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Analysis of Teaching and Collaboration My Philosophy

Janet Karim

The George Washington University

SPED 6239, July 29, 2018

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My Philosophy - “A good teacher can inspire hope, ignite the imagination, and instill a love
of learning.” –Brad Henry

Teaching is a journey of imparting and gaining of knowledge and skills; it is a process, not a

destination; and just like learning, teaching never ends. This process has elements or components

that are in constant contact. These are the teacher, students, school administration, parents, and

community. On my teaching journey, I have often asked myself “am I an accidental teacher, a

reluctant teacher or perhaps the ‘born-to-teach’ teacher?” Gladly the response is fondly always

the latter, not the former, or the middle. Four incidents in my life brought me to teaching. The

first was a freak accident when I was four years old: my elder brother Robert, who was born with

cerebral palsy, had impaired muscle coordination and he could not talk, so my parents withdrew

him from school. One day, neighborhood boys thought it would be fun to put him in a

wheelbarrow and tip it over, chanting “Robert, walk, walk, walk!” Badly hurt from the fall,

Robert died six months later. The other reason is Bonnie - my high school best friend’s younger

sister, who was born with brain injury at birth. Teachers said she would never read or write; but

her mother, who never went to college and was an English language learner, used the Pitman

symbols and together with BOCES, developed a program and taught her daughter to read and

write. (BOCES stands for Boards of Cooperative Educational Services, created by the New York

State Legislature in 1948, provides school districts with programs of shared educational services,

and later incorporated special education services.) The third is I failed to get a teaching associate

post at the university, so instead I got a secondary school post. And lastly, after a 30-year stint in
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media and later international development, while I served as a diplomat, my mother for three

years kept advising me to “go back to teaching.” It was her parting song to me. I am here.

What is my teaching philosophy after two very polar instances of children with special needs,

combined with two adult inducements? Being the ‘born-to-teach’ teacher, I embarked on my

teaching journey as Brad Henry (2015) eloquently said, “to inspire hope,” so that no child

should ever miss out on schooling or be gored to death because of his or her disability; “to ignite

the imagination,” and reach even the ones that are deemed unteachable, using activities and

other channels of information to teach skills, and “to instill a love of learning,” because my love

for teaching must lead to love for learning in my students. On this journey, I have compiled a list

of stepping stones for my classrooms. I hope to add more because in the age of technology, the

universe, not the sky, is the new limit: onward using IT, sailing through my teaching journey!

1. A teacher is a compass that cultivates the magnets of curiosity, knowledge, and wisdom in

pupils. – Ever Garrison.

2. The best teachers are those who show you where to look, but don’t tell you what to see. –

Alexander K. Trenfer.

3. Teach children so that it will not be necessary to teach adults. – Abraham Lincoln.

4. Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace. – Confucius.

5. A teacher takes a hand, opens a mind, and touches a heart. – Anonymous.

6. When you get, GIVE; when you learn, TEACH. – Maya Angelou.

7. Acquire new knowledge whilst thinking over the old, and you may become a teacher of

others. – Confucius.
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A requirement of all teachers is that they go on professional development courses, workshops, or

seminars; these are offered by schools and take place during staff meetings, while others are at

centers of learning. Professional development is a major stepping stone on my journey; of

course, my learning process includes the knowledge I gain from students while teaching.

Lastly a word on love and respect. As a teacher who loves teaching, I will also love my students

and proffer respect on every student. It might read hard to do; however, I’ve learned that the

more I love and respect my students, the smoother the class instruction gets.