Why TEach?
I believe in the power of education to be transform our world. I decided to be be a teacher because of the profound impact other teachers had on me. In high school I grew tired of seeing my friends drop out. I am especially concerned about hispanic males under-achieving in education. I also strongly believe that students need more teachers that look and sound like them and share similar cultural experiences. Being Mexican-American means I am bicultural, bilingual, and that has made me appreciate multiple views and ideas. In college I triple majored in Film, Spanish, and Chicano Studies and gained a lot of knowledge from those majors as well as from my general education classes. This made me appreciate a variety of teaching and learning styles. After college I studied and traveled around the world and that also made me more open minded about the world and approaches to education. The totality of my life experiences and overall education has made me embrace multiple ideas and philosophies of education. Ideally I would like to teach history or Spanish. I am qualified to teach history and it’s a subject that fascinates me. I also would like to teach Spanish. I think it’s a subject that many non-Spanish speakers can benefit from. Both of these subjects will allow me plenty of flexibility to use a variety of approaches to engage students in the learning process.
My philosophy of education combines a traditional teacher centered approach that emphasizes teaching knowledge that has survived through time with some student centered approaches that focuses on real world relevance for the learner. The goal is to explain how instruction applies to students lives and what it means for their futures. Some questions I still have about becoming a teacher have to do with jobs for students after school. We may need to start shifting from just teaching our curriculum to also encouraging students to start thinking about their careers after their schooling. Knowledge is good but students also need to learn the skills to help them get jobs or begin their careers. I will start the conversation about college education or vocational training programs. This is an area where we are failing our students. It’s not enough to teach students facts they’ll never use to get a job. My philosophy of education is not only to teach but to prepare students for adulthood and life after school.
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My philosophy of education combines a traditional teacher centered approach that emphasizes teaching knowledge that has survived through time with some student centered approaches that focuses on real world relevance for the learner. The goal is to explain how instruction applies to students lives and what it means for their futures. Some questions I still have about becoming a teacher have to do with jobs for students after school. We may need to start shifting from just teaching our curriculum to also encouraging students to start thinking about their careers after their schooling. Knowledge is good but students also need to learn the skills to help them get jobs or begin their careers. I will start the conversation about college education or vocational training programs. This is an area where we are failing our students. It’s not enough to teach students facts they’ll never use to get a job. My philosophy of education is not only to teach but to prepare students for adulthood and life after school.
Full text below