Questioning my own philosophy

Contrary to my belief, knowing your students doesn't mean knowing everything about them. It means drawing a line in the sand and saying this is what I am allowed to know about you before we cross that line and it gets all confusing.

This year I went in with the belief that not only was I a beginning teacher but I was going to be that teacher that could listen. I had always heard horror stories of abuse and neglect that went unnoticed because no teacher was ever open enough to listen. I wanted to be that teacher that was willing to listen and hear what each child has to say. 

I am now aware that politics and and people with a agendas have caused this to be unrealistic and impossible. I have been advises that I should have a script ready, and that it is one that I need to practice. With this script it means I will be ready and able to respond to children and parents in order to protect myself as a young teacher. This idea initially baffled me, I understood the need to protect myself against malicious intentions as I have not had the years of experience to ensure my professionalism and safety in these situations. I think I struggled with the notion that I knew I had only the best intentions for my students and felt on some level that I was failing them by not listening and referring them to those that are employed to deal with those issues. I can see that this was not the case, I don't need to know all the icky details that go on with my kids in order to be a good teacher, in fact I am a better teacher if I don't know because nothing is clouding my judgement or view of my students. I wrote out my script on a sticky note (an electronic one of course) and it is something I see everyday. I can now say that this 100% works because I have used the sayings over and over again!

On some levels I believe that my rapport with my class is so strong because they know I am there to listen and they know I will do everything in my power to help them. I guess my biggest  concern is for next year. I am going to have new kids that I don't know anything about and I know that I have to be extra cautious of the way I approach situation. I will now have at least some level of experience to be able to remember what works and what doesn't.

My teaching philosophy was initially more of a holistic approach. I believed teaching should encompass the curriculum and academic teaching of the child as well as whanau  physical, spiritual and psychological health underpinning their education (Te Whare Tapa Wha model). It is hard to look and reflect on my philosophy and realise that I am going to need find a new way to be this teacher than I had initially thought. Thankfully being a beginning teacher is all about learning and there has to be room for some errors to be made so that lessons can be learned.

I hope that the class I get next year is full of angels =)