Joshua Acampado

Dr. Frank Abrahams

Critical Pedagogy II
December 2, 2015
Philosophy of Teaching
Introduction
One of the biggest parts of my identity while growing up was the thought that I would
pursue a career in medicine. Within that pursuit lays my first exposure to secondary teaching
where all I ever experienced was continuous banking. In Anatomy and Physiology, I would learn
the function and location of the nephron, dump the knowledge onto a test, and then move on. I
would have the information, and that is all I took away from the class. Sure, there were a few
laughs here and there, and a lamb brain dissection, but that is all I retained. My science and math
classes consisted of the teacher having an excellent understanding of the knowledge, she or he
lecturing to the class, then the students regurgitating the knowledge in some form of summative
assessment. It was not until late into my sophomore year of high school where I began to
understand what teaching really meant. It was then when I understood the weight of the job of
the teacher, and how much influence teachers have on individuals lives.
My high school choir director was the first of my teachers in a secondary education
environment to open a dialogue with me, and help me build upon my character. Through his
dedication, passion for the material, and his fostering of connections among everyone, I began
the journey to being a better me. He showed me what it takes to be a true educator, and how I
might affect the world and ultimately make it a better place.

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Community Entanglement as Identity Empowerment

I believe at the heart of good teaching lies the desire to improve students lives. Whether
it is to improve students academic lives or to improve their lives as a whole is up to the
digression of the teacher. At the core, is the idea that a goal of teaching is to improve students
lives so they are comfortable enough to be who they are in the real world. Though this idea was
developed from the teachings of my youth , it was influenced by the writings of David Elliott,
Marissa Silverman, Thomas Regekski, Lynda Laird and Peter McLaren. These pedagogues
suggest that teaching is centered on nurturing each student as they form their own identities. This
includes character development and is grounded in Tajfels social identity theory. Built upon the
social identity theory, my philosophy views teaching as a partnership where both the teacher and
the students interact together in a relationship centered on empathy. This, I believe, is the most
effective way to nurture self-identity in students.
Through a steady relationship between students and teacher, an environment will be built
where the promotion of self-growth is advocated, then carried outside of the classroom. During a
lecture I attended, Marissa Silverman stated, As a teacher, nothing is greater than to get to the
point where youre no longer needed (Silverman). This statement made me ponder the
possibilities for teachers to empower their students to take ownership of their own learning. My
answer to this is that teaching should promote interpersonal relationships based upon strong
empathy so that the students learn from one another. Social identity theory is defined as that
part of an individuals self-concept which derives from his knowledge of his membership of a
social group (or groups) together with the emotional significance attached to that membership
(Lange 381). The psychological process through which an individual identifies with a social
group causes phenomena such as social comparison and social competition. Social comparison

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is a part of the psychological process in which an individual identifies the characteristics of a

group and how its characteristics compare to other groups. This in turn can create biases and
prejudices between groups developing a distinct communication. The product of this bias is a
stagnant experience for individuals where diversity and a broad understanding of the world are
absent. Social competition is an identity management strategy where groups challenge the status
quo to improve the position of their group. This can result in competition for superiority,
developing animosity where groups attempt to assert dominance. Other identity management
strategies presented by the social identity theory, such as individual mobility or social creativity
is a means for individuals to disregard the issues of their group and live in denial. While a very
passive and internal strategy, the two do not offer ways in which individuals can come to terms
with who they are, resulting in an unhealthy growth in character (Lange 383).This aligns with
McLarens description of the dominant culture, subordinate culture and subculture. Hegemonic
situations are challenged by the strategy of social competition; however, the results are not
always conducive for a harmonic environment.
Another large part to my philosophy lies in the science of empathy. Scientists are starting
to discover the origin of empathy in the brain and while it is a well-known fact that animals
display empathy for one another, people never have seemed to understand the reason why. In
1992, scientists discovered mirror neurons when researching the brain (Winerman). These mirror
neurons are theorized to be the source of empathy. When an action occurs to another human
being, humans are hard wired to experience similar feelings. So once teaching has facilitated
open communication between students, students should be able to empathize with each other and
help each other overcome the obstacles presented in the curriculum.

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Good teaching breaks through the preconceived biases about who people are, and opens
a dialogue between these groups. The groups can be conceived as either the numerous social
groups established by the students in the school setting, or simply the groups of teachers and
students. Through the use of empathy as a primary goal and tool, good teaching should remove
the biases first held by students to allow for ease and comfort when learning. Through removal of
the biases and establishing of an open environment, students could be more prone to open
themselves and connect with others. Empathy further breaks the walls and strengthens ties
because of how a person empathizes with another. Compassionate empathy moves individuals to
reach out and help those who the individual is empathizing with (Laird 57). It also breaks the
stigmas of social reproduction. This extends to an educational setting where students would feel
empathy to support and help their classmates to help them learn the material, challenging the
ideas of Bourdieus social reproduction theory.
Good teaching should also empower students to have confidence in the groups with
which they identify with due to a better understanding of one another. While the identity
management strategies do allow individuals to cope and challenge the ideas of the norm, it does
not deal with hegemonic situations set forth between different subcultures of a group, or the
animosity between two different groups. By empowering students to have confidence and pride
in their respective groups, the need to assert dominance is removed. The need for social
competition is removed due to the status quo being a state of harmony between students and
between students and the teacher.
Lastly, good teaching should affect a students disposition beyond the classroom and also
affect how the teacher views the world. Teachings, inside or outside of a formal school
classroom, and the results of the teachings, should give students and the teacher a different

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perspective (McLaren, Abrahams, and John). As a result, students and the teacher should be able
to extend the sense of community and understanding beyond the classroom setting. Regardless of
the product within the classroom, though it would be preferable if the product was of excellent
quality, both the students and the teacher should be able to walk away from a class feeling like
they have gained a new perspective in their life to carry beyond that year or semester.
One should note that while there may be a connection between Social Identity Theory
and the ideas of John Dewey, they are not the same. Dewey advocated a student-centered
classroom, but believed that teaching was primarily content focused and was not so concerned
with the character development of the student. McCarthy also touches on social identity in her
work on learning styles, and suggests that teaching should be aligned to how students prefer to
learn. While this is important, her goal was for students to find success in school. Social Identity
Theory concerns the development of the person in ways that are broader than performance in
school. Vygotsky, however, while he didnt identify his work as fostering social identity, he did
advocate for the importance of learning being a social activity and that students work best in
groups. His concern was for the ability of students to construct their own meaning. That is a
slightly different focus than the one I advocate here.
Entanglement, Identity, and Community in Theory
It is one thing to say that there are so many variables to consider when teaching. It is
another thing to say how it actually impacts the student and the teacher. Teaching is a helping
profession, similar to medicine or therapy, and has the goal of promoting human wellbeing
(Regelski 1). What determines what it means to promote human wellbeing is an ethical question
that the teacher must ask his/herself. From the view of virtue ethics as outlined in Thomas
Regelskis paper, virtue ethics focus on the personal integrity of the agent- in particular, on a

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disposition for a practical judgement based on a prior idea of the good to be served by an
action" (Regelski 8-9). This quote represents the idea that an actions worth should be
determined as to how it can benefit an individual. That being so, teaching needs to be able to go
beyond the immediate need of a classroom in a school building.
Teaching must have the sincere and noble intent of allowing students to grow in the
present and live for the future. David Elliott and Marissa Silverman describe this in their book,
Music Matters, by stating that, Education, educational institutions, teachers should empower
learners to achieve life goals in school and beyond school (Elliott 143). I believe at the core
of achieving goals lies the fundamental necessity of understanding identity. While teaching
identity is far-fetched, teaching can and should be used as a medium to facilitate discovery of the
identity through empathy.
Teaching should promote this idea of learning from one another to achieve the goal of
understanding identity and the ultimate goal of helping a life. Developing empathy between
different social groups creates a sense of understanding of oneself by understanding others. An
example of this would be in the case of different learning types. In my studies at Westminster
Choir College, I was exposed to the idea of four different learning types. The types each
represented a permutation of thinking or feeling, and watching or doing. Type ones reflected
feeling and watching. Type twos reflected thinking while watching. Type threes reflected
thinking while doing. Type fours reflected feeling while doing. Each type reacts different to one
another in educational settings. Each of the four types has a way to showcase their strength when
put into a group with one another. Through their interactions with one another, each individual
has a chance to undergo social comparison in a safe, non-competitive environment. By
interacting and working with other members of different learning type groups, an individual has

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the ability to develop their strengths and weakness, allowing for a chance for agency. Through
empathy, a student can understand the strengths and weaknesses of their classmates, leading to a
more thorough learning experience where the individual has the chance to compare and contrast
styles and really know what works for him or her. Using teaching as a medium, students have the
ability to use empathy further improve their own way of learning, but also develop different
perspectives without causing discord. Abrahams and John even outline empathy as one of the
cognitive objectives that could be met within a lesson plan (Abrahams 40).
Conclusion
Because of my high school choir directors willingness to communicate and his ability to
establish a safe zone for his students to be who they are, I was able to become a better person. I
slowly developed a sense of who I was through opportunities where I could interact and learn
from my classmates. The closeness between the members of the choir contributed greatly. Not
only did it make the experience extremely cooperative between the teacher and the students but it
also allowed for us to take it beyond the classroom and into our own lives as friends. Empathy
between classmates allowed for individuals to step up and strengthen who they were as a person
in a very safe environment. From these interactions with my friends who came from different
backgrounds with extensive habitus and cultural capital, I was able to be more open minded and
free thinking. Through my own personal experiences and my studies, I have come to believe that
good teaching is a mean to foster growth in identity and community in the lives of both teachers
and students.

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Reference List
Abrahams, Frank and Ryan John. Planning Instruction in Music. Chicago; GIA Publications Inc.,
2015. 27-54. Print.
Elliott, David and Marissa Silverman. Music Matters; A Philosophy of Music Education. Oxford;
Oxford University Press, June 23,2014. 109-52. Print.
Laird, Lynda. Empathy in the Classroom; Can Music Bring Us More In Tune with One
Another? Music Educators Journal. June 2015: 56-61. Web. 1 Dec 2015.
Lange, Paul A. M. Van., Arie W. Kruglanski, and E. Tory Higgins. "45: Social Identity Theory."
Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology. Vol. 2. Los Angeles: SAGE, 2012. 379-93.
Print.
McLaren, Peter. Critical Pedagogy: A Look at the Major Concepts. The Critical Pedagogy
Reader. By Antonia Darder, Marta Baltodano, and Rodolfo D. Torres. New York:
RoutledgeFalmer, 2003. 69-96. Print.
Regelski, Thomas A. (2010). Toward an Applied, Professional Ethics for School Music. Paper
presented at the May Day Colloquium, Montclair, NJ.
Silverman, Melissa. Social Justice in the Music Classroom. Lecture Series hosted by the
NAfME chapter of Westminster Choir College. Marion Buckelew Cullen Center,
Princeton, NJ. 10 Nov. 2015.
Winerman, Lea. The minds mirror. American Psychological Association. American
Psychological Association, October 2005. Web. 1 Dec 2015.