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Philosophy Statement
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| Teaching
Philosophy Statement
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Serenity seems quite the opposite
of the noisy environment of my classes. Vicissitude is not the word
for the seemingly endless hours spent correcting homework and the strain
to understand my students' Byzantine schedules. Virtuous, austere woman,
retired and fleeing distractions and crowded places is not my best description,
rather I'd like to be a provocative, joyful woman, accessible and distracting,
even in crowded classrooms. Some day I may be all of the above; meanwhile,
we know that teaching is in great measure learning, and I am learning to
be a teacher with a teaching philosophy.
My language and my cultureMy philosophy of teaching starts from the belief that students are important, that they deserve respect, and that any systematic teaching is in effect teaching values, not private moral concepts or religious values, but public values, such as civility and respect for diversity. As a teacher I am a model of ethical behaviour when I fulfill my promises to assign homework, to correct it on time and make constructive comments, to give exams on the assigned dates and using measures that are challenging and fair. But this is not all, nor even the most important role I play. As a Hispanic, I am a model for all that is my culture. Since I teach Spanish as a PuertoRican living in the United States, my teaching is also a political act, a document of the cultural survival of my kind. All of this is important as subtext, although not all of it fits in the course syllabus. This is a practical matter, not a heroic position, nor one that I have elaborated to decorate my classes. Students are curious, they ask questions; given half a chance they want to know why my children are bilingual, how long I've been living in the United States to make my English so good, what I think about statehood for Puerto Rico... When all of this is relevant to the lesson, they get answers, clear, honest and to the point, with an explicit admonishment that I am talking from my particular perspective, not stating dogma. It's not easy to hide in front of a class. I suppose this would be different if I were not teaching Spanish, if I weren't a Linguist, if my father had not been a professor at the University of Puerto Rico before I was even born (they say good teaching's in your blood) or if this country were not the country it is. As a teacher I am a whole person. Although not all of me is on public view, all of me is involved in my teaching, in the choices I make when selecting a reading, in the words I choose to describe an item, in the effort I expend and the excitement I project for some things and not others. It would be disingenuous to pretend otherwise. I am a teacher in the Humanities, a field that, in my view, demands assuming responsibilities for real-life decisions. I'm not afraid to assume responsibility for the attitudes I undoubtedly project in the classroom. I try to be fair in accepting dissent, and as bell hooks would say, I teach to transgress.2 As a Linguist I understand that language is a living organism and so I try to bring my students to approach it as such. We practice structures in context, personalize and apply everything. For Language, this living being, culture is not a separate repertory of songs, but a persistent hum. As a woman I know that some of the things
I share with my students are controversial, complicated for a 50 minute
discussion, the result of a life looking at things through different eyes,
but my choices are based on the trust that they will meet me half way.
Our interaction provides opportunities for the student to earn the learning,
assuming personal responsibility for the quality of his or her experience.
This is diametrically opposed to the view that our students are our "customers"
and that the University is a vendor of knowledge. Learning is not for sale
and can't be bought at any price.
Teaching a natural languageI'm grateful to be teaching Spanish, a language in which the role of the teacher is so simply described. ¿A qué se dedica usted?
Indeed, yo enseño. Education is a cooperation between teacher and student. I don't like the word "instructor," because it suggests that knowledge can be imparted. I try to be a facilitator, which does not mean that I will singly shoulder the responsibility for the lesson's success. I don't want to be entertaining. Of course, it's better to be entertaining than boring, but the business of learning is the student's business. My role is to mediate the process, assign the material that will lead the way and make sense of the language, correct the errors that may impede communication, help my students develop the skills and discover the strategies they'll need to use to learn by their own strength. The most important task of a teacher is to inspire students, structuring the learning experience in a literally "attractive" way. For this I need a great deal of energy. I need to be sincerely convinced of the importance of my job. I must have a sense of humor, thorough knowledge of my field, sensitivity to the variety and depth of others. Presentation, tasks and feedback, positive or negative, must be constructive and meaningful, and take into account different student learning styles. Activities in the classroom should acknowledge
and exploit our natural environment. The input should be meaningful and
come from multiple sources, providing information about communicative and
learning strategies and the aspects of language necessary for communicative
competence. Above all, input should be natural language, whether scripted
or nonscripted and at a rate of speech and speed allowing students to participate
frequently in the negotiation of meaning.
1.Diccionario de la Real Academia
Española, 1992
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