To be a teacher at any school, whether public or private, secular or Christian, is a daunting task. As a teacher I am responsible for the educational well-being of every student that walks into my classroom. No matter what I teach, I am molding the mind and influencing the life of innately sinful, impressionable, image bearers of God.
God, as my authority, imparts wisdom and knowledge to me so that I, in turn, can impart wisdom and knowledge to my students. As a Christian, God has given me the Holy Spirit to help me with this task. As a teacher, I want to work to embrace my students as they are and lovingly push them to explore this world, life, faith, and things outside of themselves. I also want to work to ignite in them a passion for learning and to help them discover the gifts and skills God has given them that they can use in every other area of their life. It is also my desire to treat the school campus as a mission field. While keeping the role of teacher, I wish to appropriately get to know my students and impact their spiritual life. My hope is to see students come to know the Lord for the first time or create a deeper relationship with Him.
It is human nature to be uninterested and lazy when it comes to actively learning. It is hard for students of any age to go to school, sit in a classroom for more than half an hour, complete assignments, read textbooks, and take exams. As a teacher, I wish to make learning and time spent in the classroom interesting and fun by relating with the students and showing them how what they are learning fits into the real world. I want to create a classroom environment where students feel free to participate, ask questions, and voice opinions.
Society can be a cruel place for students fresh out of high school and even college. Society is not always very accepting and it can be difficult for students to transition from “student” to “career person.” My hope is to prepare my students for their future and what life has for them. School should not be about academics alone but rather a place where students discover that everything about life intertwines and goes back to one central source: God. School should not only be a place where students simply learn the history of Rome but that they learn how the history of Rome relates to the Word of God and to the way of life today. Students should graduate and not just leave with a diploma or a degree but with a better grasp on the world and the way they can impact it for the glory of God.
In light of all of these goals, my overarching goal is that my students would find their faith, trust, and individuality in the Lord and discover the gifts and talents He has given them and learn how to use those for His glory in everything that they do. Though I will never know the plan that God has for each and every student, I desire to see His will complete in their lives, whatever that may be. And though I believe that parents and the home should be the main source of discipleship, I also believe that part of my role, as a teacher, is to create a partnership with the parents to help the students along. The unfortunate truth is, in most situations, that teachers spend more time with the students than the parents. I want to use that time to the benefit of the parents as well as the students.
To accomplish these goals in the classroom I would create a comfortable learning environment. Though I may use lecture as a tool for communicating information, I would do it in such a way that I can hear thoughts from the students, and create discussion. I believe that simple discussion can be a far greater tool for learning than a cold, straightforward lecture. I would guide these discussions toward a main focus, whatever it is I want the students to learn that day.
I would also create assignments that would test the students’ knowledge and understanding of the concept, possibly a group assignment, an essay, quizzes, or exams. I would also assign projects for the students to use their creativity and personal skills to express themselves and show their own interests. I have found that students, who are given the opportunity to express their own opinions and gifts, and see that the teacher is truly interested, are more ready to learn and participate.
Since students have different methods of learning, I need to try to meet each method in my teaching. There are students who are thinkers who learn by solving problems, writing essays, analyzing situations, recalling facts, and comprehending concepts. I need to provide such situations as the opportunities present themselves to meet the academic needs of these students.[1]
There are also students who are feelers who learn by sharing personal experiences and stories, establishing values and positive attitudes, and living out the truths of a subject. I need to also provide situations or opportunities in the classroom to meet the academic needs of these students.[2]
There are also students who are doers. These students learn by being hands-on, interactive, and task oriented. They need to do what is being taught to achieve understanding. I need to provide hands-on experience as I can to meet the academic needs of these students.[3]
To be a well-balanced teacher, I need to teach using all three of these methods as best I can. I should never leave a student feeling lost and misunderstood. It is important that students leave the classroom with a grasp of the subject for that day. If a student does not understand the concept then I have not done my job. I cannot make students learn but I am responsible for clearly communicating and effectively teaching so that, if students are paying attention and doing their part, they should have some understanding of the subject.
It is one thing to have opinions about what education should look like and how it should be done but it is quite different to actually do it and put to use these methods. However, the philosophical part of education and the methodological part of education cannot stand-alone, one cannot go without the other. The way I perform education comes from my philosophy on what education is and how it should be done. Likewise, to just have a philosophy but no methods is useless. Education is important and teachers hold a serious position. If teachers would realize the opportunity they have, as I hope to do, to positively impact the young people they come in contact with everyday, maybe our students would improve in academics and in life and go on to be all that God has called them to be.
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