Teaching Philosophy Statement

"The challenge of teaching is to decide who you want to be as a teacher, what you care about and what you value, and how you will conduct yourself in the classroom with students." (Ayers, 2001, p. 23)1

What do I believe is important in the education of teachers? After over three decades in the profession, I keep coming back to my own experience as a guide. Who I am as a teacher - what I believe and think - has been fundamental to my identity and efficacy in the classroom. I was fortunate in that my first teaching experience took place in a village elementary school in central France. I was in what I thought was the most beautiful country in the world, doing something I had never done before, in a school that had never had an American. My gut instinct told me to build a relationship with the kids, their teachers and their parents in addition to teaching them the English language. And it worked; I taught there for five years and we all cried when I left to return to Southern California to go teach in its elementary schools.

My French experiment sowed the seeds of everything that I hold dear in education: a passion for learning and sharing that passion with the students, a willingness to take risks and reflect on one's teaching, and a desire to capitalize on students' strengths and always remember that it's the relationship that drives the learning. My teaching journey since those years in France have led me to share these over-arching goals with the pre-service and in-service K-12 educators I have been teaching ever since. The majority of studies show that it is teachers who are the most important variable in the teaching/learning equation.2 If that's the case, then how we train our teachers is crucial.

Teach with a Passion for Learning and a Desire for Sharing that Passion with the Students
The effective teacher knows his or her content area, in order to prepare his or her students for success, but the passionate teacher knows how to ignite that passion for learning. In my course entitled "Introduction to Learning Theory" for first-year K-12 teaching interns, I chose to give my students concrete models of what it takes to be a passionate teacher. Each week I carved out a 30 minute period to introduce the "Practices of High-Performing Teachers." Using video clips, articles, and personal experiences, the students and I explored practices, such as, having a mission to guide teaching practice, the power of reaching out to students and parents, maintaining a positive attitude and high expectations, and making choices that impact student success. In order to assess the students' understanding of these practices, I asked them to write a culminating paper that illustrated what practices they would use as teachers in their current teaching assignments along with tangible examples of application. This activity was rated the highest on my year-end class evaluation by the teaching interns for building their competence in bridging theoretical knowledge with real-life experience and making their learning visible to them.

Teach with a Willingness to Take Risks and Reflect on One's Teaching
Palmer (1998) once wrote that teaching is "a daily exercise in vulnerability" (p. 17).3 Bringing a passionate self to teaching effectively every day of every week can be stressful, not only to the body, but also to the heart and soul. In my workshops for new educators through the California Teachers' Association (CTA), I show participants how to continue to find meaning in the teaching profession even when the going gets tough. Through an exploration of the research and my own personal experiences, I get the participants to use collaborative discussion to reflect upon the reasons they chose teaching in the first place and how they have dealt with roadblocks along the way. I want them to realize that roadblocks can become sources of interest, new opportunities and possibilities. We end with a list of eleven recommendations compiled from veteran teachers over the years on how to nurture the teaching self. Recommendations include embracing change, collaborating with like-minded colleagues, committing to classroom observations, caring beyond what you teach, and maintaining a balance. Then using these recommendations, participants create a roadmap on how they can tackle their job differently in the next weeks.

Taking risks in teaching also involves the teacher's willingness to reflect upon his or her teaching. It's been said that after an unsatisfactory lesson, mediocre teachers blame the students, whereas excellent teachers reflect on what they could have done better to reach them. In my work as a Master Teacher, California Induction Support Provider and University Clinical Coach, I have acted as the "video recorder" for pre-service and in-service teachers as they present their lessons in the classroom. As the recorder, I note down what I see and hear in terms of lesson delivery, student engagement and inclusivity, learning modalities, classroom management, positive classroom climate, and checking for understanding while using the language of the California Standards for the Teaching Profession (CSTPs). When I meet with the teacher afterwards, I draw upon this evidence in giving constructive feedback, thereby, demonstrating how to reflect upon one's practice through the lens of the CSTPs.

Reflecting on one's practice does not only apply to teaching K-12 students. It also pertains to working with other teachers. In my course at the Orange County Office of Education, teachers in the Teacher Leadership Certification Academy complete a Capstone Project that demonstrates growth as a teacher leader in the "Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership."4 Projects must address a need in the teacher leader's school or district as it pertains to other teachers and should connect to one or more of the five practices (e.g., model the way, inspire a shared vision, challenge the process, enable others to act, and encourage the heart). Teacher leaders share their strengths and areas to improve in as revealed in a preliminary and then final Leadership Practices Inventory. As their instructor, I also take the inventory, and share my data with them, thereby, modeling the willingness and desire to improve on my teacher leadership capabilities. By weaving the inventory into the analysis of the project, teacher leaders are able to chart their growth during the two-year program, and make use of a guiding tool by which to measure future progress.

Teach with a Desire to Capitalize on Students' Strengths and Develop Relationships
Nieto (2003) found that good teachers think of their destinies and those of their students as entwined. In fact, caring through building relationships is crucial not only for motivating student achievement, but for teacher retention as well.5 As part of my growth as a teacher educator and scholar, I received my Ph.D. in Education at Claremont Graduate University. In the findings of my doctoral dissertation, which focuses on K-6 veteran public school teachers, the number one reason teachers give for why they stay in the profession is their love and care for their students. Every teacher who has been interviewed has recounted that the most fulfilling career moment for him or her has been when former students have returned to tell the teacher of the impact he or she has made on their lives. To add to this discovery, I published an article in The CTA Educator magazine - which is mailed to every public school teacher in California - where I challenged readers to ask themselves "Who is this person before me?" when observing students, rather than use a limiting label to categorize them. Seeing a student's ever-changing assets as opposed to using a single lens concentrated on a specific deficit is key to adopting the conviction that students can learn, even in spite of evidence to the contrary.

Conclusion
Hamacheck (1999) wrote that "we remember our teachers, not so much for what they taught, but for who they were and are" (p. 208).6 My novice teaching experience in France taught me the most important lesson about what is essential to good teaching: passion combined with meaningful relationships coupled with the willingness to reflect on one's practice. My experiences both as a veteran elementary school teacher and teacher educator have shown me the importance of mentoring teachers throughout the various phases of their careers while modeling the best practices - both academically and emotionally - to make a difference in the lives of students. And what could be better than sharing this with those who wish to become or continue to be teachers?

References

1 Ayers, W. (2001). To teach: The journey of a teacher. New York: Teachers College Press

2 Marzano, R., Pickering, D.J., & Pollock, J.E. (2001). Classroom instruction that works: Research-based strategies for increasing student achievement. Alexandria: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development

3 Palmer, P. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher's life. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass

4 Kouzes, J. & Posner, B. (2012). The leadership challenge: How to make extraordinary things happen in organizations. San Francisco: The Leadership Challenge

5 Nieto, S. (2003). What keeps teachers going? New York: Teachers College Press

6 Hamacheck, D. (1999). Effective teachers: What they do, how they do it, and the importance of self-knowledge. In Lipka, T.M. & Brinthaupt