Professional Documents
Culture Documents
My Philosophy of Education
others. I hope to equip students with an understanding of the past and critical thinking skills that
will empower them and help them to become responsible citizens that actively engage in their
students, I aspire to create a culturally responsive classroom that will give students the agency to
shape the world around them. By bridging the gap between academic content and students’ lives,
I hope to nurture a passion for learning in students they can carry throughout their lifetimes.
Reflecting on my childhood, many of my role models were teachers. Both my home and
school life consisted of educators who went out of their way to support and develop my passion
for learning. Having a mother who was a special education teacher within my school district
series of extraordinary history teachers furthered my love for education, inspiring me to commit
my life to this profession. I aspire to make a positive and lasting difference in students’ lives as
my history teachers did for me. I strive to be like the teachers who developed my passion and
curiosity with learning. I hope to spark students’ drive and enthusiasm by being a role model
who demonstrates the value of education in my classroom and creates a passion towards
knowledge that extends beyond the classroom and into the rest of their lives.
learning. Throughout my own social studies education during public schooling, I always felt as if
the curriculum was far too Eurocentric and that other cultures whose values and practices differ
from the modern Western world were denied equal attention. It has always been a goal of mine
to create a classroom that refuses to favor and privilege one culture’s history at the expense of
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others. I also understand that culturally responsive teaching is far more than just content
integration in a social studies classroom for the sake of multiculturalism. Being culturally
responsive doesn’t have to be just expanding my curriculum to include a diverse perspective that
is conscious of cultures, but it also can be effectively constructing bridges between home life and
school. I strive to be culturally responsive in ways beyond curriculum and work to reinforce ties
between the classroom and the community such as creating bilingual worksheets and translated
assignments for families who don’t speak English. With a culturally responsive pedagogy, I want
to reach all students regardless of their upbringing and inspire a critical consciousness capable of
society has been expanding. While my own understanding of the purpose of education during
high school was limited to teaching basic academic skills as well as encouraging problem
solving, recent involvement in local schools has opened my eyes to the benefits schooling brings
to the collective good through strengthening understanding of the democratic process. With this
broadened appreciation for the purpose of education, I now understand that my role as an
educator is far more than just an intermediary of information to students but also as a figure
within the community that prepares students for democratic participation. As a secondary social
studies teacher, I am not only responsible for teaching students about the past and the world
around them but giving future generations the tools to understand and tackle contemporary issues
like the racial inequality or other social injustices. I will equip students with the skills they need
to achieve academic success and enact positive change within their local, state, and global
communities.