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Placing Students at the Heart of One’s Craft:

A Statement of Beliefs about Good Teaching

Brooke Harvey

TE 807; Dr. Carver

Fall 2008

Placing Students at the Heart of One’s Craft: A Statement of Beliefs about Effective Teaching 1

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Introduction to Statement of Beliefs:

At present, when I think about effective or accomplished teaching, the word exhausting

comes to mind. My colleagues and I always joke about the fact that the constant need to tweak

our practices and realign our lessons to match the state-mandated curriculum are simply the

nature of “the teaching beast”. This course has definitely reaffirmed this idea. It has also helped

me to appreciate the importance of staying true to my identity and integrity as a teacher, while

also being open-minded enough to question, and perhaps change, my beliefs about good

teaching. Yet, the biggest idea that has shone through during this course is that I must not lose

sight of the reason I chose such a noble profession: To positively impact the lives of future

generations.

I believe that accomplished teachers are dedicated to promoting the success of each

individual student. As a result, they place students at the heart of their teaching and at the heart

of their own learning. Accomplished teachers are student-centered in that they care about each of

their students and demonstrate a deep, inherent respect for them as individuals, they develop a

tailored curriculum that guides each student toward success, and they are lifelong learners who

constantly strive to become more effective. Figure 1 illustrates the student-centered teaching

approach that I describe. Teaching is exhausting work, but effective teachers recognize this and

do not lose sight of the goal that often clouds the vantage point of mediocre teachers: To teach

effectively is to place students at the heart of one’s craft.


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Effective Teachers Demonstrate Respect for All Students

Effective teachers are skilled at showing their students that they are the heart and soul of

the learning environment. They are able to communicate their compassion for each individual

student thorough their actions; thus, exhibiting a deep, inherent respect for each child. Jalongo

and Isenberg assert, “teaching is more than telling. The Latin verb from which the word teacher

originates means ‘to show’ and this is precisely what teachers do best. They are model learners;

they are an embodiment of the concept of care” (Jalongo and Isenberg, 1995, p.43). Although

there are many ways that teachers can demonstrate the extent to which they care about and

respect their students, I will focus on three main ways in which accomplished teachers do so. I

believe that effective teachers create and seize opportunities to learn about their students on a

personal level, they foster a caring community of learners, and they teach students how to work

together cooperatively.

Figure 1: Effective Teaching is Student-Centered

Respect for Students Tailored Curriculum

Lifelong Learning

Student

Success


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Effective Teachers Know Their Students

The first way that effective teachers demonstrate compassion and respect for their

students is by maximizing opportunities to learn about their pupils as individuals. Every day, I

greet my students at the door with a firm handshake, a big smile, and a sincere, kind word. In

turn, my students smile up at me as they greet me, and they look genuinely happy to be entering

our classroom. By meeting my fifth graders at the door, I create an opportunity for my students

to tell me about what they did the previous night, or to inform me about something that happened

on the way to school. Although these conversations may seem trivial, I believe that they are

hugely important. For example, when Andy sulks into the classroom and doesn’t make eye-

contact with me as he shakes my hand, I know right away that he has had a difficult morning and

that I need to do everything in my power to help turn his day around. By taking an extra five

minutes out of our morning to welcome my students genuinely listen to them, I am able to gain a

little more insight about the kind of children they are.

I also write my students a welcome message on the board each morning. After my fifth

graders mark themselves present and make their lunch choice, they are expected to read my

message, which explains their bell work. At least once a week, my students’ bell work invites

them to write about their lives. For example, I might instruct my fifth graders to write about

their weekend, something that they’re looking forward to, something that is difficult for them at

the moment, or something that they’re proud of. On days when I ask my students to write about

their lives, I invite volunteers to share what they’ve written, and I often collect their work. This

creates another window through which I can take a closer look at my students as individuals.

Yet another way that I am able to connect with and learn about my students on a personal

level is through the writing workshop. Since the beginning of the school year, I have been


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helping my students to strengthen their personal narrative writing. During our daily workshop, I

share stories about my life and model how to effectively bring my stories to life on paper. Lucy

Calkin’s, whose model I have structured my workshop after, believes that it is essential to teach

children that “their lives and their thoughts are worth writing about” (Calkins, 2006, p.VI).

Calkins explains, “I approach the start of a new school year planning to be astounded and

amazed by the great things that kids do…my responsiveness to these kids is more important than

any lesson I could teach” (Calkins, 2006, p.2). I try to emulate Calkins’ writing instruction by

exclaiming over the stories of my students’ lives. Through the writing workshop, I get to hear

personal and intimate stories that have significance to my students, and I am able to seize

opportunities to show my fifth graders how wonderfully important the stories of their lives truly

are; thus, empowering my students as writers and helping them to feel valued and respected.

Although writing is a wonderful venue through which teachers can create opportunities to

learn about the personal lives of their students, engaging my fifth graders in “getting to know

you” activities throughout the year has also proven to be effective. My ten, eleven and twelve-

year-olds still love the opportunity to present their “All-About-Me” bulletin board when they are

chosen as the “Student-of-the-Week”. This board allows each fifth grader to display aspects of

his/her life that he/she is proud of. By allocating ten minutes a week to spotlight each of my

students, I am able to learn more about their personal lives. More importantly though, I am able

to transmit the message that I believe my students’ lives are worthy of being shared center stage.

In addition to the activities that I engage my students in at school, I also make a grand

effort to attend my students’ sporting events when they invite me to do so. When my fifth

graders see that I have taken the time to support them outside of school, it couldn’t be more clear

that I care for them.


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The more information I acquire about my students’ interests, hobbies, beliefs, strengths,

weaknesses, friends, and families, the better able I am to initiate conversations with them, to be

more sympathetic to their social and emotional needs, and to help them to make connections with

the curriculum based upon their individual interests and beliefs. When I truly know my students,

I am able to connect to them on a personal level; thus, demonstrating my care and respect for

them as individuals. Nieto explains,

“Teaching is about love because it involves trust and respect and because at its best, it

depends on close and special relationships between students and teachers. It is, in a

word, a vocation based on love. But rather than a maudlin emotion, love is a blend of

confidence, faith, and admiration for students, and an appreciation for the strengths they

bring with them. In this sense, love is visible through a teacher’s daily work” (Nieto,

2003, p.391).

Certainly, the love effective teachers possess for their students is visible when teachers maximize

opportunities to learn about their students on a personal level.

Effective Teachers Create a Community of Learners

The second way effective teachers demonstrate care and respect for their students is

through their commitment to creating a community of learners. By studying expert teachers,

Smith (2001) identified six central tendencies that effective teachers exhibit. One of these

tendencies is the way in which effective teachers view their classrooms as communities of

learners. Smith depicts the classrooms of expert teachers whom she has observed as being

“characterized by clear procedures, student ownership, student responsibility, and classroom

community” (Smith, 2001, p.365). Effective teachers recognize the importance of establishing


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clear rules and procedures, as well as the significance of communicating the message that the

classroom is a shared space. In this way, students develop a sense of shared ownership of their

classroom environment, and they understand their responsibilities as inhabitants of that

environment. As a result, there is an ease and familiarity with which the students move about

their classroom. Such classrooms are clearly student-centered learning communities. I believe

that these are the types of communities that effective teachers successfully cultivate in order to

foster respect for and among their students.

I am firm believer that effective teachers promote community by allowing their students

to be involved in the creation of their classroom rules. This type of teacher-student collaboration

allows the teacher to help her students to feel a greater sense of responsibility and commitment to

the learning environment. Additionally, it gives the teacher the opportunity to guide her students

toward the classroom community that she envisions. For example, as my students and I create

our social contract, which will display the rules we’ll agree to live and learn by throughout the

school year, I have a couple of goals in mind. First and foremost, I want to the rules that my fifth

graders generate to reflect the belief that, although they may not have chosen their teacher or

their classmates, we are a team. Second, I want our social contract to reflect the idea that,

although my students may not be friends with all of their classmates, they are expected to be

friendly to their peers at all times. As I guide my fifth graders toward my vision of an ideal

classroom community, my students generate rules that reflect the importance of always

demonstrating respect for one another.

As part of a community, my fifth graders realize that it’s their responsibility to keep one

another in check. After explicit instruction and modeling, my students learn how to kindly

remind their classmates if they are out of line, or if they are coming close to violating one of the


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rules of our social contract. Consequently, I rarely have to deal with behavior problems. On the

rare occasion when I do have to discipline students, they are very much aware of the

consequences that they will endure for choosing to violate our classroom rules. Hammond and

Baratz-Snowden claim, “teachers must know how to develop a learning environment within the

classroom that supports a sense of belonging and commitment to the welfare of the group, as

well as a sense of responsibility to help one another academically and socially” (Hammond and

Baratz-Snowden, 2005, p. 26). Certainly, effective teachers foster learning communities in

which students are in the habit of holding one another accountable for their actions.

Effective teachers are also skilled at cultivating a caring community of learners through

the creation of classroom rules. When discussing this topic, Charney explains, “If the result is a

set of rules that the children and teacher feel are theirs, and if the climate resulting from

application of these rules is one of respect, safety, achievement, and fun, then the process has

been successful” (Charney, 2002, p.76). I believe that effective teachers cultivate classroom

communities with such a climate. Furthermore, I believe that students who are part of such

learning environments are more likely to realize that their role in the classroom is important;

thus, assuming the mentality that they are valued and respected members of their learning

community. McCarthy and Kuh (2006) assert that student engagement in school has much to do

with whether or not students get along with their peers and their feelings and beliefs about their

school environment. I am confident that effective teachers who are committed to creating a

community of learners help their students to become more engaged and productive learners.


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Effective Teachers Emphasize Cooperative Learning

The third way that effective teachers display compassion and respect for their students is

by teaching them how to work together cooperatively. Dishon and Wilson-O’Leary believe that

“instruction is more effective when students work in cooperative learning groups rather than in

situations where competition and individualistic learning are emphasized” (Dishon & Wilson-

O’Leary, 1998, p.3). Moreover, Dishon and Wilson-O’Leary state:

“Research shows that the consistent use of cooperative teaching methods in the classroom

helps students to learn and care about others. Students learn to not only tolerate

individual differences, but to value them as well, which is of particular importance with

our nations’ increasing ethnic, religious, and lifestyle diversity” (Dishon & Wilson-

O’Leary, 1998, p.4).

I had the privilege of studying under the tutelage of Pat Wilson-O’Leary for two years. As a

result, I am a firm believer in the effectiveness of cooperative learning, and I implement the

cooperative learning model that O’Leary and Dishon created in my own classroom.

Teaching students to work together cooperatively requires a great deal of explicit

instruction and modeling. However, when effective teachers put forth the effort to teach

cooperation, the benefits are great. In our classroom, my fifth graders work in cooperative pairs

or groups on a daily basis. When doing so, my students know that they are expected to greet

their teammates with a smile and a friendly welcome, even if they are not ecstatic about the

group they’ve been placed in. Gifted and talented students work with English language learners,

autistic, and cognitively impaired students. My pupils share equally the roles of speaker,

listener, reader, and recorder while working in groups. If one teammate tries to dominate a role,

my fifth graders know that it is their responsibility to kindly remind him/her of the importance of


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sharing the workload. My students are very much in the habit of listening carefully to their

classmates’ ideas and opinions. More importantly, though, my fifth graders understand the

importance of discussing their thinking in order to collaboratively work through problems. They

also know that I expect them to sometimes disagree with one another, and that there is an

appropriate and respectful way to do so.

By teaching my students how to work together cooperatively, I transmit the message that

all of their ideas are equally important and worth sharing; thus, motivating my students to share

their thinking and to push themselves as learners. Hammond and Baratz-Snowden emphasize the

importance of helping “students to build healthy identities as learners and contributors…since

these identities determine how students behave and how they invest their time and effort”

(Hammond and Baratz-Snowden, 1995, p.11). Clearly, effective educators teach their students

how to work together cooperatively and, in doing so, convey the message that they care about

and respect their students, their ideas, and their beliefs.

There is no arguing that a teacher’s compassion and respect for her students can be

demonstrated in a multitude of ways. However, I believe that effective teachers demonstrate the

extent to which they care for their students through their commitment to maximizing

opportunities to learn about their students as individuals, their dedication to fostering a caring

community of learners, and their determination to teach students to work together cooperatively.

When students are aware of the inherent respect that their teachers have for them, they feel

empowered by a sense of self-worth, they are instilled with a sense of responsibility and

commitment to their classroom community, and they are more motivated to succeed socially and

academically.


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Effective Teachers Develop a Tailored Curriculum

Hammond & Baratz-Snowden assert, “To teach all children well, teachers must know

how to tailor their curriculum and instruction so that their students will be engaged in meaningful

work” (Hammond & Baratz-Snowden, 2005, p.21). I fully agree with this statement; however, I

believe that the main reason effective teachers are able to successfully employ their students in

purposeful schoolwork is because they have put forth the effort to develop a clear and complete

picture of each child as a learner. Using the wealth of knowledge that they have acquired about

their students, accomplished teachers are able to design a tailored curriculum that plants each

student on the pathway to success. Although there are many ways in which effective teachers

shape their curriculum to suit the needs of individual learners, I will focus on two ways in which

accomplished teachers do so. I believe that effective teachers use their warehouse of knowledge

about students to determine the resources and instructional methods that they will use to present

their subject matter, and they design a curriculum that is culturally relevant to their student

population.

Effective Teachers’ Knowledge about Their Particular Students Drives Their Instruction

Effective teachers are incredibly mindful about the composite of learners that form their

classroom community. Accomplished teachers consider everything they know about their

students, and they use that information to design a curriculum that is supported by resources and

instructional methods that best accommodate the mosaic of learners in their classrooms. To

explain, effective teachers are incredibly knowledgeable about their students’ affective attributes,

family situations, interests, beliefs, conceptions, language, motivations, social class, attention,

cultural backgrounds, aptitudes, preferred learning styles, and much more. When selecting


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teaching resources and deciding upon the best methods for presenting the subject matter,

accomplished teachers consider all of the aforementioned qualities of their students. By doing

so, effective teachers are better able to tailor their curriculum so that each student is able to build

his/her background knowledge and experiences, make connections with the subject matter, and

work at his/her own pace toward success in his/her own terms.

When reading aloud picture books to support my instruction, I often choose literature that

I know my students will connect with based on their background knowledge, prior experiences,

and interests. Similarly, effective teachers continuously make conscientious decisions about the

resources they use, and they understand that the same resources can be used for different

purposes, depending on the experiences of the students whom they teach. After considering their

students’ identities as learners, effective teachers also make informed choices about the amount

of scaffolding, non verbal cues, visual aids, repeated instruction, guided practice and peer

collaboration that they will provide their students with. Although I don’t discuss it explicitly, I

believe that effective teachers also possess a substantial amount of pedagogical content

knowledge that facilitates the ease with which they make such curricular adaptations.

Effective teachers also make it a priority to touch base with individual students, asking

questions that are specific to their learning, and posing questions about their thinking that are

tailored to each individual learner. When effective teachers have established clear procedures, a

quality of effective teachers that I have previously discussed, they are free to move about the

classroom “managing and monitoring student learning,” which is Proposition #3 of the National

Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) policy statement (NBPTS, 2002, p.13).

This one-on-one interaction between teacher and student is yet another way in which effective

teachers utilize instructional methods that to cater to the needs of individual students. To


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illustrate this type of interaction, I will use an example from my own writing workshop. During

this workshop, I am able to differentiate my instruction by allowing students to work at a pace

that best suits them in relation to their development as writers. Although all of my students are

working toward the same learning objective, which is developing personal narratives, each

student is at a different point on his/her learning trajectory. For example, while Caleb is

constructing an elaborate personal narrative in which he has crafted a strong lead and has based

his detailed story around three well-organized seed ideas, Gabrielle might be writing a smaller

scale story in which she is focusing solely on including true, exact details to develop her seed

idea. As I loop around to each student to confer with him/her about his/her writing, I use what I

know about my students to support their individual development as writers. In this way, I

believe that effective teachers are able to tailor their instruction by using instructional methods

that best support each student’s development of the subject matter.

Effective Teachers Create A Culturally Relevant Curriculum

In order to help students to achieve academic success, effective teachers also create a

culturally relevant curriculum. Ladson-Billings describes teachers who practice culturally

relevant methods as those who “help students make connections between their local, national,

racial, cultural and global identities” (Ladson-Billings, 1994, p.25). Thompson (2004) also

encourages educators to teach students to value and understand other cultures. She asserts: “as

educators, we cannot assume that everyone grew up observing the same customs, values, and

practices that we observed and practiced” (Thompson, 2004, p.193). Certainly, effective

teachers are aware of the cultural backgrounds of their students, especially those students whose

race, culture, and language differ from the mainstream. Instead of overlooking their students’


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cultural differences, effective teachers affirm their students’ identities by encouraging them to

share aspects of their culture with their classmates, and by inspiring them to take pride in their

cultural identities.

Both Ladson-Billings (1994) and Thompson (2004) emphasize the importance of

integrating the achievements of people of color into the curriculum continuously and

comprehensively. Although Ladson-Billings (1994) and Thompson (2004) specifically advocate

a culturally relevant education for African Americans students, I believe that effective teachers

make a concerted effort to highlight the achievements of those from all of the cultural

backgrounds represented in their classroom. Ladson-Billings claims that teachers who were

proven to be most effective in communicating with students “altered their speech patterns,

communication styles, and participation structures to resemble more closely those of the

students’ own culture” (Ladson-Billings, 1994, p.16). I believe that effective teachers examine

the interactional styles of all of their students and present their subject matter in a way that is

culturally congruent to their pupils. By doing so, accomplished teachers increase the likelihood

that their students will achieve academic success.

Ladson-Billings (1994) is confident that students who are presented with a culturally

relevant education are more motivated to improve society and are given the knowledge to

become aware of, and think critically about, the options that are available to them. In Jenison,

the district for which I teach, I believe that the majority of the teachers instill in their students the

belief that they can and will succeed. It’s no wonder, then, that so many of our high school

graduates go on to complete post-secondary education. In a community in which the vast

majority of our students share the same cultural background and values about education, they

feel empowered by a curriculum that is culturally relevant to them and provides them with


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interactional styles that are culturally congruent. Jenison students who fit into the majority are

motivated to succeed, realize the many opportunities that are available to them, and are more

likely to improve society. Admittedly, I need to be more thoughtful about those few students

who don’t fit into the majority. Accomplished teachers, on the other hand, are always mindful

about the cultural identities of their students, and they are skilled at developing a culturally

relevant curriculum.

Certainly, effective teachers use the immense wealth of knowledge that they acquire

about their students to create a curriculum that caters to the needs of each individual learner.

Accomplished teachers also recognize and respect the fact that each student is at a different point

on his pathway to academic success. Because they know their students well, effective teachers

can adapt their instructional methods, choose appropriate resources, and create a culturally

relevant curriculum that promotes student achievement and sets high expectations for all

learners. This student-centered approach to developing curriculum is aligned with Smith’s

(2004) metaphor of teachers as miners. Smith explains that these “teacher miners” believe that

their students have all of the learning tools they need in order to be successful. Smith further

explains, “The teacher’s job is to ‘mine’ it, to discover it, to draw it out for students to see

themselves—to hold it up to the light and examine it” (Smith, 2004, p.364). There is no doubt

that effective teachers are, in fact, miners. They see the potential for academic success in all of

their learners, and they use what they know about their students to create a tailored curriculum

that helps students to sparkle like gems in the academic spotlight.


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Effective Teachers are Dedicated to Lifelong Learning

Effective teachers are keenly aware of the fact that they have committed to a life of

learning in the name of improving their craft. Nieto explains effective teachers’ commitment to

lifelong learning perfectly:

“They think of teaching as research: an exploration to expand the curriculum and their

own teaching practices, and examination of new and interesting ways of presenting

material, and a constant search to include students meaningfully in their own education.

They refuse to become stale in motivation, methods, or subject matter. In a word, these

teachers are constantly updating their craft and their knowledge” (Nieto, 2003, p.393).

Because they strive to bring each student to success, accomplished teacher always place students

at the heart of their professional development. I believe that effective, student-centered teachers

demonstrate their commitment to lifelong learning by frequently reflecting upon their practice by

means of teacher the narrative and by regularly engaging in collegial collaboration in order to

improve the quality of their teaching.

Effective Teacher Reflect Upon Their Practice by Means of the Teacher Narrative

The teacher narrative is an incredibly useful vehicle that effective teachers use regularly

as a means of learning from their experiences in the field. Teachers Jalongo and Isenberg are

firm believers in the power of narrative, and they claim: “Narrative is the spark that illuminates

our professional lives. Whether a story of practice occurred last week or a century ago, whether

it happened to us as children or as educators, whether it was positive or negative, it retains

potential for reflection and growth today” (Jalongo and Isenberg, 1995, p.50). Effective teachers


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recognize the importance of recounting stories of practice, whether by oral or written means, and

they do so frequently in order to become more accomplished educators.

Effective teachers realize that, by recounting a lesson gone well, they are able to consider

the context of the situation and analyze the factors that made the lesson a success. Conversely,

accomplished teachers recognize the importance of taking the time to reflect upon teaching

experiences that went poorly. When discussing the way in which she uses narrative as a means

of analyzing her teaching practices, Akin reveals, “this examination is not looking at what is

wrong with the intent of trying to fix it, but rather focusing on some aspect of my teaching

experience in the service of learning from that experience. It is this learning itself that lies at the

center of teaching for me” (Akin, 2002, p.66). Rather than allowing their fear of failure and guilt

to eat away at them, effective teachers relive bad teaching experiences through narrative in hopes

that their story will provide them with insight about the factors that negatively impacted that

particular experience. Palmer explains this idea well with his statement:

"If a work is mine to do, it will make me glad over the long haul, despite the difficult

days. Even the difficult days will ultimately gladden me, because they pose the kinds of

problems that can help me grow in a work if it is truly mine" (Palmer, 1997, p.30).

Like Palmer, I believe that accomplished teachers address and expose their fears, questions and

concerns through narratives and, ultimately, become better teachers for doing so.

Effective teachers are always striving to learn from their experiences in the field. Akin

claims, “Through writing narratives I place myself in a position where I can learn from my work,

I participate in the definition of my practice, and finally, I assume responsibility for who I am as

a teacher” (Akin, 2002, p.68). Like Akin, effective teachers realize the importance of reflecting

upon experiences in the context in which they occur so as to determine why they made certain


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choices and to ponder what their actions say about their identity and integrity as teachers.

Certainly, teachers who put forth the effort to learn about who they are in relation to the

educators that they strive to become demonstrate an incredible commitment to learning in the

name of improving their craft.

Effective Teachers Engage in Collegial Collaboration

Another way in which effective teachers demonstrate their dedication to lifelong learning

is by regularly engaging in collegial collaboration in order to improve the quality of their

teaching. Hatch explains, “the skills of the teacher are not innate capacities, but abilities that

need to be developed over time, in collaboration with others. In this view, teachers are gaining

new insights and ideas and learning all the time, advancing not only their own work, but also the

work of their colleagues and their disciplines” (Hatch, 2006, p.12). Certainly, effective teachers

realize the benefits of collegial collaboration. Rather than doing their entire teacher learning in

isolation, they look to one another in order to improve their practices.

Accomplished teachers also view collegial collaboration as a way to engage in

consensual decision making, as opposed to conflict. For example, Palmer explains that, in

academic culture, we often think of conflict in terms of competition, where there is a winner and

loser. Instead, he suggests that we consider conflict in terms of

“consensual decision making—in which we all can win and none need lose, in which

‘winning’ means emerging from the encounter with a larger sense of self than one

brought into it, in which we learn that the self is not a scrap of turf to be defended but a

capacity to be enlarged” (Palmer, 1997, p.38).


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Effective teachers are very much in the habit of this type of consensual decision making. They

describe their perception of students’ strengths and weaknesses, they discuss best practices in

different content areas, they reveal their personal success and failures, they work together to

design units of study, they chat about the results of student assessments, and they discuss a

multitude of other ideas related to teaching. The conversations among effective teachers are

never about determining right or wrong answers. Instead, they are about combining ideas to

determine how to best approach and tackle different issues as they relate to the context of their

teaching. Through collegial collaboration, accomplished teachers use conflict as a means of

enlarging their turf, and they undoubtedly become more effective educators in the process.

There is no doubt that time constraints and the culture of most schools inhibit the process

of collegial collaboration. In fact, Steel and Craig claim that “the success of collaboration

between teachers can hinge on the efforts of leaders to align a school’s overall operating

procedures with the stated goals for collaborative effort” (Steel and Craig, 2006, p.679).

Nonetheless, I believe that effective teachers are dedicated to overcoming such obstacles.

Moreover, I’m confident that accomplished teachers put forth the extra time and effort to create

and embrace opportunities in which they can implore the support of their colleagues on a regular

basis. By doing so, accomplished teachers clearly demonstrate their commitment to lifelong

learning.

Without a doubt, teaching is an incredibly complex and multi-faceted endeavor.

Unfortunately, the ability to teach effectively is not a gift that some are born with and others

simply lack. Even more discouraging is Goldstein and Noguera’s revelation that “The vast

majority of teachers do not enter the profession as highly effective instructors; even those

with strong academic backgrounds typically take several years to hone their craft and acquire


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the repertoire of skills necessary to meet student needs” (Goldstein and Noguera, 2006, p.31).

It should come as no surprise, then, that accomplished teaching is acquired over time and

requires a deep commitment to constant personal reflection, collaboration with colleagues,

and revision of practice. I believe that effective teachers realize that accomplished teaching is

no small feat. For this reason, effective teachers pledge their commitment to a life of learning

in the name of improving their craft.

Conclusion: Student-Centered Teaching Promotes Student Achievement

Troen and Boles wisely assert, “When one considers what is expected of a teacher in

terms of end results—the preservation and improvement of our culture and civilization—

teaching is perhaps the most important job in a democratic society” (Troen and Boles, 2003,

pp.34-35). With such tremendous responsibility riding on their shoulders, it is essential that

teachers commit to becoming the most accomplished teachers they can be. I’ve argued that to

teach effectively, educators must place students at the heart and soul of their craft. This student-

centered approach to effective teaching is based upon my belief that teachers possess the power

to positively impact the lives of their students forever. Thus, everything accomplished teachers

do is aligned with promoting the success of each individual student. Specifically, effective

teachers are dedicated to demonstrating compassion and respect for each learner, developing a

tailored curriculum that guides each student toward success, and living a life of learning in order

to become even more accomplished.

It is no secret that today’s teachers face overwhelming challenges, including the ever-

changing population of their students, bureaucracies that impede student success and

compromise teacher integrity, public scrutiny about what constitutes good teaching, and constant


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curricular changes that are mandated due to school reform. Despite these and other obstacles,

effective teachers persevere; they know that what they do is, in fact, the most important job of

all. Certainly, being instilled with such significant purpose motivates accomplished teachers and

provides them with the fuel they need to forge ahead on their quest to perfect their craft in the

name of student achievement.

References:

Akin, R. (2002). Out of despair: Reconceptualizing teaching through narrative practice. In N.

Lyons & V. K. LaBoskey (Eds.) Narrative inquiry in practice: Advancing the knowledge

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