My Educational Philosophy

“The act of teaching is an act of eros, an act of creation, an act of love. This act is embedded in the physicality of flesh – breath, tone, voice, and muscles are central to each breath we utter…Teaching is the art of word becoming flesh.”  - Celeste Snowber “The Eros of Teaching” from Holistic Learning and Spirituality in Education

Today’s children are unique, magical beings that have been incarnated on earth at this chaotic time on our history for a variety of specific purposes, many with clear ideas of the path they have come here to follow. It is my duty as a teacher to provide them with the diverse tools that they will need to fulfill their destinies and instill in them a sense of empowerment around knowledge and learning. I will also assist them in developing critical analysis and questioning skills that will serve them their whole lives, to dig deeper, and understand more than the surface issues in complex situations. I have a strong belief in holistic and soul-centered education, rather than more traditional models.

My educational philosophy has been built up over the last twenty-seven years, nineteen years of which I have spent in the U.S. education system as a student and six that I have spent as an educator, facilitator, tutor or academic support personnel. And I am nothing if not opinionated and exceptionally unique character.
I am a multiethnic individual. My ancestors were Native American (Lakota, Blackfeet and Cherokee), Irish, English, Dutch, as well as more recent immigrants from Wales and Spain. My ancestors fought against the U.S. Army in the Indian Wars and pretended to be white in Missouri in order to avoid detection or the removal of their children. They owned sugar cane plantations in Hawaii before moving to Vacaville in 1905. I am related to the Andover Witches, who were one town over from Salem. Luckily, none of them were executed. I am also descended from Wat Tyler, the leader of the English Peasants’ Revolt of 1381 and related to 10th President John Tyler. My ancestors fought in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, Civil War and World War II. I am aware of and honor all these parts of my heritage. I think that it is key to children’s academic success for them to understand the history of their families. I strongly believe that we have to know where we have come from to know where we are going.

My religious beliefs strongly influence my beliefs about education. I am a Pagan and as such am polytheistic and my spiritual beliefs are nature-centered and earth-based. Being Pagan in a Judeo-Christian society is not always easy. There is a great deal of prejudice in the U.S. against non-Christians. I believe that all religious beliefs, as long as open and affirming, are a support for all people. I am strongly opposed to fundamentalism in any variety. The idea that only one religion or denomination has a correct belief system or the ear of God is what causes terrorism, destruction and war. My spiritual beliefs emphasize honoring the earth, ecologically sound and sustainable practices. My spiritual beliefs are strongly ties with my political beliefs. Being involved in social justice and social change is intrinsically part of my spiritual practice. Also being involved in the community, volunteering, participating in community events, performances and rituals is a major part of my practice. My religion is strongly built on being a good person and yet I have no perception of “sin” in my beliefs but rather doing good or ill to others and the world.

I have strong family values and morals although conservatives are not likely to agree with me. I have a strong respect for the LGBT members of our families, and community. I have a strong belief in the importance of children to our collective future.

I have an elitist value of education. I personally had Advanced Placement courses in high school and belonged to several honor societies. Education was once only for the aristocracy. We should now all take advantage of what is available. Education is the only significant way in which people can move up the social ladder. I personally was actively involved in the arts and theatre in high school and in college and still now as an adult. I am going to be performing Presidents’ Day Weekend in two ritual theatre pieces that I wrote myself. I value the ability that acts and cultural activities have to encourage young people to continue to succeed.

My political preferences strongly influence my values in relation to education. I am strongly liberal/progressive some people might even say that I am a radical. I believe in doing everything that one can to make the world a better place. I believe in social justice. My personal causes are ends to unjust wars, rights for indigenous peoples, rights for the oppressed, women’s rights including reproductive rights, LGBT rights and a number of others. I believe that it is only through progressive values and social change that the world will become a better place. I believe that education should now integrate ecology and green practices. Global warming is a serious issue as well as pollution. Today’s children need to be educated to face these challenges head on.
I believe that every student learns differently. Some students learn best through auditory or visual means and other students learn better through experiential learning. Some students learn better independently and self-directed and other students learn better cooperatively. Students can be either rule-abiding or rebels. They can be interested in learning and passionate about it or they can be bored and uninterested. As students age learning can alter from an excited exploration of the world to a dull chore that they despise. I believe this because I have taught both elementary and high school classrooms and have seen the ennui that plagues teens. The instructional techniques that I think support the learning of young people are cooperative learning with self-directed elements with experiential epistemology. I think these pedagogical methods keep students passionate about their education. You have to use their interests to keep their mind actively involved in their education. It is the duty of teachers to inspire and instill a value upon learning both for its own sake as well as the goals that can be achieved through education.

As a teacher, I am a guide toward knowledge. In the context of soul-centered education, the my role as a teacher is to provide nourishment for not only the child’s mind and body, but also their spirit. A soul-centered educator must “think and speak in images and pay attention to beauty, nuance and ritual.” (Moore, 2005, 15). It is through drama, art-based learning, student-directed/designed projects, exploration of the world outside the box of the classroom and providing culturally/personally relevant materials and lessons that this is accomplished. Openness and availability are also important duties of an educator. Arriving early and leaving late are just one way to allow students the freedom to address personal and class-related issues with me. Through my own passion and enthusiasm for learning, I inspire these feelings in the young people with whom I work. As a soul-centered educator, I must also continue to fulfill my own spiritual needs so as to be a model of what I am trying to develop in my students.

The subjects that I believe are most crucial for students to learn are many. I think that students should have a grasp of the core academic disciplines, tolerance, comparative religions, animal husbandry, agriculture and other topics in sustainable ecology to prepare them for a post-capitalist future. I think students should be given all the skills to start a permaculture commune or all the skills to succeed academically in an Ivy League school. I believe that students need to have their interest areas enlivened by their education. If children’s passions are aroused, they are voracious and enthusiastic learners, eager for the next lesson or activity. Children should be exposed to many cultures, spiritual beliefs and values so that they can create their own worldview that is not an identical reflection of anyone, but rather an amalgamation of values that resonate within them. The end goal of course is to create life-long learners.

The role of students is to be actively and enthusiastically engaged in the learning process. They should take a leadership role in their own education and strive for understanding and exploration of the concepts within which they are studying. The basic requirements for students are that they listen, actively participate in workshops and activities, and appropriately engage with the other students in class.

In a traditional classroom, the teacher has served as the lecturer and the conveyor of all knowledge. The students are perceived as empty cups to fill with learning. In my view, teachers are intended to be facilitators that use the interests and passions of the students in order to inspire them to succeed academically. Teachers need to be concerned with not only conveying the content standards as set by the state, but also the life skills, critical thinking skills and survival skills that the students will need in order to be successful and thrive in our rapidly changing world. A student’s moral and spiritual development is also in the hands of their teachers as the students spend the majority of their time in a teacher’s presence. While public school teachers are forbidden from offering denominationally specific teachings, they should be willing to help students explore interests and content of an metaphysical or spiritual sort. The ways to accomplish these diverse roles in the classroom are tied up in the idea of allowing students to have their own say in the directions and precise nature of the lessons. Workshop-style learning as characterized in the science workshop or writers workshop is a style of curricula wherein students can both fulfill content standards, but also participate in some independence of learning. Teachers should not be overly concerned with punishment and order. A good teacher is able to establish quiet with a snap of the fingers or a raised hand. Obsession with a perfectly behaved classroom, however, is doomed to make the students want to rebel. Students learn in a variety of ways. It is the teacher’s duty to incorporate these multiple intelligences into the class lesson in order to teach all the children. Teachers must not settle for bottled lessons and ideas straight from the publisher. Instead they need to be constantly transforming curricula from many sources to be more successful in their classroom and to meet the needs of more of their students. You provide an appropriate environment for your students by having high but reasonable expectations for their achievement and behavior, by having active parental involvement and by being a fun and passionate teacher. It is also within the sphere of the teacher to work within the culture of the community, to meet and contact parents often about everything students are doing in the classroom, good and bad, and to use their cultural awareness to be a successful teacher.
The space in which I teach, not necessarily a classroom, is a place of constant evolution and evaluation: evaluation by the children, their parents and myself. Though there is structure, it can be warped and altered to allow space for spontaneity and in the moment teaching. I constantly check in with the children, as a group and individually, to make certain that their needs are being met. When there is dissatisfaction, I work diligently to make lasting and consistent resolution.

Teaching is a process of going with the flow, riding the chaos and seeing how new experiences, lessons and settings can help me to grow as a facilitator and a person. I have a great connection with my own inner child and it is through working with children, that I am most able to express my sense of joy in learning and everyday magic.











Reference:
Thomas Moore (2005) “Educating for the Soul” Holistic Learning and Spirituality in Education, New York; State of University Press, 15.