Claire Mccormick
statement of beliefs
I believe the purpose of education is to inspire, enhance and engage students’ interests, abilities, and skills in creative and adaptive ways within the classroom. As an educator, I believe it is incredibly important to create learning experiences that excite students and allow for an inquiry-based approach. In my own practice, I was able to stage a murder mystery day in my classroom during a Mystery Literature unit. Essentially, my students were tasked with solving the mystery that had taken place in the classroom, using the skills and knowledge we had built throughout the unit to aid throughout the activity. By incorporating this activity, I was able to excite and engage my students while developing their subject knowledge by integrating a kinesthetic activity. I was also able to put my students at the center of their learning, having them rely on their knowledge and the help of their peers to identify and solve the mystery in real-time. I believe it is essential to make education something accessible and fun for students, as it only serves to heighten their engagement and understanding of course content. I also believe it allows educators to put their students at the center of their own learning, which encourages students to inquire, collaborate and apply their personal knowledge to critically think, evaluate and solve problems. As an educator, I believe it is important the emphasis this style of learning, and adapt myself and my practices to fit the needs of my students.
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Building relationships is at the center of any respectful and productive classroom environment. As an educator, you must show your students your willingness to connect and form relationships – in essence, show your student you care about them as an individual person. During my practicum experience, I spend the first two days interacting and getting to know my students personally through interactive activities, like a ‘get to know me’ bingo and a learning profile questionnaire. I also made a point to talk with each student individually to get a better idea of their interest and hobbies outside of school. By establishing these connections and taking interest in my students' hobbies and interests, I was able to cater my lessons to include their interests. This not only showed my students I value their opinions, interests, and our relationships, but it also allowed students to make meaningful connections to course content. As an educator, putting a focus on connecting with students allows you to create a classroom built on mutual respect and understanding.
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Understandably, knowledge is at the center of education, and beliefs can vary depending on your classroom. In general, I strive to create an adaptive environment that relies on building conceptual forms of knowledge and metacognition. I believe, that for students to understand and grasp the content, we must allow them to inquire and develop a personal understanding of their ideas before we can begin to build any content knowledge. Acquiring knowledge should be a process that encourages students to question, inquire and develop a personal understanding of a subject – it should not simply be lecture based. It is my vision to have a classroom that relies on inquiry and engaging activities to ignite a love for learning.
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While there are many things worth knowing regarding any subject, it is important to consider the needs of your students. In my mind, we must adapt our practices to be culturally relevant. What is worth knowing and teaching, are skills that can be related to the experiences and lives of my students outside of the classroom. My goal is for students to take what we have discussed in class and apply it to their everyday lives. Many students are facing challenges and experiences outside of the classroom that impacts their ability to be present at school, as educators we must constantly take this into consideration and teach skills or connect our course content to students' lives. In my mind, bringing in texts of underrepresented authors, and speaking on current social issues is one way to be culturally relevant to our students' needs. In my practicum, I was able to aid in implementing a 2SLGBTQIA+ and BIPOC multi-genera novel study in the classroom. This opened up the class discussion to relevant social issues, in which my students were incredibly engaged and excited to discuss with their peers. Implementing a program like this, allowed me to see the importance of connecting our class content, with the evolving lives of our students. By including relevant texts, students were much more engaged with the course as a whole.
Overall, I believe education is about putting students at the center of their own learning. As educators, it is our job to empower students through course content, by making it relevant to their lives. By doing this, we are able to help students develop skills applicable to their lives outside of the classroom. Education is about our students and their needs, it is an educator's job to meet students where they are at and encourage growth.
Artist statement
This piece of writing was a means for me to explore and define my personal educational philosophy through course and practicum experiences. I believe it is important for future educators to reflect on their own values, beliefs, and ideas as a way to personally develop and reflect on the needs of their students. By writing this piece, I was able to outwardly reflect on my own ideas and attitudes surrounding education as a way to prepare for my practicum placements. This philosophy of education reflects my own personal philosophy up until this point, and I have no doubt that it will continue to develop and adapt to meet the needs of my students.
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In relation to this anthology, I believe this is an incredibly important piece of writing to have submitted. Being able to consciously reflect on students’ needs, and one’s own, in relation to educational philosophy is incredibly important. It shows a willingness to self-reflect as well as improve and develop one’s own understanding of education as time goes on. I believe it also reflects pre-service teachers’ willingness to develop pedagogies that put students at the heart of learning. As education is constantly changing, developing, and revolutionizing, it is important that future educators do the same.