The document discusses the author's philosophy of teaching. It begins by acknowledging that students often view school and teachers as something they are forced to do and don't understand the purpose of. The most important aspect of teaching, according to the author, is prioritizing the students and ensuring all classroom activities have a clear purpose that is explained to the students. The author believes education allows humans to learn, think, and explore ideas, which makes us human. English class specifically can explore ideas about human nature by analyzing literature and using creative forms of expression beyond just essays.

1. Philosophy of Teaching Statement
David Rafe
Waking up with the sun again today
Time to get on the bus and go to school
I’d rather just stay home all day and play
That building stuffed with learning can’t be cool
Waking up with the sun is “important”
Math and science and reading and writing
I don’t understand, my brain is dormant
Inside my head, there’s no flash of lighting
I watch the clock as it ticks by so slow
Please don’t call on me I’m invisible
Teachers talk talk talk, they say and they show
I’m tired of the fact I’m capable
Wake up with the sun it’s good they tell me
Get an education then you will see
When you’re a kid school is just something you have to do. And your teachers
are just these people who are there, who tell you to do things, and then assign you
homework for seemingly no purpose whatsoever. We as teacher have chosen this
profession, we’ve chosen to be in the classroom everyday, but the students haven’t.
Students for the most part are there against their will, being forced to do things they
don’t understand, praying to all higher powers that the bell will ring in the next
three seconds or so. I can’t speak for the entire population of students, but this was
certainly how I felt growing up, and from what I’ve seen so far from my teaching
experience, many of the students I teach feel similarly. I believe that the number one
most important aspect of teaching is the students. If you aren’t doing it for them, or
if you are doing anything without them in mind, then something is wrong. This then
becomes the most difficult part of teaching.
I always try to be as honest with my students as possible. First of all I always
make sure that I know why I am doing whatever it is I am doing. Every single thing
that takes place in the classroom has to be for a particular purpose. Then I will tell
the students why we are doing what we are doing. There shouldn’t be any we are
doing this because it’s important, well why is it important? What specifically about
this is important to the outside world, or what one may encounter later in school?
There needs to be a trust factor between students and their teacher. If they don’t
trust that what you are doing is important, then they won’t put in any effort in the
class.
What do you do when it’s your job to teach someone and the last thing they
want do is listen to anything you have to say? This is the struggle of teaching. Before
we can even hope to bestow knowledge on a young malleable mind, we first have to
convince them that they should care about what we have to share with them. What’s
the point? Why does this matter? When will I ever use this? I’m not sure of too many
other jobs where your daily clientele are actively fighting against what your
objectives are. So why teach? The ability to learn, and think, and explore new idea’s,

2. is something that I think truly makes us human. And I believe that without learning,
and without education, we would be lost.
English is somewhat unique among the major school subjects. The classic
idea of the English classroom is that you read an old, powerful text, and then write
an essay to display your abilities of understanding the text, and your proficiency in
writing of the English language. In essence there are a few key things that we want
students to learn in the English classroom. We want them to be able to read, we
want them to be able to write, we want them to be able to analyze, and we want
them to be able to “think critically.” What’s interesting about English is that to
achieve the basic goals you don’t actually have to read these classic books. In fact
you don’t need to read a book at all. This allows for a certain freedom in the English
classroom, which then allows for more avenues to excite students about learning.
Another thing that’s so powerful about English is that it gets at the things
that really make us human. In a way the ideas that you explore in English class, are
really what make up the human condition. We are asking our students to take a
moment and actually look at the world they live in. Don’t just exist it in, but actually
observe what’s going on. What are humans really like? What is out society really
like? What does our society say about us? What are our wants? Needs? Desires?
Realities? These are all the biggest questions surrounding human beings, and these
are the questions we ask our students to consider in the English classroom. What is
a piece of literature if not simply a reflection of a human’s observation of the world
he/she lives in? English isn’t about getting the right answer, it’s about learning how
to think. That is what makes it so unique.
What is also wonderful about English is that it allows for so much art to take
place in a core subject where in most cases art is seen as more of an extracurricular.
In English class though we can use art as a way to further our learning. In English we
do a lot of work with analysis. We explore characters, theme’s, plot movements,
symbols, etc. A lot of the time to just look at a novel for instance and just expect
students to pick out every detail and make strong interpretation can become quite
tedious. But when you bring in things like drawing, drama, fiction writing, film,
dance etc. you do a number of amazing things. The first thing you do is allow the
students freedom of expression, which is something they rarely get in school, and it
is not only enjoyable but validates their personal identity. Another thing that
happens is students eyes and minds are opened to seeing new perspectives, and
thinking outside the box. They come to see that a “text” doesn’t have to be confined
to words on a page, and that meaning can be derived from any form of expression.
The last and most amazing thing that happens is that they learn. Many times it might
be the case that they don’t even realize how much they’ve learned, which can be an
incredible thing. What happens is let’s say they have to draw a character from a
novel. The way that they depict that character in drawn form is based on a series of
decisions that student has to make. So in order to actually complete the drawing the
student has to do a complete analysis of that character. As long as the student can
then validate why they drew the character in this specific way, they have done all
the work of analyzing a character that, we as English teachers, could ask of them.