Complacency

One of my biggest goals for my educational career is to never become complacent.  I never want to think to myself, “man these kids just can’t/won’t do this work.”  This idea that “the kids are the problem” is an extremely problematic mindset for an education professional to have.  I think this promotes a self-righteous way of thinking for teachers that does not prioritize self-reflection, improvement, and professional development.  For me personally, I have a very internal locus of control when it comes to any facet of my life.  I feel very responsible for the outcome of my life and I feel like I have a high level of influence on how things turn out for me.  This translates to my teaching philosophy in a really great way that is going to benefit a lot of students.  When something is not going well, I think to myself “man, what can I do to improve this or make it better next time?” I believe this way of thinking places a lot of accountability on myself and always helps me to hold myself to a high standard.

I think this also has a profound impact on students, especially those who have consistently been held to lower standards, or told that they can not accomplish the same as others.  It helps to challenge the way of thinking where teachers may believe some students can’t or won’t achieve at a certain level for some reason. This is a common notion that a lot of teachers at my school complain about.  It seems as though they have thrown their hands up and blamed the lack of success on the fact that they have “bad” students or “bad” classes.  While it may very well be true that their students bring forward challenges and difficulties that some other students groups may not have, that doesn’t mean success is beyond the realm of possibility.  I think there are so many groups of students who have been reminded over and over how they are capable of less, or how it’s not even worth doing certain things because they “won’t be successful anyways.”  I want to be the teacher that challenges this and throws this way of thinking out the door.  I want to break this pattern for my students and show them how amazing and valuable education can truly be. I will never become complacent.