Although I am not currently a teacher and I still have a few more years to go I have thought about and developed a small teaching philosophy. Although it is not completely finished and I do not believe it will ever be here is what it currently lies as.
I am a lifelong learner, committed to journeying with students and loving them into the best version of themselves.
To start “I am a lifelong learner” is something that I had a professor say to me in my first year of education and it has stuck with me since. She said it is so important for teachers to be committed to being lifelong learners. The worst teachers are the ones who think they know everything and have no motivation or will to change, grow, and learn. If all of our teachers were committed to continuously becoming the best teachers possible so many of our problems in the school system would be solved. Because we would have teachers that are learning more about the area of teaching, learning more about their strengths and weaknesses, and learning more about the students to be able to serve in the best way possible.
I am also committed to the process of education. I have come to understand that teaching is so much more than relaying information to students. Most of the time students will understand what you are teaching the first time. However, there are so many examples of students who need to be taught and guided toward the answer. I as a teacher want to be prepared to guide my students to deeper understanding instead of regurgitating information that hopefully, they will memorize for the text. I want to be in love with the process of learning so that my students can also fall in love with the process of learning so as to also become lifelong learners.
Finally, I am committed to loving my students. I have had what seems like so many teachers say that they do not actually like kids. And although that seems strange it is the experience of not only me but many people. So many of us have experienced average teachers who may or may not actually want to be teachers. So, to combat the potential teachers that do not like kids I want to love my students. I want them to know how amazing they are and how much potential they have in their lives. I desire to love my students and build relationships with them so that they can hopefully have the education that they deserve.