Teaching Philosophy Statement
Teachers, who educate children, deserve more honor than parents, who merely gave them birth; for the latter provided mere life, while the former ensured a good life. (Aristotle)

Though it is a redundant way to begin your teaching philosophy statement with a quotation, I could not resist quoting this line. Whenever I face some difficulty or challenge in my classroom this quotation reminds me why I teach and why I should keep doing it. I learned this quote from one of the respected teachers whose teaching inspired me to choose teaching as the aim or purpose of my life. While explaining this quotation my professor analyzed why teaching is important, meaningful, and valuable, and how a teacher contributes to society. Her teaching and ideas still helped me to identify and understand how a teacher can influence the lives of students.
Being a teacher, I aim to provide my students with the tools to be successful in today’s competitive world. I believe if a student becomes a good communicator it will be easier for him or her to face any obstacles in the future. An effective communicator can face any difficult scenario, be it an interview, an extempore speech, a debate, or a lecture, and can successfully resolve any problem. That’s why my aim in my classroom is to guide and help my students become effective communicators. The first step to initiate that communication is to build a strong relationship with the students. A relationship based on respect can open the channel of communication. Not only the teachers but also the students deserve respect. It is necessary to respect the students as individuals, respect their background, culture, and their aims and aspirations. There is a student in my present class whose third language is English and he has come from Israel. He was quite apprehensive about his writing and speaking. Being an international student and a teacher in a US university, I could easily understand his trepidation. Through conversations, I tried to eradicate his fear and inspire him to believe in himself and his writing. To see him improve gradually shaking off his fear was the best teaching experience I ever had. My teaching experience of teaching culturally diverse student communities in India and also in the US helped me to understand the importance of communication in a classroom with diversity.
I believe that as a teacher I should create a safe classroom atmosphere where the students would not hesitate to communicate with me. Such ambiance can encourage the students to share their ideas, thoughts, views, and opinions with others, generating smooth communication. Such seamless communications set the tone of the classroom where both the teacher and students become parts of a well-knit community. Being part of the same community, on the one hand, the teacher guides the students to think critically and articulate clearly, on the other the students enrich the teacher with their unique personalities, cultural diversities, and knowledge. Apart from providing the students a welcoming classroom ambiance, I believe, primarily a teacher should be passionate about teaching and learning. A teacher should demonstrate her enthusiasm about the teaching material. If someone does not enjoy the material they are teaching, they will be unable to stimulate interest in the students. As a result, the whole communication between the teacher and students will crumble. That’s why, I believe, a teacher should be passionate about the subject and enthusiastic about teaching the material. This passion and enthusiasm can help a teacher to generate discussion, provide constructive answers to students’ questions, accept opposing viewpoints, and guide the students to think critically. In such situations, a teacher not only imparts but also acquires knowledge. Therefore, a teacher is also a learner who needs to develop herself constantly.