With relevance on approaches to teaching, Goldberg (2019) indicates that individuals should firstly consider their ‘why’ as a central reason or core component from which they can proceed to expand their teaching beliefs upon – or in other words, we must preface our reason for doing something by identifying our ‘why’ prior to enlisting a plan of action (p. 23). While pondering my own ‘why’ as a basis for my teaching philosophies to expound on, I believe that prior to meaningful learning being able to transpire a teacher must begin with working towards developing a meaningful and professional relationship with the student – they must establish a base of trust. Likewise, the student must feel safe and comfortable in order to learn – they have a need to feel seen, acknowledged, accepted, important and feel as though their contributions are purposeful. Malaguzzi (1994) indicates that with them, students bring and cannot separate from themselves their individualized experiences and components of their lives – as do we (pp. 1-2). Metaphorically, Malaguzzi (1994) describes the school as that of a living organism in which: “… each child brings a part of something that’s different into the school” (p. 2). This vision succinctly depicts an environment that fosters diversity and acceptance – that understands we can all co-exist together harmoniously, benefit, learn and be enriched by the different life experiences that we each have to offer. In addition to establishing relationship and trust with students employing a practice of culturally responsive pedagogy into daily classroom happenings is a key component in recognizing and acknowledging the lived experiences of students. Will and Najarro (2022) explain that: “Students’ culture and lived experiences that influence how they understand and make sense of the world or themselves are an integral part of who they are as learners.” As a future educator, I understand that it is not enough merely to recognize or acknowledge who my students are, but rather I must extend myself to fully immerse and integrate who my students are and what matters to them most into the curriculum experiences of my classroom. Additionally, it is also important to recognize the diverse ways that students learn and succinctly provide adequate adaptations which lend to differentiate learning experiences for my students based on their individual learning needs where necessary – so that they experience success in learning (SME, 2017, p. 2). To truly come to know who my students are as learners I must establish and determine who they are as themselves and take into account the many ways that they are – therefore, my central pedagogical approach stands on the foundation of relationship. It will be my great honour to base and extend my teaching approaches outwardly from the innerworkings of solidifying relationships co-founded on trust and respect with each of my students.
(Image source: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/255649716347262205/).
References
Goldberg, G. (2019). Teach like yourself: How authentic teaching transforms our students and ourselves. Corwin Press.
Malaguzzi, L. (1994). Your image of the child: Where teaching begins. Exchange, 3, 1-5. https://www.reggioalliance.org/downloads/malaguzzi:ccie:1994.pdf.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education [SME]. (2017). The adaptive dimension for Saskatchewan K-12 students. https://publications.saskatchewan.ca/#/products/86567.
Will, M., & Najarro, I. (2022, April 18). Culturally responsive teaching. Education Week.