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I strive for authenticity, presence, and caring to be fundamental features of my teaching. I hope that my future students will learn to question themselves and the world around them. To be inquisitive rather than skeptical, to consider why things are the way they are, and to be able to articulate these thoughts. I believe lifelong-learning can be best facilitated by a teacher who is enthusiastic and caring, who values student opinion, and fosters a safe learning space. 

Instructional objective is to promote democratic social living.
For a classroom to be inclusive and democratic, students must have respect for themselves and each other, as well as their teacher and space they occupy. I hope that with care and enthusiasm I can allow students to enjoy a safe learning space. A space where ideas are respected, trusted, and queried. For students to learn about themselves and the world they live in, the classroom has to be a place where students are not subject to ridicule. A teacher must actively foster this environment. For this reason the statement “there is no such thing as a casual remark to a child” (Johnson, 2005, p31) rings very true to me. I will endeavour to be aware of my words and to choose them carefully, to be awake to the impact my behaviour has on the class and an individual.

Knowledge leads to growth and development; a living-learning process: focus on active and interesting learning.
With a background in learning of political science and law, I am fascinated by the impact of society, and its events, on the individual. I hope to be enthusiastic and well versed in subject matter that is important to students. In becoming engaged in concepts and issues that affect ones’ life, a student will more likely develop skills that will benefit them in lifelong learning. I think one of the best ways to engage students is to place themselves not as students in a classroom, but as individuals in a society. The classroom is a place that issues and concepts that effect students’ lives can be addressed.

The role of the teacher is to be a guide for problem solving and inquiry.
I firmly believe that a teacher who predominantly lectures to students will not develop the kind of learning and thinking that I value, as proficiently as a teacher who guides, or leads inquiry. Provided students have developed the necessary tools, their inquiry and analysis will develop understanding to a greater depth than a proscriptive lecture can achieve. This inquiry is especially crucial in dealing with learning in areas of controversy. One of the reasons issues are in fact controversial, is that they are ‘matters of widespread and enduring significance’, which, if not addressed, would leave a major gap in a child’s education (Stenhouse (1970: 4), in Henderson, 2008, p149). In these instances, an individuals’ inquiry will serve them far greater on the path to becoming a lifelong learner than a teacher telling them the ‘answer’ or which arguments are more valid than others.

The curriculum focus is based on students’ interests, and involves the application of human problems and affairs; interdisciplinary subject matter; activities and projects.
I look forward to the opportunity to deal with human problems and affairs, and to do so in a way that is meaningful to students. I think that a well-planned lesson can make an incredible difference to a students learning if interest can be triggered by making the learning both meaningful and accessible to students.

It is obvious to me that if I am to achieve even some of what I have mentioned as being important to me as a teacher, then I must have a strong presence. Rodgers and Raider-Roth (2006, p267) state that “the image of an alert mind, ready to ‘seize wholly’, in concert with a compassionate heart that stretches toward, ready to serve, captures much of what we mean by presence”.

I consider the role of a teacher to be fundamentally important. The opportunity to instill a love of learning in a student is perhaps only overshadowed by the potentially overwhelming responsibility to be authentic, equitable, present, and knowledgeable.