Goal 1: Teachers articulate, maintain, and develop a philosophy of education that they also demonstrate in practice

1a Support their philosophy of education with research-based theory and evidence.

1. Refer to the Philosophy Essay where I critique various different philosophies of education that we have studied in the MAT. This essay shows philosophers like Dewey, Hahn, and Sizer, and shows how I have taken their beliefs and synthesized them with my own. I wrote this essay after researching different philosophers and ultimately integrating them with my life experience.
   
2. Refer to the Philosophy Paper where I take the reader through how my personal educational philosophy evolved. This essay shows how my personal educational philosophy evolved over the course of my career as a teacher, guide, and Outward Bound Instructor. In this essay I explain how starting my work at the Outward Bound School exposed me to the philosophies of Kurt Hahn by practicing them in the field. As an instructor at Outward Bound I was required to research and understand the philosophies of Hahn and experiential education.
   

1b Apply philosophy, beliefs, and theory to practice.

1. Refer to my explanation paper, where I show how this assignment links to my educational philosophy stated in 1a. I did many assignments throughout the year that required students to draw on their personal experience and background. Students were allowed to be as creative as they wanted to be, but were given a direction and support to facilitate success. My assignments show that I am influenced by the experiential education of Hahn, and the philosophies of Dewey, in that I give every student a chance to link their assignment back to their personal experiences and mental schema.
2. Refer to my final assignment for Science Fiction class. This assignment shows my philosophy by letting students bring their opinions to the table, and having a croup project that is built by the whole class. The assignment was to make a magazine by editing and polishing up your favorite work. This allowed students to bring their personal background into the class as well as getting them to contribute to the class as a team.
3. Refer to the introduction to Science Fiction page one and page two that I made for the students at the beginning of the second semester. Notice that I write in a language that the students can relate to and get the students focused on coming together as a team. I also call on them to draw on their own experiences and creativity to excel in class.
4. Refer to the paper written by a senior student of mine (page 1, 2, and 3) where he writes about my teaching practices. In this paper the student comments on the lessons that I gave and how they stuck with him. He also comments on my personality and the way that I made every student feel included.
   

1c Abide by a philosophy of education and remain flexible to revising it based on new research and teaching experience.

1. Refer to my philosophy video where I go through how my philosophy has changed and adapted over time. This video shows how I arrived at my philosophy through the Outward Bound School, but experienced other educational philosophies that have influenced and frustrated me. Ultimately I end the video by summarizing where my beliefs currently are and where I see them going.
   
2. Refer to the evaluation of my philosophy by my host teacher and adviser. You will notice that both of them ranked me very high, showing that I have a solid philosophy for a beginning teacher and they believe that I am meeting expectations.
3. Refer to the Big Three Sign that I had hung up in the back of the classroom. This sign was above my desk as I taught in New Mexico, and followed me to Alaska. I changed the words around a little, but I would bet that any student in my class if asked what Mr. Dwyer's philosophy was would be able to point at the sign and tell a stranger. I keep my philosophy posted at all times in my classroom and continually refer to it during the lessons that I teach. Students in my class have a clear understanding of what I think, and why I am a teacher.