Personal Statement
The setting was idyllic: an early 20th century summer camp on the shores of the Chesapeake Bay on an early fall, Mid-Atlantic evening. My National Park Service uniform—a green and grey tapestry of polyester and wool—was comfortable for the first time since I had donned it two months earlier. When I walked into the camp cabin turned classroom, thirty at-risk fifth and sixth graders selected by the Montgomery County Human Rights Commission looked at me with an odd combination of surprise, curiosity, and defiance. For the next 55 minutes, I guided the students through a discussion of Glen Echo Park’s history as a segregated amusement park, of the individuals who fought to integrate the site, and of the relationship between institutional racism and bullying. When the students had finished the assigned activities and I had sworn them in as official Junior Rangers, the county commissioner took me aside and asked, “Will you come back next year?” That was my first experience as an educator in a classroom removed from the university setting and filled with students who were not yet planning a Fortune 500 career. And, I did return.
I joined the National Park Service as a part-time summer job that allowed me to be an historian, while completing my doctoral studies at Georgetown University. Gradually, though, I realized that my part-time job and my full-time studies captivated me for the same reason: both involved explaining complex historical processes to groups of people, the reward for which was a glint of understanding in the audiences’ eyes. The search for that glint led me to take on more teaching responsibilities at Georgetown, including large lecture surveys and small seminar discussions. When I worked as an historical consultant for two national firms, I again discovered that the reward was the client’s understanding of complex information as we discussed technical reports on historic sewage outflows.
As a teacher at the Rockland Country Day School and Worcester Academy, I have guided students through courses that pushed them to question who they are, the society they will join, and what kind of world they will foster. Whether working through election results with students from a range of political identities, explaining the evolution of the Communist Party of China to international boarding students who have never seen the photographs of Tiananmen Square, or developing a Genocide Studies curriculum that explores the ordinariness of extraordinary evil, I have repeatedly been rewarded by the challenges of teaching.
My classroom is a place where students are challenged by the past and are supported in understanding how historical narratives are constructed. I believe that to become successful citizens tomorrow, my students need to be meaningfully challenged today. The students in my classroom have proven that with clear expectations, scaffolding, and a variety of interactive learning tasks they can handle topics as abstract as the extinction of the Neanderthals and the evolution of modern nationalism. Further, when these events are connected to the present politically or culturally, students want to understand them. To that end, I have used zombies to teach international relations theory to seniors. As a teacher, I am an entertaining raconteur, a subject expert, and a critical thinking coach.
Teaching is a profession and as such I have actively pursued development opportunities to build upon my content expertise. I have taken courses with the School Reform Initiative on bias identification and the challenges of having meaningful conversations that inspired the adoption of a variety of discussion protocols in my courses. Most recently, I have started a M.Ed. through Lesley University to further professionalize my knowledge and pedagogical practice.
My teaching philosophy, based upon reflective practice, approaches history as a tripartite skillset of research, analysis, and communication. Through an active learning environment, I enable students to practice finding, evaluating, and utilizing historical sources to construct meaningful narratives. History is a dialogue. My pedagogical beliefs are:
I joined the National Park Service as a part-time summer job that allowed me to be an historian, while completing my doctoral studies at Georgetown University. Gradually, though, I realized that my part-time job and my full-time studies captivated me for the same reason: both involved explaining complex historical processes to groups of people, the reward for which was a glint of understanding in the audiences’ eyes. The search for that glint led me to take on more teaching responsibilities at Georgetown, including large lecture surveys and small seminar discussions. When I worked as an historical consultant for two national firms, I again discovered that the reward was the client’s understanding of complex information as we discussed technical reports on historic sewage outflows.
As a teacher at the Rockland Country Day School and Worcester Academy, I have guided students through courses that pushed them to question who they are, the society they will join, and what kind of world they will foster. Whether working through election results with students from a range of political identities, explaining the evolution of the Communist Party of China to international boarding students who have never seen the photographs of Tiananmen Square, or developing a Genocide Studies curriculum that explores the ordinariness of extraordinary evil, I have repeatedly been rewarded by the challenges of teaching.
My classroom is a place where students are challenged by the past and are supported in understanding how historical narratives are constructed. I believe that to become successful citizens tomorrow, my students need to be meaningfully challenged today. The students in my classroom have proven that with clear expectations, scaffolding, and a variety of interactive learning tasks they can handle topics as abstract as the extinction of the Neanderthals and the evolution of modern nationalism. Further, when these events are connected to the present politically or culturally, students want to understand them. To that end, I have used zombies to teach international relations theory to seniors. As a teacher, I am an entertaining raconteur, a subject expert, and a critical thinking coach.
Teaching is a profession and as such I have actively pursued development opportunities to build upon my content expertise. I have taken courses with the School Reform Initiative on bias identification and the challenges of having meaningful conversations that inspired the adoption of a variety of discussion protocols in my courses. Most recently, I have started a M.Ed. through Lesley University to further professionalize my knowledge and pedagogical practice.
My teaching philosophy, based upon reflective practice, approaches history as a tripartite skillset of research, analysis, and communication. Through an active learning environment, I enable students to practice finding, evaluating, and utilizing historical sources to construct meaningful narratives. History is a dialogue. My pedagogical beliefs are:
- Every student can succeed: Students will respond to their teacher’s expectations. High expectations, coupled with measurable goals, realistic supports, and reflective practice generate exceptional performances, while low expectations and a lack of thoughtful planning produces, at best, mediocre results.
- Students must be engaged to learn: Developmental psychologists argue that students actively make meaning by connecting their experiences with prior understanding and then by modifying their current understanding accordingly. To ensure that this occurs, lessons must engage students by connecting prior knowledge with life experiences. Classes must get students thinking, doing, connecting and experiencing. Lessons which are active, “hands on,” and “minds on” make students do all of these. Finally, students must reflect upon what they have discovered to gain memorable knowledge and wisdom from the academic task.
- Deep learning requires mastery, creativity, and personal connections. As argued by Jal Mehta and Sarah Fine, deep learning occurs at the intersection of content and skills mastery, completing rigorous tasks that attempt to create new knowledge, and a personal connection contributing to individual identity development. To support deep learning, I structure my courses around three essential ideas: first, that I am a student’s guide through repositories of knowledge rather than the source of that knowledge; second, that students must create meaning supported by evidence; and that meaning must be demonstrated in authentic tasks that mimic professional expectations.
- Everyone is unique: Students learn differently. Students have different intelligences, learning styles, life experiences, and interests, as well as diverse socio-cultural backgrounds. Some students will also have exceptionalities to accommodate. I believe every child can succeed, but instruction may require different approaches to attain success. Tasks, assignments, and instructional assessment and evaluation strategies that address the individuality of the students are vital.
- Individuality and community are symbiotic goals of education: Education is about “thinking” not “transmission.” As an educator, my responsibility is to ensure that every child has the opportunity to develop their own unique abilities. I believe that education is also about socialization. Students need to learn to work collaboratively. I create an environment in which every student will respect and accept their fellow students’ individuality. Respect and diversity enable the goal of individuality and community to co-exist.
- Students deserve a safe and positive learning environment: For students to learn they need to feel safe to explore their thoughts, feelings, and environment. Respect between students, staff, and families is essential. Students should be given opportunities to discuss issues and expectations, so that they themselves—with guidance—can set boundaries and solutions to which they will be held accountable.
- Learning and teaching are fundamentally connected: Teachers learn from students just as students learn from teachers; in life there is always more to discover and learning is more meaningful when it resonates. Professional development is a never-ending process. To ensure sound pedagogy teachers should seek, attend, and implement knowledge, as well as skills, from professional development workshops, courses, literature, peers, and mentors for the duration of their careers.
- History is relevant and critical for responsible citizenship: History actively effects each student’s past, present, and future. Part of the joy of history is discovering how it is present in our lives. History is a tool for teaching research, critical analysis, and communication skills. History should be taught as an inclusive process that involves traditional leaders and everyday citizens, the majority and the marginalized. Students must understand that only with a reflective citizenry—capable of recognizing the importance of critically analyzing the everyday overload of information—can democracy succeed. Every history class should contribute to a student’s understanding of their role as a local community member and a global resident.