The Freire Project

From the moment we are born into this world, we begin to benefit from other people’s services. The doctors safely delivered us; nurses help our mothers take care of us to ensure we are healthy and comfortable. As we grow, we continue to receive the services given to us by our community and our schools. Now it is time for us to return the favor by offering our services back to the people around us, to our schools and to our community. Some people do not see the value of doing volunteer work, but those among us who have done such work know we have gained three things of real value: one is experience, two the good feeling of knowing we have helped others and three we made an impact.
Each of us will be given the opportunity to make a difference in our community. We should make a point of using those opportunities to make this country and the world a better place. We can use our own personal experiences as a foundation. Consequently, if we combine our own personal experiences with the appropriate guidance and our own perseverance we will reach the goals we set for ourselves.
My definition of science is to quest of knowledge attained through study or practice. I believed that knowledge covering general truths of the operation of general laws, as obtained and tested through scientific method and concerned with the physical world. Science refers to a system of acquiring knowledge. This system uses observation and experimentation to describe and explain natural phenomena. My term science also refers to the organized body of knowledge people have gained using that system. Less formally, the word science often describes as any systematic field of study or the knowledge gained from it.
I am currently teaching 11th Grade Chemistry at Mott Haven Village Preparatory High School In addition, I will be graduating with my Master of Arts in Secondary Science in Teaching Chemistry 7-12 at Teachers College Columbia University in May 2009. The reasons I would like to be a teacher because I want to provide my students with training to blend self-examination, critical thinking, relationship building, and affirmation, learning and teaching with practical skill development in order to succeed and move on to the next grade.
I want to be a teacher because I would like to offer my experience as a Latino professional and help those needy students that there is always hope to graduate and become professional like me. I would like to learn how science education has an effect on school administration and communities as well as the effect on Latino student’s success from elementary schooling to college level. Teaching is one of the most demanding careers one can choose; yet it is also one of the most rewarding. For me choosing to teach is choosing to make a difference in the lives of children-to help them learn to read, solve a math problem, or discover how plants grow. Teaching is about conveying a love of learning and discovery, and giving children the tools they can use throughout their lives to make their own discoveries. Teachers must be ready to play a variety of roles in the classroom: educator, motivator, guide, counselor, coach, and disciplinarian. Teachers must be prepared to work as part of a team, combining their efforts with colleagues, supervisors, and parents to create the best possible learning environment for their students. In addition, teachers must continually educate themselves-learning about new advances in education, new technologies, and new ways to inspire students to reach their full potential. Another reason I would like to be considered is that I hope to become an effective teacher and administrator by interacting with graduate students from various educational backgrounds. I believe that being a teacher would afford me the opportunity to study, critique and learn from other colleagues and administrators. I feel that every child should have equal access to education as well as allowing to student to have good access to technology. My career interest lie primarily in science education focusing on secondary education in chemistry and my long term goal is to become a principal and a teacher.
Educational institutions in their research and practices are the major sources of information on best practices and programs that support persistence, degree completion and graduation of disadvantaged students. Private initiatives often appropriate this accumulated knowledge to create and enhance their program. Assessment tools that provide information to secondary schools should not serve to reinforce test-based school cultures that inadvertently limit the education preparation of underrepresented populations. Considerable research exits that suggest that an unintended consequences of high-stakes testing is less, not more, educational improvement since schools are encourage to become test centers. Schools should be sites for comprehensive education that promote analytical skills acquisition and critical thinking, which are at the core of a quality college preparation curriculum
An educated individual undergoes a basic transformation through the educational experiences; the individual might see things differently than if he/she had not been educated. Our own experiences are not directly influenced by senses but rather are affected by our internal attitudes and expectations. Similarly, Whitehead says that if we combine our experiences with our imaginations, we stimulate the mind of the individual. Whitehead writes, “also there is required the excitement of curiosity and the self-confidence derived from the pride in the achievements of the surroundings society in procuring advance of knowledge". An individual must be curious in order to experience a situation. Through this experience, and by using the knowledge that we need in order to achieve a good education, we alter and advance our surrounding society.
Every experience has a cause and effect that is represents either through the learning process of each human being. Many experiences are influences in some degree to objectives or conditions under which is based upon experiences you had in the past. This whether the experience is bad or good, you can still learn from that experience. The process of growth is based upon the continuity of various experiences. This is based upon subjective and objective of the teacher and student in which this growth is a continuous process. These objectives and subjective ideas are based upon the experience of the teacher and student. In other words, “the belief that all genuine education comes about through experiences does not mean that all experiences are genuinely or equally educative” (Dewey, 25).
As John Dewey says, “Collateral Learning in the way of formation of enduring attitudes, of likes and dislikes, may be and often is much more than the spelling lesson or lesson in geography or history that is learned.” The point that Dewey is trying to make is that we based our doubts and experience on our attitudes. The attitude that Dewey is emphasizing is the idea the freedom of having a desire for learning based upon our own experiences.
We must ask ourselves the question whether or not; we have the desired to base our own learning on our own experiences. We must seek for an understanding of brand new knowledge that could be based on your experiences or other people experiences. Rather than having a teacher preaches and teach based upon a book. I would rather have a teacher that could teach us based on the book, but at the same time he/she should incorporate their own experiences and try to tie to the book and the class.
I felt very enthusiastic representing the scientific community because during the student teaching seminar I was reminded that scientists, researchers and teachers should not only be involved in the development of research that shapes the environment, we should also be among the decision makers in order to shape policy for scientific research. I see myself as an agent of change playing an active a role in the education of our children by teaching them how to seek knowledge through research and applying it in their own lives along with the value of political involvement to address the disparities in their communities as well as the nation.
The dynamics of education are clear; nobody can be educated if one does not want to be. Initially, it is important to determine what your definition of education is. That means that every educated individual defines education as the way one experiences the process of learning. Once you become educated you reconstruct your own educational experiences through restoring and developing them. Then, you will emerge with a new definition of education more fitting to your learning experiences and the world around you. Education requires a significant amount of hard work, but can also be enjoyable. Whichever side of the street you are on, education has the ability to affect you in terms of what it means to be alive.
In closing, the satisfaction I have received when I work with people is indescribable. It is such a rewarding feeling to know that someone’s day is a little brighter because you’ve affected it in some way? Be it small or large, any contribution that one offers is going to be appreciated and the contentment that one feels as a result in irreplaceable.
I feel that the experiences I have gained throughout my life make me a promising teacher. I have learned through my scientific endeavors on how to apply my cultural background in both my career and my life. I hope to be given the opportunity to be part of a community that will help me succeed in my future endeavors and I feel confident that if another opportunity is given to me I will never regret it and help me pursue my career ambitions while continuing to be a role model for my family and community.