Why I want to be a teacher

I've spent the last few weeks applying to Evergreen's Master in Teaching program and they asked me to write a couple essays. This one is answering the questions, why I want to teach and why I chose Evergreen's program.

My desire to teach is inspired by my fundamental reverence of humanity. I recognize the light of intelligence and curiosity in every person I meet. I want to honor and nurture that light by spending my time and energy teaching children. With the intent to enrich the lives of others, I see teaching as the only profession that will fulfill me. In the classroom, I want to inspire in children a love and confidence in critical and independent thought by cultivating and supporting their natural curiosities. I expect to be the teacher in a student’s life that breaks the mold of traditional educators by expressing an integrity of purpose that embraces and honors the individual within a loving community.

John Dewey wrote, “Education as growth or maturity is an ever-present process.” My responsibility as a teacher in this process is to provide an environment that inspires positive learning experiences in the present and for the future. I consider each student's education as a natural integration of interests and skills. By creating a safe, supportive space for first steps and new ideas, I will nurture an attitude of adventurous investigation. I’ll be effective as a teacher because I have an implicit faith in the capacity for children to be aware of and comprehend the world around them and I will not fall prey to the handicap of underestimating the intelligence of my students. Personally, my qualities of patience, curiosity, enthusiasm, love of knowledge and integrity prepare me for teaching. I love spending my time with children and constantly relearning how to see the world through their eyes. I need a lively environment, full of unpredictability and room for experimentation to fulfill me, and I am sure that teaching is a profession that will meet my expectations.

An important purpose I consider as a part of the teaching profession is significant social change. An overwhelming number of discussions I've had with classmates through my years at Evergreen have resulted in our consensus that the root of all problems is found in stubborn, unenlightened reasoning. I feel that the best way I can contribute to the well being of this and future generations is by beginning to teach children the attitudes and approaches that enable them to become critically aware of their world, identify problems, and creatively look for solutions. I value a critical perspective on those aspects of life that are taken for granted, like social or cultural inequalities, because that’s where growth and change is most volatile. I also believe that the best way to teach is by example, so I intend as a teacher to think about ideas and conventional teaching methods in a way that questions 'common sense' and widely accepted assumptions.

As my education at Evergreen has molded and shaped the way I view the world and the filter through which I analyze information, I have learned to love Evergreen's methods of cooperative teaching and interdisciplinary programs. When I consider the work I've done over the last three years, I realize that no institution could offer me a more open-minded, competent approach to teaching than Evergreen's philosophies. Most significantly, Evergreen meets my individual educational needs. For example, I know I work better in small classes, where I can hear and be heard by each individual, and I know the most effective education for me integrates subject matter in ways that it will actually be applied. During my time in Evergreen's undergraduate programs, I met my ultimate goal of learning and practicing these progressive teaching methods to the point where I can incorporate them into my self education within the context of the program, Family, and my daily life. In a graduate school program, I anticipate a safe, expansive environment that will challenge me to stretch my critical thinking capacities and cultivate the qualities of teaching that I'll need in my own classroom.

I know that I have all the enthusiasm and idealism it takes to be a fantastic teacher. However, I am choosing to earn a master's degree with the goal of learning the more practical methods of teaching before I begin. I'm interested in theories and practices of literacy development, the valuable philosophies of education, the motives and organization behind today's educational policies, and more recent research on education and child development. More specifically, I am curious about the issues and complexities that students of Native American and other minority backgrounds face in public schools, along with the potentials of using Native teaching stories or other myths within the context of modern elementary classrooms. I hope to finish graduate school with the abilities necessary to navigate public schools and administrations, and to understand and meet the diverse needs of my students.