TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Tyler Weakland
Westminster Choir College
Princeton, New Jersey



Introduction

I have often had classes in high school and college where I find myself being
talked at for the entire class period, or in other words, the teacher is banking
their knowledge to the class. I have never gained very much from these types of
classroom settings because I was not engaged and my interaction didnt seem to
have a purpose. So therefore through much of my educational experience I have not
been challenged. I became competent because I was a strong student, but never
because my teacher was so aware and able to broaden my views or help to explore
the truth. I was never asked to question what was said to be correct.

When I think back on my educational experience, it was rarely
transformative and often did not give me the power to know. There is a deep
importance for teachers to release the power and allow the students the ability to
realize it themselves. I viewed the teacher as always being the only one with
knowledge and never considered the fact that I already had the knowledge or could
find it myself.
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Empowerment & Transformation

My philosophy of teaching is grounded in the ideas of Frank Abrahams
(2005) and the five tenets of Critical Pedagogy as well as Bernice McCarthys (2000)
concept of adapting instruction to accommodate students preferred learning style.
Within these ideas comes strength in teaching. Teaching becomes facilitation based
rather than lecture based. The knowledge is found, not given.

Abrahams (2005), suggests that education based on critical pedagogy is
comprised of five tenets, of which are: 1) education is a conversation where
students and teachers pose and solve problems together, 2) education should
broaden the students view of reality, 3) education is empowering, 4) education is
transformative, and 5) education is political. These five concepts are meant to give
power to the student in ways in which they can search and find the knowledge
rather than just be told. It is within this structure that true teaching and learning can
occur. Why is it so important that education be a conversation? It is because it
creates an atmosphere coherent and able to thrive with learning. The student is able
to come to conclusions and realize the world by gaining power through the
knowledge they acquired on their own. Abrahams (2014), explains that good
teaching facilitates the making of meaning. This ensures that the teacher guides the
student through their realization of knowledge. Broadening of views is vital to the
expansion of society and its members. Without questioning what is now and what
could be, there would be no forward movement or progression of ideas. Students
must be given the power to question their world and figure out what is truth.
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McLaren (1989), suggests making the strange familiar and the familiar strange as
parts are integrated into the whole. This attitude allows for a total reworking of
what is truth. In order to realize something greater, the present idea must be
tortured. Kincheloe (2002) wrote, Positivism is an epistemological position.
Epistemology is the study of knowledge, its production, the nature of truth, and the
criteria we sue to determine whether a statement is valid (p. 27). Empowerment is
what learning and knowledge is all about. Without knowledge, you have no power.
So to build students that are strong and able to impact society, empowering them
through learning and education is a must. Abrahams (2014), explains that good
teaching provides strategies for students to connect what they learned in one
context and apply it to a new and different context. This is very important. If
students are unable to make connections from what they are learning, then true
learning has not occurred. Students must be able to take what they learn and apply
it to other aspects of life, other subjects, other experiences, and other problems.
Paulo Freire (1970), states that there can be no teaching without learning. This
defines a model of teaching that puts the students and their needs first, further
crediting the need for a conversational education. Abrahams (2014), continues by
saying that good teaching yields transformational experiences for both students and
their teacher. This concept allows for growth within both the student and the
teacher while dissolving the power between the two parties. Power must be
stripped away in order to use the students pre-existing knowledge as a bridge to
new learning (Abrahams 2004). If transformation does not occur, there was a lack
of brilliance within the teaching. Finally, education is political. Knowing this,
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teaching strategies should be re-aligned to fulfill the needs of the students. In order
to combat the political nature of educational institutions, teachers must put their
students first and always allow them to grow.


Aligning of Teaching

Bernice McCarthy strongly advised that teachers adhere to their students
learning types and therefore teach with many angles and with a depth of variety.
McCarthy (2000) states that the 4MAT System honors the distinctive style that each
student brings to the classroom, while helping each student grow by mastering the
entire cycle of learning styles. This aligns with Abrahams Critical Pedagogy ideal
about honoring the world of the student and using what they bring to the classroom
as a bridge to new learning. McCarthy acknowledges that students come into the
classroom as different types of learners but they through the learning process
become able to learn in different styles. As a teacher, it is imperative that you know
and understand your students and realize how they learn best in order to teach in a
way that aligns with everyones learning styles. Marginalization will occur within
the classroom if a teacher does not become aware of his or her students. With the
ability to reach and communicate with many students, a teacher will have more
success as a facilitator of knowledge seeking. In this way, teachers will be able to
better bring forward and use the knowledge that the students bring to the
classroom. Understanding McCarthys belief further aligns with Critical Pedagogy as
it honors the worlds of the students.

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Putting it Into Practice

Furthermore, the issue of lesson plans arises and how they impact the
teaching and learning experience. Abrahams (2009), designed a lesson plan that
focuses on experiential learning through self-actualization while simultaneously
critically assessing the lesson and aiding in its success. The process is further
explained in Winks Critical Pedagogy: Notes From the Real World, p. 127, 1. Begin
with the students own experience 2. Identify, investigate, and pose a problem
within your own life 3. Solve the problem together 4. Act (Wink 2005). This
process helps honor their world (Abrahams). Within the lesson plan designed by
Abrahams, there are four types of objectives: behavioral; what the students will be
able to do, cognitive; what the students will know, experiential; what the students
will encounter and use, and constructivist; how the students will use the knowledge
in the real world, all of which act to clearly enunciate the outcomes of the lesson and
what will be achieved through it. It also includes a focusing/essential question that
provides the basis for the lesson and helps the teacher clarify for him or herself the
overall goal of the lesson. Assessment: formative, summative and integrative, are
vital in acknowledging what was successful and what did not work within the
lesson.


Teaching through the Pre-existing

Students enter the classroom with knowledge and experiences that are often
unnoticeable to the teacher. It is the teachers job to acquire and access this
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knowledge in order to make the learning process more productive and therefore
memorable. An example of where disconnect may occur between teacher and
student is in the realm of technology. The students entering school now have a much
greater knowledge and experience of and with technology. Kincheloe (2002),
addresses the point that the electronic world of the twenty-first century is
vulnerable to power in ways never before imagined. A critical pedagogue would see
technology as the key to power and the use of technology in the classroom as an
enhancement of the learning experience. I see technology, as a vital part of the
experience students should encounter in the classroom. However, over abundance
can cause aspects of what I call organic learning to decrease. The ability for students
to find information is faster than ever, but awareness of where and how that
knowledge was gained is lost. Students must use technology as a resource of
enhancement and not as a crutch or dependability.

Dewey (1916), expresses that an individual is a sophisticated thinker to the
degree in which he or she sees an even not as something isolated but in its
connection with the common experience. It is with this mindset that teachers should
go about creating an experience within their classroom. Allowing students to realize
that what they learn is more than what it seems and it is connected to a larger
spectrum of life experiences. Giving them the tools to make connections is important
in their growth as a human being and it encourages them to find, and search out
answers to questions within society.

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A final concept of importance is that of flow and what is called Zen. Wolff
(2009), writes of piano playing, an interpretation is not a manmade structure that
can be built up its a pre-existent eternal form, a sculpture longing to be freed form
the marble. This can be applied to teaching as well. Teaching is often regarded as a
strict, follow-the-rules type of position. However this is not the case, it requires a
great sense flow and ability to maneuver smoothly within the structure that is
created through the lesson plan. Teaching is about finding the needs within the
students and fulfilling them. Zen is allowing the internal feeling, or organic thought,
to be realized and brought forth to be interpreted by others. Within teaching, Zen
should be found when connecting with students, when creating an experience and
not passing one up to follow the lesson plan, when allowing your true self to be
present while teaching, and while being vulnerable and giving way to the growth
and blossoming of knowledge that is present and should be found and nourished. It
is this philosophical concept that allows the classroom to become an experiential
environment that fosters growth and expansion of knowledge.


Conclusion

The experience of banking and non-engagement within the classroom that I
encountered in the past has given my insight into what should be happening
instead. It is with this realization that grounds my philosophy of teaching. Knowing
the students and where they come from allows for authentic and organic teaching
that leads to the necessities of empowerment and transformation all the while using
the pre-existing that is brought into the classroom. Aligning the teaching to the
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students needs and learning styles nurtures their growth and expedites the
learning process. The concept of Zen and finding that flow that is needed to create
an enriching environment is one that may take time but when realized will allow for
great success within the classroom and in the interaction between student and
teacher.


















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References
Abrahams, F. (2005). Transforming classroom music instruction with ideas
from critical pedagogy. Music Educators Journal, 92 (1), 62-67. Retrieved
from http://jstor.org
Abrahams, F. (2009). Music education department: Lesson plan format [Template].
Abrahams, F. (2014). What is critical pedagogy [PowerPoint]. Available from
https://rider.instructure.com/courses/3881/wiki/week-
1?module_item_id=146783
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education. New York: The Free Press.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed. (M. B. Ramos, Trans.) New York,
NY: Continuum.
Kincheloe, J. L. (2002). Critical pedagogy. New York: Lang Publishing, Inc.
McCarthy, B. (2000). About teaching: 4MAT in the classroom. Wauconda, IL:
About Learning
McLaren, P. (1989). Life in Schools: An Introduction to Critical Pedagogy in
the Foundations of Education. New York: Longman
Wink, J. (2005). Critical pedagogy: Notes from the real world (3
rd
ed.).
Boston: Pearson Education.
Wolff, D. M. (2009). Zen and the Art of Piano. Zen Art Music Press