A Philosophy on Educational Humanism Of the many things essential to the education of young people, the most important by far is the development of intellect and critical curiosity. We equip our students with these skills so that they may depart into and contribute to the success of the outside world, and only by fostering them in our schools can we hope to ensure a better future for our children and for the world as a whole. Learning is the process through which we navigate the world, and is a constant, cyclical, and lifelong passion. Learning, an inquiry-driven desire to know about ourselves and our environments and to strive for their preservation and advancement, neither begins nor ends in the classroom but is, rather, guided and inspired by the messages that a student receives in school. Providing my students with the messages that will best prepare them for success in the future, therefore, constitutes my duty and drive as a teacher. These messages are not purely academic. While I endeavor to provide my students with functional and inspired knowledge of the English language and its historical and potential applications through a diverse set of analytical and creative reading and writing exercises, I also seek to inspire in them confidence and social savvy. For example, by providing my students with numerous and varied opportunities to interact with one another and discuss their academic questions and ideas in a social manner, I will help them to develop the interpersonal skills necessary to thrive in contemporary society. The ability to communicate and collaborate effectively is essential throughout an individual’s life, and by recognizing every student’s unique talents, interests, and potential and providing individualized resources for the development of those talents, the exploration of those interests, and the fulfillment of that potential, I hope to promote their growth in my students. Every child should feel confident and safe to express him- or herself in my classroom. In order for this to be the case, the development of a tightknit and supportive learning community amongst my students and colleagues is essential. This community is created through both the psychological and physical classroom

environments. My classroom will be not only physically conducive to community – desks arranged to encourage academic and social collaboration, symbolic displays of student identity throughout the classroom, visual multi-cultural connections, etc. – but it will also be a psychological community space – all students will be treated by myself and by their peers as intellectual beings capable of critical thought and discussion, and encouraged to share and receive those thoughts with respect and consideration. We are all complex individuals, and by recognizing one another’s unique thoughts, experiences, emotions, interests, and strengths we are best able to work collaboratively to achieve successes that exceed our personal and collective expectations. It is not my ultimate goal to prepare my students for an end-of-year exam; such measures of a student’s academic achievement are an essential part of the American education system and therefore I am responsible for preparing my students to be successful on them, but ultimately I am preparing them for something much more important and enduring than any standardized test. I am, that is, preparing them for success in their lives after school. Every student, I believe, can achieve that success; every child is capable of learning, and my job as an educator is to ensure that they do so. If each of my students leaves my class having learned something and with the desire to learn more, then I have succeeded as a teacher.