Teachers, especially in public schools, often feel trapped by the curriculum, outdated traditions, apathy, and ineffective support systems. At the school level, change can seem impossible, but at a personal level just taking another look (or the first look) at one’s teaching philosophy can make a big difference in how a teacher approaches his or her work. One way of developing this teaching philosophy is by using the traditional symbol of the labyrinth.
The Labyrinth as a Developmental Tool
For a while, it was hard to escape the labyrinth. Literally. The symbol, gaining popularity with The Da Vinci Code book and movie and with religions of all kinds worldwide, seemed to be everywhere. As a fad, the labyrinth is a seemingly simple and convenient symbol, but it is capable of multiple interpretations, which is perhaps the strongest reason for its popularity.
People primarily have used the labyrinth for spiritual meditation or as a tool for personal development that connects each circuit of the labyrinth to an issue to explore. Using the labyrinth (specifically, the seven-circuit one) as a way of constructing a teaching philosophy helps make that philosophy concrete and viable, something that can be called upon to guide teachers in building their relationships with students.
Seven Labyrinth Questions
One’s teaching philosophy can be constructed by writing answers to each of the following seven questions.
The pattern begins with self and the question, “Who am I as a teacher?” The second question is also a “who” question and brings in the exchange of selves with, “Who are my students?” The third question relates to service: “Why do I teach?”
The fourth question relates to how a teacher stewards herself as a teacher: “When do I teach my best?” The fifth circuit brings the question of choice: “What choices do I have as a teacher?” The sixth question in the labyrinth refers to growth: “Where have I grown as a teacher and where can I grow?”
The last circuit of the labyrinth is one of contrast, the place where all six of the other questions and their answers come together with the question: “How can I teach and hold all of these perspectives in balance?”
The Value of Reflection
These reflections on one’s teaching self in relation to others are essential to the continuing development of a productive classroom environment – one in which teachers and students are nurtured by clear goals, healthy relationships, and intellectual challenges.
In Gabriela Montell's March 27, 2003 article “How to Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy” from The Chronicle of Higher Education, Barbara Bowers, a University of Wisconsin at Madison professor, notes, "People can learn to be good teachers. So the purpose of the teaching statement is to be self-reflective, to identify where you might need some help from others, or you might need to do a little more work on your own to improve, and to look at which of your strategies are effective and which ones aren't."
Not only is answering these questions an important task for a beginning teacher, but also it can help a career educator seeking greater success find a new awareness of a teaching philosophy. Exploring one's philosophy can help one see how it should exemplify, as Teresa Mangum states, "the love story of an intellectual life."
Each question associated with each circuit of the labyrinth can lead teachers into the necessary development of a philosophy that can see them through the challenges of their careers.
References
Mangum, Teresa. "Views of the Classroom." Insider Higher Education, 28 Oct. 2009.
Montell, Gabriela. "How to Write a Statement of Teaching Philosophy." The Chronicle of Higher Education, 27 March 2003.
Shaun Perkins - Shaun Perkins, teacher, poet, storyteller, porch-sitter, beekeeper, gardener, writer, has been a high school and university teacher for ...
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