Freeman

Teaching Philosophy

September 2022

Educating Mathematicians for the Future

What makes the perfect educator? There are numerous educators, but only some

that understand what it takes to make a difference in a students’ life, in their school and in

the community. I will share my personal experiences as a past student and current

educator in Boston Public Schools (BPS). Through that, I will also share my teaching

philosophies and psychologies that I believe in and how I execute those beliefs and

practices in my mathematics curriculum and concepts everyday within my classroom.

The reality for every educator is that you will never know how to be an effective

educator until you are in the classroom space. My teaching philosophy consists of a

socio-cultural and social justice teaching style. I believe in making the students the center

of our classroom and understanding that every individual student is unique. I tend to lean

towards the “bag of tools” concept, by allowing the students to demonstrate knowledge

they already possess. One of many activities I like to do is having students create a flag

that represents them using shapes, measurement and symmetry. Students measure the

dimensions of their flag, use different shapes to create their flag and determine which

flags are symmetrical and which are asymmetrical. Students can also determine degree

measures of parts of their flags. This incorporates the students’ identity while also

covering math standards around geometry. I aim to also use the problem-driven concept

by meeting scholars and their families where they are, challenging them to reach higher

pinnacles and centering the classroom environment, lessons and interaction that are
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representative of my student body. I believe in culturally relevant and culturally

sustaining pedagogy; for example, I once was a BPS student from kindergarten through

twelfth grade and now I teach for BPS. I believe I have an advantage because I once was

the student(s) I now teach, sitting in the same classrooms and practicing similar lessons. I

am familiar with the greatness our urban students bring to the classroom, but I am also

very aware of the numerous barriers they face and the disadvantages they experience

daily. I believe I am an asset to my students because they have someone educating them

who respects them, understands them and knows how to challenge and educate them in

fun and representative ways.

The psychological approach I tend to reference and use in my classrooms is the

constructivist approach. I want students to acquire more knowledge from new lessons by

applying it to past experiences and familiar occurrences. As mentioned earlier, students

need to feel represented, so when teaching a math lesson, I use the curriculum as a frame,

but I adjust the lesson. For example, I teach a lot of students who are Caribbean so my

math lessons tend to use objects like plantains, palm trees, seashells and motor scooters

instead of just apples and oranges. I also use settings like the beach. The beauty in this

style of teaching is the overlap with other lessons in other content areas like reading,

writing and social studies. I also allow students to create their own math problems,

collaborate with other students, invite parents into the classroom and I bring students into

the community in order to make the learning come full circle.

I asked in the beginning, what makes an educator perfect? The reality is that no

one is perfect, but a dedicated educator is constantly changing and editing their lessons to

challenge yet represents the student body being taught. A consistent educator constantly
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ensures a safe and social justice oriented learning environment where all students feel

respected and significant for who they are. A loving educator shows up, accepts their

students where they are and does the best to help those students become their best. Both

the educators and scholars are successful when the learning experience is reciprocated

between both parties. Students are teachers too. This is the teaching philosophy I aim to

follow daily.