STATEMENT OF TEACHING BELIEFS
Students, educators, and the community must all work together to ensure the success of the students. My role as an educator will be to educate and guide my students as they begin to take more responsibility in their own learning as they continue their educational journey. I will encourage life-long learners in my students, being with them during every step of their journey. I will also encourage them to use what I have taught them to grow as individuals. I hope that the parents or guardians of students will play an active role in the student’s life and work together with me to encourage that growth. With this, it is important to know what core values describe me as an educator:
1. Understanding: The traits of empathy and compassion are vital for trust and care to grow within the relationship between my students and I. One of my strengths is being empathetic towards others. I will do this when teaching by showing compassion and keeping an open mind to my students’ thoughts, ideas, and actions.
2. Respect: As a Filipina-Canadian, respect plays a major role in my culture. It is important to my personal life and will be just as important in my role as an educator I understand that my beliefs and values may not always align with either that of the students, or the staff, and that is okay. It is important to primarily be respectful of everyone and only then can a reciprocal, respectful environment in the classroom thrive. I will do this by seeing every student as an individual with their own beliefs and values, not just another person in my classroom.
3. Passion: My passion for educating others and changing the world reflects my belief in the importance of education and in the curriculum impacting my students. To be passionate about the curriculum and my students allows for both myself and the students to grow, and fosters a love of learning. With passion comes engagement. I want to be able to keep my students constantly engaged to ensure they are learning but having fun doing so. With my background in drama, I will do this by becoming invested in what I have to teach and applying my degree to forming my lessons in a creative and artistic way.
4. Innovation: I believe that innovation is important to challenge my students to think outside the box and to allow their creativity to shine. From finding different methods to approach a math question to performing Shakespeare, past teachers in my life have shown me how tuning into my creative side benefits my learning. My ability to demonstrate this not only in teaching my lessons but in other aspects such as finding answers to questions or through group projects can encourage students to follow my lead and grow as individuals. I will have my mind open to discover and explore the world alongside my students.
5. Educated: It is important for me to accept that while it is impossible for one to know the answer to everything, it is essential to be as prepared as possible. I believe I should be well-prepared with the curriculum and well-informed about the students themselves and how they learn. To be educated can allow my students to place trust in me and ensure clarity in their learning. It also means that I can ensure I am teaching my students the proper knowledge and skills to ensure their success in life. If I do not know the answer to something, I will do my best to find out what it is so that my students can put their trust in me as an educator.
6. Inclusivity: By being inclusive, it can allow me to discover great potential amongst the students and foster a safe and caring environment. I will do this by encouraging my students to look past differences and treat everyone equally in and out of the classroom. Along with this, I will be involved with other educators and parents to develop relationships and strategies, to show support and a general caring for students.
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I want to ensure that I take what I have learned in my life and apply it to teaching my students. Understanding, respect, passion, innovation, education, and inclusivity are aspects of me that I hope to pass down to them. With these core values, I hope to effect positive change in my students’ lives and in the world.