Vonnahme Master’s Portfolio 1

Philosophy of Education

Samantha Vonnahme

ED 698 Master’s Portfolio Spring 2024

University of Alaska Southeast

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In the school district where I work, teacher philosophy statements are required to be

submitted once every year. I have found that in writing what I believe, a series of rather

insistent alarms start sounding in my head. The first clangs: Imposter! Imposter! Someone is

going to find out soon that you’re a fake! Then, my internal narrator chips in, shouting, “Hey!

HEY! All that stuff you wrote is not true! When was the last time you felt like you connected

with a parent? Speaking of, do you even know all of the parent’s names? You mentioned high

standards for all, but don’t you skip over that one student you know will give the wrong

answer? Oh, and don’t forget what your class said the other day: you talk a lot. Are you really

giving them a chance for their voice to be heard? And really? If engaging and compelling

content is so important, why are you planning one week at a time—sometimes even a day at a

time—in advance? Doesn’t the education of your students mean more than that?”

Rather than quit my job and become a farmer, I allow this internal voice to shed light on

something remarkably positive: my ability to self-reflect must be astounding. Douglas Fisher et

al. (2018) support that self-reflection is one of the most important practices of great teachers

who seek to promote learner growth and development. According to Alfie Kohn (2005), it takes

hard work and courage to step back from what is normally done and question which methods

are worth our time. Chip Wood (2017) adds that this self-reflection should extend to biases I—

and everyone—unknowingly possess that can influence teaching. These biases can even affect

how fairly students and families are treated. Like methods I may have seen my mom use in the

kitchen, or things I heard my grandma say, there are teaching methods and ideas embedded in

my own practice that I would never think to question. Since my first step into a classroom as an

educator in charge, I have found the more I engage in self-reflection, the more I seem to notice
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areas for improvement never cease and my evaluation of what is valuable in education is

constantly shifting. To put it simply: the more I know reveals how little I actually know. I don’t

intend to wallow in this discovery, however, but to reflect on my current thoughts and opinions

on the nature of a well-rounded and effective child education.

Growth for myself due to self-reflection is not the only side of the coin. It is important to

me that the students I teach possess what is known as a growth mindset. Devised by Carol

Dweck (1986), a growth mindset allows students to improve even as they try hard things. Wood

(2017) agrees with this approach, noting that people who think in this way know they might fail,

yet persevere despite the difficulty. A growth mindset is also an incredibly reflective frame of

mind. I want my students, together with me, to gather at the end of a lesson and be able to

notice what went right, what went wrong, and the ways we could make it better as a team.

Currently, I will often preface student classwork by asking what they should do if the task is

hard. I also ask students who are waiting for feedback about what their reaction should be if

the answer is wrong. In our class we try to put into action a claim by Fisher et al. (2018) that the

more a person experiences struggle or failure in the midst of learning, the more they will be

able to remember what they learned later. In other words: when things are hard, our brain

grows! This shift to a growth mindset has been difficult for me, owing to personal experiences

in school that taught me working hard meant something had to look really good and be

excellent the first time. I am hopeful that my students can grasp that work well done is not

merely up to someone else’s standards of achievement.

My teaching philosophy is not only grounded in productive ways of learning, but also in

relationships, which are arguably the foundation of my philosophy. Through her research, Ruby
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Payne (2018) has observed when children have an adult who actively pursues a caring

relationship with them, they can better make sense of a life journey that is otherwise

overwhelming and confusing. While a relationship should be formed most strongly with the

students, it will also impact a child’s school experience if their family and community have a

relationship with the teacher, as well. This is not my strongest area, however. During my first

year I tried sending emails home with attached newsletters. The emails were sporadic at best

and my only real conversations with parents happened at parent/teacher conferences. The next

year I tried to print newsletters and send them home, as well as post on an educational social

media resource. This appeared to be a better avenue for me. My daily and weekly

conversations with families continued to lack, though, and I entered my third and current year

with new ambition to not only be a better communicator, but to let families in on the individual

positive moments that were happening every day. While not grand in their measure, these

conversations are happening more often. I also recently discovered that sending home

handwritten notes is somehow easier for me to do than a phone call or email. When I send a

note home, I make sure to read its contents to the student. There has never been a note that

has not been met with a smile. Each of those kids is proud to carry it home to their family.

Within my belief that relationships are essential, it stands to reason that the physical

atmosphere of the classroom should not revolve around me. When I first started thinking about

being a teacher with my own space, I would dream about the way all my bulletin boards would

look and what inspirational images and words I would put on the walls. Everything would be

neat and tidy and perfectly organized. I failed to recognize that the room belonged to everyone,

an idea proposed by Fisher et al. (2018), and upon entering a space so perfectly filled, students
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might feel as though they had no place there. Additionally, Wood (2017) asserts understanding

the average development of the age group one teaches will affect the physical room and the

way it meets the needs of a class. Currently, the wall behind my desk is covered in student

artwork. Some is more colorful and meticulously drawn than others, but together they show

that the classroom is ours. Other spaces on the walls have rules we created together, anchor

charts, opinion graphs, student art, and books we have read aloud and discussed.

Not only should student voices be apparent in the physical reality of a classroom, it

should also be evident in verbal interactions. One danger I run into related to allowing students

ample opportunity to contribute verbally is mowing them over in order to stick to the

curriculum or the current lesson plan. I recall sitting down with a small group of 1st graders

midway through my third year and saying, “OK, we have a lot to cover so we’re going to be

going really fast and you better pay attention.” Rather than cause my students to listen better

than they ever had before, I’m sure my announcement actually accomplished the opposite. I

would like to be a teacher that consistently allows for student voices to be heard. Studies

referenced in Fisher et al.’s (2018) book, Engagement by Design, show that students who feel

they have a voice in school will be seven times more likely to be academically motivated. Our

students can teach us so much if we only listen. Rachael Kessler (2000) writes that we have

chances to build on their wisdom in the spur of a moment rather than preoccupying ourselves

with competence and success. This listening should even extend to the content being taught. At

the beginning of the year, I asked my students what they were most excited to learn. The

resulting list should inform my own planning and be referenced as the year goes on. If I dismiss
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their opinions, I could create a situation Alfie Kohn (2005) proposes: without a discernible

personal voice present in their learning, students are apt to lack interest or depth of thinking.

As I recognize the value of each student’s voice, it is simple to move my thinking toward

another aspect of teaching that I believe to be important: respect. Respect impacts the

relationships we form and the way a teacher manages a classroom. Adele Faber and Elaine

Mazlish (1980), as well as Fisher et al. (2018), agree that respect is a way to encourage

autonomy in students and implement shared responsibility. Though often in need of guidance,

even the kindergarteners and 1st graders I teach are little human beings who warrant respect

from educators. In my class, respect is something I usually think about and apply when it comes

to classroom management and discipline. This means class rules and expectations are

consistent and clearly communicated and children know that, as Faber and Mazlish (1980) put

it, consequences are a naturally occurring result of their actions. It means I try my best not to

yell and allow my emotions to rule a situation. It means I consider any behavior as attempted

student communication and that I entrust the class with a variety of daily jobs and routines.

When a child infringes on the agreed upon rules, they know beforehand how the situation will

be handled. As I started my teaching career, I relied too heavily on rewards and punishment,

often handing out consequences that had no relationship with the infringement. It was rare for

me to have one-on-one conversations to discuss choices and chosen actions. This year, I still use

several incentive programs, but the discipline is more easily understood and it feels like I have

closer relationships with every one of the students. The class is reliably calm and hard-working

and each student is willing to have conversations with me.

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A dear professor from many of my graduate classes once said that the best classroom

management is engaging material and content. I think about this frequently, as I am often the

kind of teacher planning things from week to week. I notice when things start to go sideways in

our classroom, it is often because one or more students are wandering (whether physically or

cognitively) and trying to find something else to occupy them. Material and lesson plans are

driven by content knowledge and it is an area of my practice that could benefit from further

study. Fisher et al. (2018) writes, “A skilled teacher understand the scope and sequence of the

content being taught and knows how to convey skills and concepts in logical ways” (p. 65). I

think if I had a better grasp of content, I would be able to create a classroom centered in play,

discovery, and collaborative learning. Elena Bodrova and Deborah Leong (2003) claim all these

things are vital to a vibrant primary classroom and contribute to student learning. Jean Piaget

(1962) and Lev Vygotsky (1978) link play to cognitive development and Chip Wood (2017)

writes that discovery via play is the “vital work of the 5-year-old” (p. 44).

The self-reflective voices in my head are not likely to go away any time soon, but I am

grateful for the way they have transformed my teaching practice in a short amount of time.

Every year the group of students I build a community with will have different sets of

personalities and backgrounds requiring different kinds of approaches. I do not intend for my

values to change, only the methods by which they are most effectively developed in each

unique classroom. There is no prescriptive teaching philosophy and I hope mine grows just as I

do as an educator.
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References

Bodrova, E., & Leong, D.J. (2008). Developing self-regulation in kindergarten: Can we keep all

the crickets in a basket?. Young Children, 63(2), 56-58.

https://www.franklinboe.org/cms/lib/NJ01000817/Centricity/Domain/1977/Teaching%

20Kindergartens%20to%20Self-Regulate.pdf

Bodrova, E., & Leong, D.J. (2003). The importance of being playful. Educational Leadership,

60(7), 50-53. https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Elena-

Bodrova/publication/292822495_The_importance_of_being_playful/links/5bb03ebc928

51ca9ed30d872/The-importance-of-being-playful.pdf

Faber, A., & Mazlish, E. (1980). How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk. Scribner.

Fisher, D., Frey, N., Quaglia, R.J., Smith, D., Lande, L. (2018). Engagement by design. Corwin.

Kesslar, R. (2000). The ‘teaching presence’. Holistic Education Review. 4(4), 4-15.

http://www.holisticedinitiative.org/wp-content/uploads/documents/rachel_kessler_-

the_teaching_presence.pdf

Kohn, A. (2005). Unconditional parenting: Moving from rewards and punishments to love and

reason. Atria Books.

Payne, R.K. (2018). Emotional poverty in all demographics: How to reduce, anger, anxiety, and

violence in the classroom. Aha! Process Inc.

Piaget, J. (1962). Play, dreams, and imitation in childhood. Norton.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.

Harvard University Press.

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Wood, C. (2017). Yardsticks: Child and adolescent development ages 4-14. Center for

Responsive Schools, Inc.