Nicole Wasielewski
Teaching Philosophy
I decided that I wanted to be a special education teacher in my third year of
college. I had never aspired to be a teacher in high school or early years of college.
After some serious consideration of a career I decided that the best way to help change
come about in the world, I should be a teacher. This may seem a little naïve to some, but
I really believe that if I can educate and teach respect to at least my classroom of students
that I will have facilitated change some how. One of the things really important to me is
to teach respect. Respect not only extends to race and culture, but to sexualities, and
gender expression. I believe that these things have a place in early childhood education
and respect for others needs to start as soon as they enter the education system.
Special education is also very important to me. I believe that No Child Left
Behind had all intention of helping students with special needs, but a consequence of
NCLB was that it might force those students to drop out before they get their degree. I
believe that I can be a great teacher for students with special needs because I don’t see
them has not being able to reach their potential, I believe they just need modifications and
adjustments to get there. I also do not think that some teachers believe their special
education students can achieve success, and that notion shines through in their teaching
philosophy. I also believe that my philosophy for sexualities and gender expression has a
place in special education as well. I understand that this concept is a very touchy one in
this field, which is why I want to tackle it head on. Students with special needs have the
same right to be educated on the same things as students who do not have special needs.
During my primary years of education I was not the best or brightest student in
my class. My mediocre status as a student will help me be an excellent teacher. I
remember, as a student, some of the lessons that I found difficult and received little to no
help in order to better understand them and they were never modified for different
learners. I believe that because of these types of experiences I had as a student that I will
remember those when I teach and make an effort to individualize my teaching techniques
as much as I can. It is very important to me that I do not let myself slip into the daily
grind of teaching to the test in a traditional style. During my fieldwork throughout the
Five-Year Masters Program here at Rutgers I have noticed that many of my cooperating
teachers felt stifled and confined by the standardized tests for No Child Left Behind.
Many of them said they have no choice but to cram and teach for the test because their
students will not learn the strategies and material any other way. I firmly disagree with
that statement. I believe that Rutgers has done a great job preparing me to teach in
nontraditional ways, but still keep to the New Jersey Core Curriculum Content Standards.
No Child Left Behind is obviously a very key issue in education. My feelings on
the act have greatly shaped my teaching philosophy. I believe that NCLB is a great
rough draft for education reform in this country, but I do not think it was ready or
complete enough to be implemented. During the writing of the act I think it would have
helped to have teachers from multiple different settings and areas confer about what the
best way to teach children actually is. I do not think that there is any one magic strategy
that can be used for teaching and assessment, which is what NCLB does. NCLB teaches
for a very specific group of students, and those students are middle class, white, and do
not have special needs. I believe that the provision for modifications for students with
different needs was overlooked. The assessments for success in NCLB are ridiculously
one sided and unfair to students who learn differently then the traditional way. A
standardized test is no way to assess learning of students who do not have standard
learning strategies. It is common knowledge in education that there are different types of
learners, so why is there only one type of test? As teachers, we try to modify our lessons
to meet the needs of visual, verbal, sight and other types of learners but the standardized
tests are only suitable for students who learn by lecture and other traditional methods. I
see no reason for these tests set up for NCLB. As I stated before, the act should have
never been implemented because it is still in rough draft form.
After hearing and learning more about the actual effectiveness of No Child Left
Behind, I decided that as a teacher I will not fall to the victim to traditional teaching. One
of the strategies that was firmly stressed this semester is the Project Approach to learning.
I believe that engaging students in nontraditional ways encourages them to take interest
in learning. This approach can be modified and parts of the teaching strategies can be
used any time of the school year. I believe that teachers must engage their students and
find something that is culturally relevant to her/his students in the classroom. I also think
that the role of inquiry can be utilized for all students, not just those labeled gifted. I say
this because many times only those students labeled as such are give the privilege of
learning in an inquiry and project based environment. This seems incredibly biased and
unfair. Different types of learning should never be a privilege. As a future teacher I will
make it my goal to utilize projects that are inquiry based while also meeting the NJCCCS.
I believe that the true role of a teacher should be a facilitator. The teacher is there
to guide students from their current knowledge and build on to it to form new schemas
and strategies for learning. As a future facilitator, I hope to help students see their full
potential as citizens of their community as well as have them be successful academically.
The ultimate goal for students should be to become independent thinkers and learners
who can build on their knowledge without the help of a teacher. An early childhood
teacher has the responsibility to shape student’s strategies of learning and metacognition
process. Early childhood students should be able to take these strategies and use them
independently from their teacher to become successful academically.
As a future special education teacher I plan to utilize inquiry and culturally
relevant teaching in my classroom. I believe that it is important to engage students in
learning and not use the traditional method of teaching all of the time. The traditional
method is not useful because it does not give students room to think critically or
artistically about academia. Students with special needs are just that; they need
modifications not only in their learning and teaching strategies but in their assessments as
well. Many times they need to be engaged in nontraditional ways to begin with, and they
do not thrive in the traditional world of academia because it is not geared to fit their
special needs. Inquiry based learning is extremely flexible and can be used in multiple
ways.
My teaching philosophy may seem a little naïve and overly optimistic to some. I
believe that I can really make change happen in our society and I truly believe it must
come from our children. Our children are our future, and they must be taught that
intolerance and disrespect have no place in this world. In addition to these values I also
feel strongly that our children will receive the proper attention and support they deserve
when I become a fully certified teacher. Many people say that I am too optimistic in my
values and expectations for my future students, but I take comfort in knowing that if no
one else believes in them, I do.