Curricular Portfolio

Entry 1

Based on your teaching/learning experiences and pedagogical philosophy, do you consider yourself to be a linear thinker holistic teacher, Laissez-Faire advocate, critical theorist, empiricist, or reconceptualist? Why?

    This was a difficult question for me to answer for two reasons; one-I never labeled my teaching style before and, two-after doing a little research, I find that I have used a bit of several of these teaching styles throughout my brief teaching experience. However, if I had to name just one, I would say I was more of a holistic teacher. Let me share a little about my pedagogical philosophy from 2017, when I began teaching.

            It would stand educators in good stead if they were to establish where their students are scholastically and plan different techniques with which to impart their lessons. I believe the key to achieving set goals is by empowering the student, which is to say, instilling within them a sense of pride, set skills, and dignity to face life's challenges with confidence. My job as an educator is to make sure that when students leave my classroom at the end of the year, they are better prepared mentally, emotionally and maybe even physically to meet the challenges that await them.

    This approach to teaching is what I have come to rely on more and more as I encounter kids who have very little when they enter my classroom. I work with students who have very little self-esteem and show up with unkempt hair and clothes. It's a difficult task to ask a child in such conditions to "pay attention to the lesson" when their fundamental needs are not being met!

    According to our textbook, Curriculum Leadership: Strategies for Development and Implementation, in chapter 3 "Holists don't divorce emotion from intellect...The holist pays attention to the emotional and creative components who are 'productively idiosyncratic.'"

    I want my students to know that there is a purpose to their learning. They need to understand their importance to the here and now and to their future. I sometimes shudder to think what our future leaders are going to be like. I say this because as I continue to teach, I am confronted with students who have difficulty understanding the concept of critical thinking and creativity. We live in a world where many of our young people have trouble thinking and acting beyond what they can see, feel, smell, and hear. Instead of using these senses to reach beyond, they are constrained. When asked to use their imaginations as they infer pictures, they are stuck.

    What I would love to see is for "students to become masters of their environment and citizens who are equipped to live in a democratic society" (p. 69).