Philosophy of Education

           In the simplest of terms, I believe education frees you. Education should liberate the individual by enabling him or her to find their own path in the world in the most ideal of situations. We educate in order to open our minds to new ideas, to understand how the world works, how to survive in it, and how to change it. Education should provide an insight into who you are as a person, what your place is in the world, as well as give you the tools to decide what you want from your life. I believe that when we educate people, they will eventually be able to create their own knowledge and convictions. To educate means to be able to choose what people want for themselves in order to be happy with their life. It also means learning from others and being part of a continuous teaching and learning process.

          Unfortunately, education can also be used to socially and politically control a group of people or an entire population. Since education can also empower the educated to be able to do whatever they want with the knowledge and skills they acquire, sometimes the goal of educating is not to make someone a better person. The way I view it is that education enables the educated to come up with their own ethics and values without anyone having to tell him or her which ones to follow. In this sense, the student is able to transform his or her own reality by choosing what to believe in, their own values, and find their purpose in life without any oppressive forces deciding this for you.

          As a teacher of English as a Second Language, I see myself as a facilitator of the knowledge and the tools that the students will need in order for them to achieve their goals in life. Within the context in which I will be teaching English, students will be learning their second or third language which will provide them with a language skill that may help them develop their personal, academic, and professional goals. The ability to speak in a language other than your native one, especially an international language such as English, will give students supplementary tools with which to handle themselves in our modern world. I aim to help students gain the tools they need so that they become active learners in the classroom who will eventually be able to research whatever knowledge they would like to gain on their own.

          In order for learners to acquire and develop a second language such as English, several aspects need to be taken into consideration. Primarily, I believe that there is neither one universal method nor crucial age for acquiring a language. Research shows that language can be learned in many different ways and at any age, even though some may not be able to speak their second language with a native accent. Nevertheless, the acquisition of the communicative aspects of a language is far more important than trying to have a perfect native accent. Secondly, some students learn best when they are completely immersed in their second language, while others learn with the assistance of their native language; some take advantage of learning a language within group settings and others do it best in an individual context. These aspects are, of course, only a few aspects of a student's learning styles (or preferences) and other student needs that I would pay attention to as a teacher. Another important factor is whether or not the student masters his or her first language. The theory based on the Cross-Linguistic Influence model recognizes that first language plays a significant role in the learning of a second language. Given that a student’s first language can both facilitate and interfere with his or her second language learning, I think it is important to become proficient in one’s native tongue in order for subsequent languages to be acquired effectively. Overall, students can acquire a new language through a variety of methods and deciding which one works best is a task that I, as a teacher, will try to facilitate for each student.

          Living on an island with many influences from the United States (U.S.) causes the experience of being an English teacher in Puerto Rico to be very diverse. The very definition of teaching English as a Second Language (ESL) rather than English as a Foreign Language (EFL) presents a particular anomaly for this country. ESL refers to English learned within a culture where English is spoken natively, whereas in EFL there are few immediate opportunities to use English within the environment of that culture. Despite having a close political and economic relationship to the U.S., Spanish is undoubtedly our vernacular as it is the first (and often the only) language spoken by most of the population. For this reason, I may find students who are not able to even understand the language or have very limited proficiency since English is not necessary for daily life in most parts of our island so it may be seldom practiced outside of school. There will also be students who are able to fluently understand and speak in English because they grew up in the U.S., due to previous language study, or because they have had more exposure to the language through the internet, television, video games, or any other circumstance. This presents a challenge to me as a teacher, since I will have students with a large variety of English language proficiency. This means that I will need to adapt my teaching in order to meet each student’s particular linguistic needs.

          When teaching English, I would like to incorporate self-evaluation to encourage students’ introspection as well as use a combination of alternative and traditional assessment. From personal experience and from knowledge gained in university courses, students benefit best when a variety of assessment methods are used for evaluation. I believe that mixing authentic and traditional assessment is appropriate because it allows me to have a rounded view of my students’ learning. Traditional tests provide me with quantifiable data, while alternative assessment lets me have more qualitative information. I would also like to emphasize the way in which students view their own learning, how conscious they are of their actions in the classroom, of what they want to learn, and how they create their own knowledge.

          Knowing that language is a system allows me, as a teacher, to know which areas to focus on while teaching in the classroom. Every language has a structure and basic characteristics that define them; consequently, if a student has been able to successfully learn a language such as Spanish, then he or she can also learn a second language. I believe that human beings are able learners. I also think that we all deserve equal opportunities to learn, compete, collaborate, and pursue happiness regardless of race, color, sex, sexual orientation or preferences, civil status, country of birth, ethnic origin, socioeconomic conditions, physical impediments, religious and political ideas or affiliations. The implications of this in my teaching practice are that I will have the responsibility to adapt materials, make all appropriate accommodations, and essentially differentiate learning in order to provide students with the high standards education that everyone deserves.

          In terms of what I want to teach my students, I aim to bring the whole world into the classroom and promote an awareness of the immense multicultural world in which we live in. Through the integration of other content areas, such as science, math, social studies, art, physical education, and others, I will be able to engage students in topics that interest and motivate them to learn in my class. As a language teacher, I understand the value of the written word and would like to help my students become lifelong readers. By promoting independent reading, I will encourage my students to discover more about themselves and the world around them and be truly able to have the freedom of choosing whatever they want with their lives.