Philosophy of Teaching

Christopher Emdin’s Reality Pedagogy 

Christopher Emdin states in For White Folks That Teach in the Hood that “While the teacher is charged with delivering content, the student shapes how best to teach that content.” If I had to name one takeaway from Emdin’s book, it would be his prevailing idea that teaching should be designed to fit the students you have; not the students you want, not the students you think you have, and not some imaginary construct like “the average student.” 

Emdin, C. (2016). For white folks who teach in the hood ... and the rest of y’all too : reality pedagogy and urban education. Beacon Press.

Design Thinking 

The iterative aspect of this process has stood out to me in my teacher assisting semester as I rework lessons after each implementation. Courtesy to Unichrone

Echoing Emdin’s idea of students shaping teaching, Design Thinking is a human-centered framework for anticipatory, iterative design. The cyclical process involves thinking of the needs of stakeholders (students, parents, and administrators) and creating and testing ways to fit those needs. My understanding and implementation of assessment, classroom organization, and routines and procedures are all informed by my experience with and confidence in the Design Thinking framework. 

Storytelling, the Deweyan Experience, and the Monomyth

Part of the process of working on my scholarly resource guide for art educators-- which you can find at scholarlyresourceguide.blogspot.com-- was interviewing several art educators at primary, secondary, and post-secondary levels. Among questions about resources and training, I asked about process. One participant invoked Joseph Campbell's The Hero's Journey. Here's what he said: 

"A thing I’ve come to realize is that-- from my point of view-- the classroom is a kind of theatre. In theatre, there are narratives, and myths, that allow people to make sense of their lives. A story is a journey, and so is a classroom, or a course. Within the structure of a class, it should be like a myth. There should be a clear beginning like you’re going on a quest: the hero's journey. I suggest, to any teacher, that you should read Campbell, but I would also suggest narratives that describe a journey to get to a goal.

"A course is a journey in that metaphorical boat, and everybody has an oar, and when a class gets going, everybody is pulling their weight and they’re moving with each other. And when it happens, the teacher can feel it. It’s like a concert; you can feel that energy. When it doesn’t work, you can identify where that energy isn’t coming from, and you can try and solve that. But when it does work, it’s quite thrilling."

This narrative framework is reflected by John Dewey's belief that learning only happens after some significant change. Dewey believed that real learning was evidenced by growth on the part of the learner; growth that would manifest itself in the actions of the learner (Dewey). 

I think-- and this is evidenced by its place in the realm of advertising and marketing-- that design can become soulless, or lose some of its significant meaning. Using the language of storytelling-- and the "thrills" that stories create-- might help teaching and learning retain some of their magic. 

Dewey, J., Hickman, L. A., & Boydston, J. A. (2009). The Collected Works of John Dewey, 1882-1953 (2nd release). Electronic edition. The Later Works of John Dewey, 1925-1953. Volume 4 : 1929, The Quest for Certainty. [electronic resource]. InteLex Corporation.

Principled practices

One of the highlights of Emdin’s For White Folks is the section on what he calls “pentecostal pedagogy.” Emdin sources several habits of successful teachers from an outside-of-school context; the use of call-and-response routines, volume, personal and cultural relevance, and a willingness to listen to “congregants,” or students, when they “catch the spirit,” or take command of their own learning. 

In Classroom Management for Elementary Teachers, Carolyn Evertson and Edmund Emmer propose a similar practice; Constructive assertiveness, which is confidence without aggressiveness. Constructive assertiveness uses strong posture, empathic but firm language, and an attentive demeanor as means of communicating with stakeholders. As a preservice teacher who took some time to find his "teacher voice," this concept from Evertson and Emmer feels tailored to be a personal reminder when developing my presence in a classroom. 

Evertson, C. M., Worsham, M. E., & Emmer, E. T. (2006). Classroom management for elementary teachers (7th ed.). Pearson/A and B.

“The kind of teacher you will become is directly related to the kind of teachers you associate with. Teaching is a profession where misery does more than just love company— it recruits, reduces, and romances it. Avoid people who are unhappy and disgruntled about the possibilities for transforming education. They are the enemy of the spirit of the teacher” (Christopher Emdin, For White Folks Who Teach in the Hood).