Personal impact statement
Personal Impact Statement
Impact Statement
Psalm 118:22 in the Bible says, “The stone rejected by the builders became the cornerstone itself.” The corner stone or the foundation stone is usually the first stone masons set while constructing a big building. All other stones are arranged with reference to the corner stone. Is it amazing to see a stone that was initially rejected forthwith ultimately becoming the most important stone that defines the very shape and strength of the building? Each and every stone used for constructing a building differs in size and shape. A mason carefully arranges stones according to their shapes so that each stone is supported by the adjoining stone. In other words, the weakness on the part of one stone is taken care of by the neighboring stone. However, masons will not take chances in the case of the corner stone as it should be perfectly flawless. On reading between the lines of this Bible verse one can interpret that the rejection of the stone would have happened as a result of a lack of judgment on the part of the mason. More often, such rejections happen to guiltless students in classrooms because of the negligence of their teachers. As a teacher, my personal philosophy of education is: “Molding the hapless students rejected by others as worthless into innovative and creative intellectuals by providing due attention and care.” As a teacher, I believe I have the ethical responsibility of educating all my students irrespective of the popular stereotypes associated with their upbringing. I plan to approach my profession as an educator by being inspired always. As an educator, I trust I have a divine purpose of uplifting countless youngsters who possibly can change paths due to negligence on the part of their teachers. I am also aware that I do not have any supernatural power to make my dream come true. However, I know when I am inspired the wisdom of God would fill me up so that I transcend all boundaries of the world to achieve the seemingly impossible thing (Dyer, 2012). Secondly, my aspiration to continuously learn and grow, and giving back to the universe what I have taken from it would guide me to resolutely stick on to my personal philosophy of educating and empowering my students.
First and foremost, human nature is fallible. No one living on the earth is perfect; only God alone is perfect in this world. Even as individuals aspire to imitate the qualities of God and try to be Godlike, they cannot become God himself. Personal development is a natural process common to all human beings, and individuals grow differently in physical, emotional, social, spiritual and intellectual areas (Covey, 1992). Individuals always remain in different levels of awareness and personal growth depending upon their development in various personal dimensions. Even among educators, there are chances of teachers exhibiting varied degrees of knowledge and awareness levels that influence their behavior and attitude towards their students. My inspiration of becoming an educator thus stems from my attitude of becoming a better person each day through continuous self-renewal.
Secondly, Humans can transform to higher levels through learning. They can also equip themselves with new skills by regular practice. Achieving the goals I set in life depends on my willingness to learn and practice new habits in life. I am likely to come across students of various backgrounds and mentoring them requires diverse approaches. As a teacher with a personal philosophy of developing even the most thoughtless student in the class, I should be ready to change my attitude of approaching my students. Learning and acquiring new skills would help me to understand students requiring differentiated attention. In other words, towards doing justice to my personal philosophy of education I choose to transform myself before transforming my students.
Thirdly, human beings are blessed with a valuable human nature of empathizing with others. Empathy is the foundation for understanding the emotions and perspectives of others (Catapano, 2016). In the first place, children need to master their emotions for understanding others which in turn guides them to stay motivated. Classroom is the best place where children learn the art of empathizing from their teachers. In keeping with my personal philosophy of helping an underprivileged student to develop, I aspire to master the human skill of seeing my students with an empathizing heart.
Finally, human nature is known for analyzing things scientifically before taking key decisions. The process of thinking helps man to explore new things and scientific knowledge. Also, the open end nature of science makes high thinking coupled with unending exploration mandatory to supplement human development. Education promotes quality thinking. The vast potential science encompasses is indeed a good news for students with varied intellectual calibers. I look forward to developing the hidden talents of my students so that each and every one contributes his part for the development of scientific knowledge.
The primary purpose of schooling is acquiring knowledge and making use of the same for the development of oneself and the society he or she is part of. Secondly, schools help students to identify their inborn talents and support them in achieving their goals. As schools bring together children from diverse backgrounds, they promote an atmosphere in which individuals support each other and value the contributions of others in team works. More importantly, apart from preparing students for jobs schools develop the critical and analytical thinking skills of students that would help them in making right decisions in life. My philosophy of education, centered on giving personal care to each and every student, is rightly entwined with the purpose of school education.
Characteristics and Functions of Teachers
A good teacher treats all her students equally by valuing and respecting their ideas, which encourages the students to freely express their ideas and listen to others. Great teachers develop a sense of belongingness in the classroom for each student by creating a tiny and friendly community within the four walls; students would feel that they are an integral part of the community and find it easy to mingle with each other. Also, setting high individual expectation for each student is the specialty of a role-model teacher; the expectations greatly influence the performance of her students. Finally, a good teacher is always passionate about learning that inspires her students to pass with flying colors. All the above traits in me would help me in implementing my personal philosophy of teaching.
How Students Learn
Curricular Aspects
Effective implementation of my philosophy of education requires emphasizing the integration of certain special curricular aspects into the school system. To begin with, I would recommend a personalized curriculum that facilitates opportunities for all students irrespective of their knowledge levels. This would encourage students of all categories to study as each one finds a meaning in learning. Secondly, I would insist on a group based learning program so that students enrich their knowledge and skills through cross curricular learning. Next, towards personalizing learning for each student, I would recommend a creative curriculum that excites students and motivates them to explore more. Finally, my philosophy of education would prefer a strictly vocational-based curriculum that promotes learning in a structured environment so that students learn diverse skills that are appropriate for their profession after school.
In brief, the curricular aspects I propose would make sure no stone is thrown away as worthless while constructing the building; instead, the seemingly worthless stone would find its place as a cornerstone in a matchless engineering marvel.
References
Catapano, J. (2016). Teaching Strategies: The Importance of Empathy. Retrieved from http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-importance-empathy
Covey, S.R. (1992). Principle-centered leadership. Sydney: Simon & Schuster.
Dyer, W.W. (2012). He golden Wayne W. Dyer collection. Faridabad: Hay House India.
