Educational Philosophy
I have been involved in education for much of my life, working with elementary and middle school-aged students in Mexico, China, Argentina, and throughout the United States (primarily in Boston, Kansas City, New Haven, and San Francisco). Through these various experiences, I have learned a lot and have further developed my passion for helping to improve the educational outcomes of young people, particularly through innovative practices. The ideas outlined below some of my learnings and constitute my continuously evolving educational philosophy:
Put students’ needs first.
Set high expectations.
Students learn in different ways.
Innovation is essential.
Data is the key to (understanding) success.
Culture is paramount to students’ success.
Soft skills matter, too.
Teach culturally relevant material.
We are all learners.
This work is too challenging for one person.
Put students’ needs first.
- Understand where students are coming from.
- Meet students where they are.
- Continuously monitor progress and adapt.
- Build personal relationships with students and their families.
- Keep students’ best interests at heart in all work and decisions.
Set high expectations.
- For all students, regardless of circumstance.
- For both academics and behavior.
- Believe even when students or their families do not.
- Students’ success is the teacher’s responsibility.
Students learn in different ways.
- It’s the teacher’s responsibility to individualize and differentiate instruction.
- Not only should instruction be multi-modal, students should have choice in the content, process, and product.
- There must always be multiple ways to demonstrate mastery.
Innovation is essential.
- Work to continuously increase effectiveness.
- Continuing to do the same thing won’t yield different results.
- Don’t reinvent the wheel, but try things out in new ways.
- Research to learn what works. Then try it for yourself.
- Don’t be afraid to fail. And, fail fast.
Data is the key to (understanding) success.
- Collect data continuously—throughout every learning activity, lesson, day, week, unit, and year.
- Use data to inform instruction, create new systems, and revise instructional design.
- Analysis must be ongoing, usable, and easily understandable.
- Use data as the basis for diagnosing, setting goals, monitoring progress, and measuring (quantifying) success.
- Strong culture yields strong achievement.
Culture is paramount to students’ success.
- We all adapt to the surroundings.
- Teamwork allows students to do more than they can do alone.
- Framing is critically important.
Soft skills matter, too.
- School is not just about the classes.
- Students must learn to become citizens, leaders, and friends.
- Grit predicts future success.
Teach culturally relevant material.
- Get to know students closely.
- Celebrate diversity and different cultures.
- Be trauma-informed.
- Teach social justice and activism.
We are all learners.
- Teachers never achieve perfection or pique in ability.
- Everyone must continue to learn and improve.
This work is too challenging for one person.
- A teacher simply cannot do this alone. It’s about the tribe, not the individual.
- Leverage families, friends, and the community.
- Be proud of one’s success.