At the heart of my classroom? Student agency and continuous renewal
Riley Lark asks, 'What's at the heart of your classroom?' At the heart of mine are the concepts of student agency and continuous reflection, revision, and renewal.
I teach graduate students: adult teachers and administrators who want a principal or superintendent credential. I've always prided myself on being a student-centered instructor. I include my teaching philosophy in every syllabus:
With deference to all of the educational authors whom I may paraphrase, I believe that
- The teaching-learning process is primarily for the benefit of the learner, not the teacher.
- All students want to, can, and will learn given the proper learning environment.
- Students actively and individually make sense of what they learn by connecting and integrating it with what they already understand. Teaching cannot occur without learning. I should always seek and value
