My philosophy of teaching is strongly rooted in my study of philosophy.
(Hey, how about that!) Philosophy means “love of knowledge,” and that phrase
that sums up a good deal of my personality. Although I had little formal
training in the field (aside from a PHIL101 course in my freshman year
of college) I found myself drawn to it more and more as I furthered my
study of history. What I find fascinating about history is considering
how different cultures have thought about themselves and the world around
them.
Socrates (my hero from history, pictured here) claimed that the unexamined life was not worth living. With that, he issued a call to human beings to think about life and its meaning.
It may sound corny, but I truly responded to that call and have sought to apply it in the classroom. I frequently ask myself: what am I trying to teach my students? what should they take away from my class? For every class I have taught, whether it concerned ancient Greece or contemporary America, I have searched for general goals to pursue beyond simply the content listed in a syllabus. From my experiences, I feel that a major mission as a teacher must be to cultivate thinking and communication skills in students. We live in age where technology enables us to store, retrieve, and transmit vast amounts of information. Since no individual can retain such quantities of data, the organization and management of knowledge has become more important than its memorization. To help students develop these skills and thrive in today’s world, teachers must emphasize the analysis and evaluation of materials. Unfortunately, my subject, social studies, has acquired a dubious but all too often accurate reputation for emphasizing the mindless memorization and rote recitation of names and dates. Such an approach not surprisingly fails to stimulate students’ minds and interests; they leave history classes with no sense of what history means or how to think with an historical perspective. I can't tell you how often people have asked me what I do for living, and when I tell them I'm a history teacher they respond with something like, "History? I hated history in school!"
However, by presenting materials as problems to be considered rather than facts to be memorized, students will out of necessity have to think about larger meanings. Teachers therefore must encourage and challenge students to reason with problems, pursue the implications of their reasoning, and consider different perspectives. I believe that teaching students to think will help them communicate as well. Indeed, effective communication is the logical expression of one’s thoughts. If students learn to synthesize diverse materials as a result of this process, they will develop into creative and analytical people.
Well, that all sounds nice, but how does one make that happen day to day? One approach I have found useful is Multiple Intelligence Theory -- MI if you want to sound hip. This theory describes seven different ways to understand "intelligence," and proposes a variety of methods to teach students as a result. You can go to this site with an MI inventory and discover your own MI profile. (That's a little Intrapersonal intelligence at work there.)