I believe that children best learn in an environment that is supportive and caring toward

them and that has their best interests and goals in mind. In order to be sure that all students are

receiving, synthesizing and applying information correctly, it is a teacher’s duty to create lessons

that are universally design for learning which are intended to reach the maximum number of

students possible. Classroom instruction should be centered around the student being able to get

a firm grasp of material and being able to make connections. In this sort of environment, lectures

should not take up the majority of the class period. Instead, most of the period should be spent

engaging in discussions and learning activities which are student-centered.

The majority of students have a degree of natural curiosity and want to learn about the

world in which they live. When you allow students to develop agency in the topics that they

learn about, they become more interested. For example, as a future social studies teacher, I will

strive to teach US history in a way that students come to understand their agency in our history

and our system of government. If I just tell students that this is so, they may not understand or

realize how history and civics affect them. On the other hand, if I guide them to link concepts

with their own lives, I hope that this will impress upon them what is at stake with how people

interact with one another on a large scale and how their actions influence others. It is in places

where students are given room for this kind of exploration that they learn best. It is important to

design lessons that can be universally accessed and enjoyed. In order to be functional, there must

be a clear set of objectives that need to be met by the end of the class period, the unit, the

marking period, and the year. Students learn best when they understand what skills they should

acquire.
 The role of a teacher in teaching and learning, according to Paulo Freire in his

groundbreaking book Pedagogy of the Oppressed, is to act as a facilitator rather than to just tell

students how the world is. Freire argues that we must embrace a dialogical system of education,

in which both the student and teacher learn from one another. It is easy to learn from your

students, but it is important to make it apparent that you are there to guide their personal and

academic growth. First and foremost, a teacher must prioritize academics, but personal support in

the classroom is also extremely important. The most basic role of the teacher is to create an

environment that is universally accessible, and personally and academically nurturing.

It is important to instill skills that will inspire students to advocate for themselves and

become lifelong learners. These skills include how to discern between various information

sources, how to pose effective questions, and how to solve these questions. These skills also

include conflict resolution and acceptable professional behavior. Teachers should model these

behaviors both inside and outside of the classroom. They should also assign work that allows

students to exercise these skills. Teachers should also encourage students to explore the ideas that

they are interested in by designing lessons that have items that appeal to that interest.

Classroom design supports learning by setting an overall tone in class of what sort of

work a teacher might require. I have found in my various classroom observation experiences that

varied forms of classroom design are most conducive to different styles of teaching and learning.

The vast majority of classrooms I have visited had students sitting in pairs in straight rows that

faced the front of the room, which is conducive to partner work and lecturing but may not be for

class-wide discussions. Some classrooms that I have visited had desks that were set up in more

of a “forum” style, with student sitting close to one another, which allows for group work and
more effective whole-class discussions. Classrooms that are set up in a “forum” style, in my

opinion, have a more relaxed atmosphere that is more conducive to students working

comfortably together, which is something that I would strive to have take place in my own

classroom.

Lesson design also has a large impact on teaching and learning, and can make or break a

classroom environment. The old adage that you cannot please everybody applies in a classroom,

but teachers must design lessons that are universally accessible to all students. Doing otherwise

does all students a disservice, especially those who may need accommodations to fully access

educational resources. I have reservations about the efficacy of lecturing for an entire class

period, having not benefited from that specific experience as a learner unless I am passionate

about that given topic. An educator once told me that a lecture should not take up more than ten

minutes in a forty-minute class period, because students then begin to disengage and it is hard for

them to stay focused. I believe that discussions in which students can have lively debates with

one another, where they must back up talking points with information, are most effective when

teaching the humanities. That said, not everyone will agree with me, and so it is my obligation as

an educator to design lessons that appeal to different learning styles.

Advocating for students is a multi-dimensional activity which takes place both inside and

outside of schools. Inside of schools, teachers advocate for student by empowering them and

providing them with not just information but with personal support as well. This includes giving

a listening ear, making accommodations wherever they are necessary and prudent, and stating

the ways in which students are succeeding but also may be in need of improvement. I credit the

teachers that were accommodating to me and my needs both as a student and a growing person
going through life experiences with shaping the person that I am today. As an educator, I will

strive to be a transformative teacher that supports students both inside and outside of the

classroom and empowers them to use their knowledge to understand and change the world

around them.