Teaching Philosphy

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Howard Thurman said “Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” The world needs people who are real about who they are. The world needs individuality. Individuality is what keeps the world interesting and progressing. Without individuality would there be electricity, planes, cars or cell phones? These inventions certainly did not come from an environment of conformity. Conformity is an environment that I fear as a person. It is an environment that takes the human spirit and forces it to hide its profound beauty. My heart aches for the teachers who suppress their students because they could be suppressing the Michelangelo of our day.

Imagine I am holding a handful of flower seeds and bulbs. There is a wide variety of seeds and bulbs but the only ones I have knowledge of are tulip bulbs. Out of selfishness and uncertainty I only plant the tulip bulbs because that is what I am comfortable with. I do this without knowing what was contained in those other seeds. Those seeds could have contained the most beautiful flowers; they would have bloomed, if I had let them.

Teachers do not realize how huge of an impact they have on their students. That is why I believe in nurturing every seed that comes into my classroom because whether a rose, tulip, daisy, or poppy, every seed has something beautiful to share and something special about it. No two flowers are ever exactly the same, just as no two people are the same. This is what makes the world interesting. Imagine the world full of identical people who have the same gifts and interests – how monotone the world would be. We are not all naturally the same; therefore, we should not try to be. Unfortunately, our school systems today are creating students who score high on standardized tests making them all regurgitate the same information, which may contribute to this lack of individuality that I see in youth today. This is why my teaching philosophy is individuality.

I believe that each student has just as much to teach the teacher as the teacher has to teach them. Students need individuality to truly learn. Parker Palmer states that “Learning does not happen when students are unable to express their ideas, emotions, confusions, ignorance, and prejudices” (Palmer78). Students need to express themselves for what the teacher is teaching to have meaning to them.

In the dance world conformity is something that is very common. There is the “right” body type, the “right” look, and the “right” size. From my personal experience, I grew up dancing my whole life and I always had to conform. I put my true self on the back burner because being myself did not get me on a team. To be on a dance team I had to be just like everybody else. I found that I had a difficult time after I began attending Brigham Young University-Idaho because suddenly my teachers wanted to see my personal style and flare in my movement. At first I had no idea what they meant. As long as I was doing the steps, that is what I thought was right. I struggled for months trying to discover who I was. I had labeled myself as a jazz dancer/ballet dancer. I did not label myself as Bianca. I was also very insecure because growing up I learned at a young age that it was not good to be a tall dancer. With that always on my mind, I tried to dance like a short girl. When I began attending Brigham Young University Idaho I learned that it was ok to dance my height. My body and mind were in a deep state of confusion. If only my teachers growing up had let me be myself I would have come to this school more prepared instead of confused. Now that I have found my personal style I am saddened to realize it is nothing like the dancing I had grown up doing. I had waited twenty years to find who I truly am as a dancer. People should not have to wait as long as I did to find their personal style and voice in dance. This is why in my classroom I am going to promote individuality from day one.

Children cannot enter just any room and feel comfortable to be themselves. I have to create a place where they can bloom. First and foremost if I am going to expect my students to be themselves, I must also be myself and teach through my own identity. I will not try to be something that I am not because if I am not real with my students then I cannot expect them to be real with me. I need to develop trust with my students because if they trust me, they will trust me enough to be themselves. There are a few ways in which I plan to build trust with my students. The first is through being consistent so they know what to expect. Second I will be realistic with my expectations. Lastly I will treat every student equally (cmha.ca).

The students must trust me but they must also trust the space I have created for them to learn in. The first way I plan to create a safe space is through providing a safe physical environment (cmha.ca). They need to know that they can dance without falling through the floor or having something large fall on them. Secondly, I will set clear rules and expectations (cmha.ca). Children need to know that they have boundaries because that will make them feel secure.

In order for my students to respect themselves I must respect them and value what they have to say, even if it is not something I necessarily agree with. Through making students feel like they are heard, they will value what they themselves say because it matters to me. When I feel like I matter, I am more comfortable being myself. In her book “Dance for Young Children Finding the Magic in Movement” Sue Stinson states “If children are to become totally involved in an experience it must feel like it is theirs” (Stinson 3). I believe that in order for children to feel like something is theirs they need to put their heart into it. They need to put themselves into everything they do in class and as a teacher I will allow them to do that.

I feel that in order for a student to realize how special he or she is, I must make it my duty as a teacher to make them feel special. I plan to point out their strengths and encourage them in a positive manner. My father always says “it takes as much energy to smile as it does to frown”, and my philosophy of individuality stems from a root of positivity. My philosophy is to let children leave their troubles at the door and enter a class where they do not have to try to be something they are not. One may wonder how a dance teacher can allow her students to be themselves if for a dance piece they have to dance together. I believe that when students are being themselves, they are dancing their very best. A stage full of dancers who are giving their best is better than a stage of dancers who do not feel anything for what they are doing. I believe counts and timing can be worked out, but the raw emotion that is on someone’s face when they truly love what they are doing does not come from conformity, it comes from individuality. I believe that many times teachers can assume they have their students figured out and then the student becomes a victim of the self-fulfilling prophecy (Palmer). The students only progress as far as the teacher treats them like they will. I believe as a teacher you never know what is inside of your students and I enjoy the fact that people can pleasantly surprise you. I believe that a teacher must treat every child like he or she has the ability to move mountains, and maybe they will. Parker Palmer states that “The way we diagnose our students’ condition will determine the kind of remedy we offer” (Palmer 42). Teachers have a lot of responsibility because the way we treat our students affects how much they progress. If I want someone to be an individual I need to encourage them to progress their inner self the best they can.

Our mind and body have a need to be connected. When we connect our mind and body, we are whole. In the dance world it is easy to compare body types and it is easy for students to feel like they do not have what it takes to be a dancer. They do not feel like they have the whole package. Parker Palmer defines wholeness when he states “Wholeness does not mean perfection. It means becoming more real by acknowledging the whole of who I am.” I believe that individuality is more important than a triple pirouette. I would rather have a student who knows who they are and only be able to do a single pirouette, than to have a student who has no clue who they are and be able to do a triple pirouette. A way that I plan to encourage individuality is through helping my students accept the body that they have so that their mind and body can work together in harmony. According to fitday.com “If you have a healthy body image, you’re more likely to be emotionally and mentally stable and healthy. You’ll enjoy more confidence, self-awareness, and self-esteem. You’ll be far less likely to suffer from eating disorders and you’ll decrease your risks of depression and anxiety”. As a teacher I believe that teaching self-acceptance and individuality that will not only help them in the studio, but also in their everyday life. I believe in using anatomical terms when discussing the body and I will let my students know if they are an ectomorph, mesomorph or an endomorph. I will tell them the special strengths that their body has (muscleandstrength.com). I believe that the dance world has come to think that an ectomorph is the ideal body type and that any dancer can achieve that through hard work. This is not true. I will make sure my students respect and see the greatness in everybody’s body type through making them all feel special about their strengths. When students feel good about the body type they have been given they will not wish to be something else because being themselves will be satisfying.

In his book “The Courage to Teach” Parker Palmer discusses fear and all the problems fear can cause in the classroom. I believe that students nowadays have a fear of being themselves. I think they fear those situations in which they are different than everybody else. Through creating a space in which they can leave their worries behind, I believe my students can leave that fear behind. I will have a classroom that makes people forget about what is cool and what is not. Palmer also says that “My own fear is matched by the fear within my students” (Palmer 37). Through being myself and not allowing myself to have fear, my students’ fear will be diminish so that they feel comfortable being an individual in my class. I believe that we all come to this earth our own person and that person who we are has to be shared with others. I need other people just as they need me, but if we all try to be the same we will not be giving ourselves and others what they need.

I want to create an environment where my students feel like they can be who they are, but I also want to create an environment that challenges them and pushes them to continue to discover more about themselves. I plan to have a classroom that is constantly making my students think through challenging them to organize the steps in their own way, to add on their own ending, or many other scenarios. I want my students to be able to tap into themselves frequently so they are readily able to make something their own. Through watching my students and what they come up with I will constantly be stimulated and inspired.

My teaching philosophy is individuality and I believe that teaching people to be themselves can open many doors for my students during and after they leave my class and they will be able to feel whole in their everyday lives. 

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