Friday Night... fever.

Who knew that staying home on a Friday night would be so pleasureable. Just the girls. watching a movie. Me, I am unwinding before attacking yet another pile of grading. Now there is _no_ comparison between this grading and the extended misery of high school grading. I was reminded today about the time I wrote my "philosphy of education". What did I write? I wonder, as I have misplaced several years of writing from the cross-over of computers, what on earth I could have written... I suppose it might still be useful if I could find it.

My philosophy in short:

As a teacher (or a human) I have a deep commitment to the well-being, intellectual and individual development of my charges.

I will teach in a way that respects the difference of opinions that may exist, while not renouncing my values. That is, I must encourage critical thought, and offer the widest range of options for my students, while guiding them to make moral decisions that respect the rights of others.

I must be willing to admit error, or lack of knowledge, and always be big enough to rectify my mistakes, or research an adequate response.

I will further the spread of non-dominant points of view, and encourage open discourse, respect and care for others in my class.

I will care for my students on a professional and personal level. I will be a real person to them, sharing personal (appropriate) details from my life and encouraging a sense of community.

I will be extremely demanding of my students, almost as much as I am of myself, because a teacher that isn't demanding, doesn't push students to learn, which is, ultimately our main job as educators.

Oh, and I will be fair and just, to the best of my ability.


I know, I really _do_ want to be in this profession, of course I also want to have *lots* of time to do my own research, but, of course, that is why I am back in school. It makes sense right now. I think that I need the kind of balance that an academic life implies: on one hand, the urgency to create and reflect constantly on what is being done currently in my field, and on the other, the energizing interaction of contact with fecund minds, minds that can be coddled and pushed towards critical self-reflection. And finally, long vacations (ie time to do personal research) unhindered by 9-5 grind, and the encouragement for self-expression and personal writing.

I can do this. Who cares if I will never be good enough for me. Maybe I will be good enough for somebody else. At least I can help others on their quest. Right? That will be my contribution.