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Urban
SEALS Doctoral Student
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| Education |
| Bachelors: Bachelors of Science in Special Education Florida International University 1995 |
| Professional Experiences |
| Exceptional Student Educator: Ruth Owens Kruse Educational Center (Middle/Secondary Language Arts, 7th Grade Self-Contained, Language Arts Dept. Chairperson,Inter-Disciplinary Team Leader) |
| Personal Philosophy of Education |
I believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. It is my desire as an educator to help students meet their fullest potential in these areas by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites a sharing of ideas. There are three elements that I believe are conducive to establishing such an environment: (1) the teacher acting as a guide, (2) allowing the child's natural curiosity to direct his/her learning, and (3) promoting respect for all things and all people. |
Benton MacKaye once posed the following scenario:
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"Let us assume the existence of a giant standing high on the skyline, his head just scraping the floating clouds. What would he see from this skyline as he strode along its length from north to south?”
In today’s society, I am concerned that the giant will see the problems of how people are being affected by the full-throttle standards imposed by a “selective few” for a “selected few”.
As a result, professionally, I wish to impact the view of the “selective few”, through the education of pre-service teachers to question and take action rather than simply accepting. In other words, I hope to open the eyes of those standing to take in the view and motivate them to walk forward in the field of education!