Jarrett Graff

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EDUC 3505
Statement of Teaching Beliefs

Critical Incident

In my Grade 8 year, I always maintained the class average. I identified myself as merely

being slightly above the class average, which typically was a 68 overall. I was in a spot where I

was doing ‘okay,’ I was average, and so my teacher never gave me that extra help or attention

because I wasn’t doing the worst in the class. Ultimately, I never felt like my teacher had high

goals for me, and it didn’t seem like she believed in my potential to learn and be successful in the

classroom. I did care about my marks, but I felt more like a problem and a nuisance than a

learning student. I struggled with getting the course material to ‘click’ – I wasn’t the type of

student who automatically understood everything being taught. Content only really clicked with

me when it was in my area of strength, which were either sports or when visual and tactile

focused. I found that every time I would ask for help, I would feel guilty because my teacher

would spend their precious five minutes with me without success and have to move onto the next

student. I got used to answering, “Yes, I think I get it now,” then getting a not so surprising

lecture after the next exam. I was eager to learn but didn’t know how it felt. I was never able to

fit the mold of how my teachers wanted their students to learn, and as a result, I didn’t think I

would ever understand the material because I couldn’t understand the one way they were

teaching it.

The big moment of revelation was when we had a substitute one day. She engaged with

me immediately, and while working on math she dedicated ten active minutes to me. She did this

by not by asking me how to do it but rather showing me the steps, walking me through it, and

writing it out with me. She answered every question and waited for me to attempt it myself. She
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was patient and through the framework seen by Lev Vygotsky, I was allowed the assistance

which led me to being able to figure out the problem which actively transitioned me from being

out of the zone of proximal development to then being able to do it on my own without

assistance. The biggest lesson that I can take from my story and bring with me into the classroom

is the significance of patience. Patience is an integral strength to teachers, and I believe that I

have this quality - being able to work with students at their own pace is essential. Students must

be given time to learn and the opportunity to ask questions. In my teaching practice, I always

want to be available to my students, both in and outside of the classroom. I want them to feel as

though my help is always accessible to them. Students learn through being engaged with the

course material or activity. In the case of the substitute teacher in my story, she allowed me to

learn by contemplating my questions and allowing me the time and direction I needed. Being

able to take time to work with students at their pace only benefits the connection that is being

built.

It isn’t easy to help every student individually, as seen in Larabee (2000) teachers are

often bombarded with thirty plus students in one classroom and are measured by unrealistic

structural conditions that limit the ability to accommodate all students’ learning needs. Learning

needs to consider varying mediums of understanding the information that you’re giving them. I

don’t want my students in the future to lack the ability to be seen or to be treated as equal to their

classmates. At times teachers may become complacent with the students learning as the

bombardment of learning outcomes and learning needs become more defined. As a result,

students at times are often left unguided which through limitations of the structure surrounding

the teacher, creates struggles beyond the inherent scope of parents and evaluators. Being

attentive to these limitations allows for new strategies to be discussed/considered and to take the
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time to look at the multitude of approaches that might directly influence the student most

efficiently. Learning is fluid and requires active engagement for the student, but when addressing

their biggest strengths to tackle their biggest weaknesses, it allows the student to see the light at

the end of the tunnel and provide clear and consistent direction that will allow them to discover

new strategies and new outlooks on their learning experience.

Statement of Personal Teaching Beliefs and Values

I want to be a teacher who engages with students and connects with them through being

adaptable. I want to keep focused on what my role is in the classroom - to facilitate learning and

curiosity. I can do this by adapting the classroom and lessons to the diverse learning needs within

my classroom through use of visual aids, less extraneous information on walls and providing

varying forms of assessment (Formative and Summative). “When students are in emotionally

unresponsive learning environments,” Reyes, Brackett, Rivers, White, & Salovey (2012) write,

‘they feel disconnected from school and are less likely to be engaged” (p. 709) which results

typically in lower academic performance. My teaching practice must be informed by students

and reflect the needs of students within the classroom but as explored in Larabee (2000),

limitations to class structure and management techniques may be difficult to truly implement as

the complex nature of relationships and emotional states may undercut efforts to conduct

enriching lessons and activities. Learners should be able to express their desire to learn while

being allowed to fail, which focuses on conversations surrounding learning needs and developing

reasonable goals. In my practice, I will be reflective and see where my weaknesses are in my

teaching, which will drive me to make myself available via lunch hours, email, and even after

school help.
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My passion for teaching will be evident to my students and will be reflected in the

classroom atmosphere, as I want it to be comfortable and create space where it is easy for the

students to learn from myself and their peers. Labaree (2000) states that “unless the teacher

establishes control there will be no learning, and, if the teacher does not control the students, the

students will control the teacher” (p. 230), from this I want to remain resolute in maintaining a

trial and error approach as referenced in Larabee (2000); aspects of control promote a sense of

utilitarian control while being masked by hierarchal order of power. The apprenticeship model

further illustrates to the ability to be adaptive as theory and practical experience can differ on

learning outcomes and teaching instruction itself, this formulating varying levels of enriched

learning or meaningful relationships between student and teacher. My role is to be flexible in my

role as teacher/educator while limiting the notion of learning being the basis of control. From

Britzman (2003), students are limited by this focus on control and I want to be resolute in

avoiding the notion of dictating by allowing learners to be active and engage effectively in what

they are learning by allowing choice and options that can link to student’s passion and inner

voice. Routines and disruptions are common and the way in which we “interpret a situation

influences our response to that situation” (Britzman, 2003), this reflects the ways in which we as

educators need to evaluate our own history and reflect on the role of power within classroom

settings. I want to reflect on my status as a teacher and identify the complex social circumstances

involved in a classroom as I discern the ways in which my instruction either empowers others or

replicates the status quo of reproducing the utilitarian notions of control. While maintaining a

critical perspective it can allow me to develop and explore my own role of transformative

intellectual within the classroom. Education should be focused on the development of learning

and not the significance of success, and schools in this framework should teach skills and
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strategies that help develop knowledge without students merely being able to regurgitate the

knowledge. I will aim to reflect inclusive aspects to the classroom as I reflect developmental

patterns which impact students learning needs and limitations, and through learning strategies

that can impact learning by providing a diverse set of mediums, including: technology, lecture

approaches, and creative activities that facilitates learning in multiple ways.

References

Labaree, D. F. (2000). On the Nature of Teaching and Teacher Education. Journal of Teacher

Education, 51(3), 228–233. doi: 10.1177/0022487100051003011

Reyes, M. R., Brackett, M. A., Rivers, S. E., White, M., & Salovey, P. (2012). Classroom

emotional climate, student engagement, and academic achievement. Journal of

Educational Psychology, 104(3), 700–712. doi: 10.1037/a0027268