"Perhaps the greatest of all pedagogical fallacies is the notion that a person learns only the particular thing [s]he is studying at the time."
-John Dewey, 1938
-John Dewey, 1938
Bridges are passageways, connectors that connote crossing, transitioning, and changing perspectives.
I am in the profession of building bridges.
In the ancient Aztec language of Nahuatl, nepantla is word that is used to describe living between cultures or seeing from two or more perspectives at once. It can also refer to the in-between space or grey area. Living in this liminal space can sometimes be uncomfortable and unpredictable. Jazz music was created in nepantla, a response from a marginalized African American community forced to assimilate to a dominant white culture. The music itself utilizes this concept in its form by living in an improvisational landscape, where musicians find their way as they go and in the end create something new that was once before unforeseen.
As a mathematics teacher and musician, I have been fascinated by this concept and how it translates to teaching and learning in a classroom context. Throughout their childhood and adolescence, mathematics education is compulsory for all students. Teachers are in a sense encroaching on what their students value and what they believe is meaningful knowledge. Our job as teachers is to challenge what they believe and lead them across bridges to new mathematical realities.
My teaching philosophy is centered on the concept that every student is capable of learning and benefiting from a mathematics curriculum. Too often, mathematics is taught as a set of rules to be memorized and directions to be followed. My methodology is based on teaching mathematics through inquiry and collaborative-based learning. In a student-centered environment, my students will be encouraged to engage in activities, create their own problems, make their own discoveries and conjecture, make mistakes and fail successfully, be creatively frustrated and struggle with difficult problems, have inspiration, and piece together their own proofs and explanations.
Promoting an equitable classroom environment is crucial to student success. This not only means making sure students have access to challenging curriculum and resources to do engaging mathematics, but making sure that students maintain a sense of identify and power in the classroom. A flourishing classroom culture is a shared learning space, where students feel as if they have ownership of their learning and have an honest and open relationship with their teacher and their peers.
Teachers are identity workers. We have a responsibility that is as important as teaching our content, which is also to help develop citizens that will contribute in the larger society. Communication, team building, problem solving, thinking critically and learning how to struggle through difficult situations are a valuable part of learning in any subject.
My perpetual focus is to develop and improve my practice to continue to be an inspiring and dedicated teacher to my students, helping them traverse bridges where it is possible to birth new knowledge.
I am in the profession of building bridges.
In the ancient Aztec language of Nahuatl, nepantla is word that is used to describe living between cultures or seeing from two or more perspectives at once. It can also refer to the in-between space or grey area. Living in this liminal space can sometimes be uncomfortable and unpredictable. Jazz music was created in nepantla, a response from a marginalized African American community forced to assimilate to a dominant white culture. The music itself utilizes this concept in its form by living in an improvisational landscape, where musicians find their way as they go and in the end create something new that was once before unforeseen.
As a mathematics teacher and musician, I have been fascinated by this concept and how it translates to teaching and learning in a classroom context. Throughout their childhood and adolescence, mathematics education is compulsory for all students. Teachers are in a sense encroaching on what their students value and what they believe is meaningful knowledge. Our job as teachers is to challenge what they believe and lead them across bridges to new mathematical realities.
My teaching philosophy is centered on the concept that every student is capable of learning and benefiting from a mathematics curriculum. Too often, mathematics is taught as a set of rules to be memorized and directions to be followed. My methodology is based on teaching mathematics through inquiry and collaborative-based learning. In a student-centered environment, my students will be encouraged to engage in activities, create their own problems, make their own discoveries and conjecture, make mistakes and fail successfully, be creatively frustrated and struggle with difficult problems, have inspiration, and piece together their own proofs and explanations.
Promoting an equitable classroom environment is crucial to student success. This not only means making sure students have access to challenging curriculum and resources to do engaging mathematics, but making sure that students maintain a sense of identify and power in the classroom. A flourishing classroom culture is a shared learning space, where students feel as if they have ownership of their learning and have an honest and open relationship with their teacher and their peers.
Teachers are identity workers. We have a responsibility that is as important as teaching our content, which is also to help develop citizens that will contribute in the larger society. Communication, team building, problem solving, thinking critically and learning how to struggle through difficult situations are a valuable part of learning in any subject.
My perpetual focus is to develop and improve my practice to continue to be an inspiring and dedicated teacher to my students, helping them traverse bridges where it is possible to birth new knowledge.
Zane S. Ranney
