Running Head: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 1

My Beliefs and Ideology on Teaching

Jacobo Villegas

The University of Texas at El Paso

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 2

Abstract

The primary objective of this paper is to go over my ideologies on teaching and on

education and detail the particular aspects of my philosophy so that I may be able to let

readers understand and acknowledge what I believe about schooling based on theories,

personal experiences, and personal opinions. I will analyze my beliefs on teaching and

learning through a critical lens, in this way I will be able to take a look at what outside

motives and factors affect how I perceive what I want to do and why I want to do it. I will

also contemplate the impact of my personal experiences within the field of teaching

whether it be through observing others or participating myself. To close off my theory

and beliefs I will analyze the process of learning, my application to ensure that this

process occurs, and what I believe is the key factor in teaching.

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I want to become an educator because I strongly believe in the right to universal

education. Every single human being is entitled to an education in order to be a well-

informed individual of this democratic society. As presented through the history of the

United States, not every person had the same opportunities to this fundamental

component of a free society. To this day, there are still inequalities present within our

country that provide certain children with a proper education and other children with a

subpar education. One example presenting such data is shown by Maureen T. Hallinan in

her journal article titled “Sociological Perspectives on Black-White Inequalities in

American Schooling” (2001). Hallinan focuses on the gap of education and income

between African American students and European American students and the greater

focus that must be put on this situation (p.65). The assumptions that some educators may

have of African American students and their performance can contribute to the education

gap (p.62-63). These types of findings further push me to reach my goal of becoming a

teacher. I believe that teachers are here on this earth to function as a catalyst for the

mental and social growth of our society’s children. I also believe that for the students to

learn and add knowledge to their analytical minds the teachers must show genuine

passion and tenacity.

I believe that one learning theory that appropriately works as a parallel to what I

envision is Gestalt Theory. This form of theory which David C. Leonard mentions in his

book “Learning Theories: A to Z (2002) focuses on the human perception of the world

and how it is viewed by us as an entire entity with great meaning rather than arbitrary

elements (pg.80). In this sense I like to think that the world of a student is not solely

faced with the task of educational life, but it is also comprised up of a plethora of issues
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which meld together to form their unique world which contains positivity and negativity.

With the idea that these students face other things in their whole world I am able to

recognize that inequalities may be present based on a multitude of factors in these

students’ lives.

The goals that I wish to have for my students in the future is for them to have a

competent understanding of analysis and critical thinking. As I have stated previously in

my biography, I would like for students to become civicminded and to have more

efficacy in the fields of politics and local issues (“Biography”). As for what I wish of my

classroom and the behavior of my students within it, I believe I would, in a general sense

prefer positivity. To specify, I would like to mainly focus on presenting students with

positive reaffirmations based on the goods that they have done in class. I base this

method on what I witnessed in my classroom observations with a Mr. Christopher Diaz.

His demonstration of this seemed to bring a positive and engaging learning energy to the

classroom which captivated his students’ attention and willingness to learn. On the basis

of assessments, I would clearly prefer it if the students I were teaching genuinely

absorbed the knowledge and skills I would teach them, and it would stick with them for

time. I would prefer to use formative assessment as I witnessed its effectiveness in the

classroom with Mr. Diaz.

My goals as an educator are to give students of all backgrounds, which are

provided to me, an equal education of not just school material in my content, but also to

provide these students with the skills I have previously mentioned. I would wish to teach

students who are particularly disadvantaged by either poverty, discrimination, etc. so that

I may help improve their lives. To reach my goals I would have to be the best me that I
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can be as an educator and to do so I will need assistance. If the people (students,

administrators, parents) believe that I am not performing to the best of my abilities then I

will reach out to them and listen to their concerns so that I may reform myself. I am a

servant to these children, and by that nature I must also listen to their parents and the

administrators who believe that I need to change something in order to improve my

teaching capabilities. To improve my capabilities, I will also need to collaborate with my

equals so that we can profit from each other’s ideas and practices. That is how I perceive

the benefit of working with other teachers. We can share our ideas of how we teach, and

we can thus perform our jobs and services better.

Through my experiences in observing Mr. Diaz I have learned the importance of

technological integration in the classroom. Mr. Diaz would emphasize to me the

technology’s ability to facilitate the class. I also recognized the importance of

collaboration, as Mr. Diaz would collaborate with the teacher next door to his classroom

to formulate engaging lesson plans for their classes. I myself have learned from the mock

class that I taught that engagement of the students is a critical aspect of the classroom.

Based on feedback I received from colleagues I was made aware that use of technological

teaching would have improved the lesson for the benefit of the students.

From my research and ideological belief, I can see that learning occurs when an

educator is passionate about what he does and when they focus on the students lives as a

whole. Even though they may not all have equal lives they deserve an equal education. I

will prioritize this aspect to ensure that students learn. I will acknowledge that they may

have other occupancies in their lives and I will demonstrate my understanding toward

them. On the more utilitarian side I will be sure to keep their minds willing to learning
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and engaged by providing positive reaffirmation and formative assessment. These two

aspects should work well will each other as I bore witness to them occurring in the

classroom. Most importantly and most clearly I find that devotion and positivity are the

most important aspects of teaching as I have made note previously in this paper.
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Bibliography

Hallinan, M. T. (2001). Sociological Perspectives on Black-White Inequalities in

American Schooling. Sociology of Education,74, 50. doi:10.2307/2673253

Leonard, D. C. (2002). Learning theories: A to Z. Retrieved December 10, 2018, from

http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/eds/ebookviewer/ebook/bmxlYmtfXzg2NjQ3X19BTg

2?sid=8f4a6b62-c50e-4f0a-b017-043c8cd9b658@pdc-v-

sessmgr03&vid=1&hid=http://eds.b.ebscohost.com/&format=EB

Villegas, J. (n.d.). Jacobo Villegas. Retrieved December 10, 2018, from

https://jvillegasportfolio.weebly.com/