The Greek philosopher Socrates famously declared in his defense speech that “the unexamined life is not worth living”, that a life of passivity and lack of examination of one’s personal beliefs is undesirable and inferior to one of examination and constant questioning of one’s beliefs. In my education and career as a teacher, philosophical inquiry and questioning has been an effective way to deliver and relate content back to the student. Using guided questions, personal connections to literature should be made and brought back to the student to think deeper when reading content. Once those connections are made, reading becomes pleasurable and relatable to the student.
Coming from an abusive, toxic household, school was a refuge for me. School provided structure and a place for me to go to get away from my house. Since my elementary was a magnet school, I was inspired by my teachers to strive for academic excellence. My favorite elementary teacher was my 6th grade teacher Mrs. Dyer. In 6th grade, we studied the ancient civilizations including Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece, and Rome. I enjoyed studying Greek Mythology and the insights that the Greeks had about spirituality, and from thereon considered myself a Greek in my worldview.
As a high school student, I felt unchallenged and received no praise or commendation from my teachers. It wasn’t until I did journalism as an elective my senior year that my journalism advisor acknowledged my writing ability. From her encouragement, I decided to study Journalism when I went to college. I attended Fullerton College where I studied Journalism but later switched to Philosophy because of the impression that my Intro to Philosophy instructor left on me, Dr. Holden. Outside of Socrates, I thought that Dr. Holden was the wisest man that I ever met. Philosophy taught me to value education for its own sake and posed timeless questions which opened my mind up to enlightenment. In a survey from Teachers, School and Society pgs. 404-405, I noticed that I rated statements that dealt with learning for its own sake and that education should relate to the great thinkers of the past and timeless questions. Philosophy is not taught as a separate subject in K-12 administration whereas in the rest of the world, Philosophy is taught to high schoolers. It should be an important part of education reform to correct this and teach Philosophy in the curriculum.
In my education, I have also had some terrible experiences with educators. The most pertinent example would be my baseball coach from high school, Coach Price. According to the Code of Ethics of the American Association of Educators, Educators have a responsibility towards their students to “2. …Not intentionally expose students to disparagement” and “4. The professional educator makes a constructive effort to protect the student from conditions detrimental to learning, health, or safety.” Coach Price took over my high school’s baseball program in 2008 when I was a sophomore and in order to gain the trust of the other players, he put down players and make jokes at their expense. Coach Price let hazing and upperclassman hierarchy rule the class. My brother and I were bullied for the first time in our lives in the program because we were jittery and anxious on the field. We were facing a cornucopia of family issues off the field and instead of our teammates asking “What’s wrong?A”, players would say “Rattled!” as though they had gotten into our heads. Coach Price did not take any notice to this and by omission condoned this kind of behavior. Because of him and his coaching staff, I have wanted to become an educator so that I could be a better administrator than the ones at my school.
Education has been an avenue for mental, emotional, and spiritual growth for me. Without education, I would not have the life that I have now. Education beautifies the soul and gives me purpose. It allows to practice my philosophy and interact with students in asking timeless questions which are not often asked within the regular classroom environment. One of the most encouraging comments that I have received since becoming a teacher was in my first year, a student came up to me and said “We wouldn’t have learned this with our regular teacher.” Teaching Philosophy as a hidden curriculum has strengthened my student learning outcomes.
Alex Milledge Teacher Blog 