Growing up in a European country that shares direct borders with nine other nations, different languages and cultures surrounded me throughout my childhood and early adulthood. As a result of the geographical closeness to speakers of other languages, the German school system encouraged its students to study at least three languages during their school career to foster relations with people in nearby countries. These influences are the origin of my passion for languages and cultures, and where I discovered how many treasures languages and cultures are harboring. My language learning, my university studies about language teaching and learning, and observations of language teachers in action have shaped my philosophy of teaching in many ways in consideration of my reasons for teaching, the languages I want to teach, and the instructional methodology I intend to use.

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Awareness, Open-Mindedness, and Active Communication

            My desire to share my enthusiasm for languages and other cultures was one of the main reasons for becoming a language teacher. Consequently, my objective is to awaken my students’ interest to explore foreign languages, cultures, and countries. I picture myself in the role of a gardener who plants seeds that, under my tender, patient and optimistic care, develop into healthy and resilient plants that are not shy to face the elements and explore the world.

            My goal is that my students become global citizens who benefit from what language learning imparts that touches the learner beyond a linguistic knowledge of the language. According to De Costa (2016) “being a global citizen entails the embrace of cultural diversity, being open-minded and working actively to build relationships with others” (242). Thus, the benefits for my students are the development of an open worldview, the display of interest in and acceptance of other cultures, the demonstration of cultural sensitivity, the exhibition of curiosity about everything that is different, the presentation of resourcefulness in communication, and the ability to navigate the world as a conscientious world citizen. In the classroom, these elements can be addressed with pen-pal and skype connections to students in other countries, group activities that emphasize listening to and understanding perspectives of others, class projects reflecting diverse cultures, materials and content that activate critical thinking about global issues and allowing students to develop their own voice by asking open-ended questions.

            I feel committed to teaching English as a Second Language to language learners of all ages in Hawai’i. While valuing each student’s unique background, I consider it my job to teach the language and cultural skills that students need to succeed not only in the classroom but also beyond classroom walls to navigate their environment. Furthermore, I am interested in teaching German as a foreign language by introducing students to my native language, teaching students about the rich history of German culture, raising awareness of differences and similarities between languages and cultures, and fostering curiosity and communication with people from diverse regions of the world.

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Interaction and Sociocultural Elements

            Methodologically, I firmly believe that social interaction is the critical element of a successful language classroom. Many approaches emphasizing social interaction originate from psychologist Lev Vygotsky’s Sociocultural Theory, in which he describes the significances of self-mediation by the learner and mediation by more experienced others to develop knowledge (Kim, 2001). He emphasized that social interactions with peers, teachers, and parents, are essential to the learning process. He furthermore suggested that social context supports the extensiveness and complexity of thought, whereby mediated information becomes internalized. In the context of second language acquisition, the Sociocultural Theory suggests the same mechanism of mediation and internalization (Kim, 2001). By providing supporting structures, feedback, and explanations, mentors offer support through scaffolding aiming for getting learners to the next level.

            Long (1981) suggests that the significance of interaction lies in the ability to modify input and output to enhance the comprehensibility of the second language. My role as an educator in this process is to create a learning space in consideration of the importance of sociocultural and interactional elements. Consequently, the classroom atmosphere becomes the central piece for fostering cooperation and communication. I promote the idea of my classroom being a “safe” zone in which individual students feel valued, find their place, and feel free from prejudice. Put into action, this can be addressed in projects in which my students can proudly present their cultural and linguistic identity in a welcoming classroom, such as the creation of an “identity text”.

            Additionally, I encourage students to be confident in their language production and support students in their efforts to become critical thinkers while using the language. As a result of my beliefs and to make language learning relevant to my students, I emphasize social interaction in the form of collaborative class assignments such as pair work and group work, class discussions, and task-based language learning activities. In my opinion, collaboration with the local community is significant to language learning beyond the walls of the classroom because it connects classroom learning to the real world.

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Reflective Teaching

            I believe in the consistent measurement of the effectiveness of my teaching. Therefore, reflective teaching is an essential aspect of teacher development (Richards & Lockhardt, 1994). Cruickshank and Applegate (1981) formulated that this approach “provides an opportunity for teachers to teach and then reflect on the teaching experience with the intention of improving subsequent practice” (p.533). The fundamental principle for measuring my efficacy includes multiple measures.

            Student achievement is one indicator for learning happening and can be determined in the form of formative assessment throughout the learning journey of skill development and summative assessment as a destination achievement measure (Dixson & Worrell, 2016). Collaboration with other teachers, an interest in ongoing research about my field of teaching, an active exchange about classroom procedures and teaching etiquette as well as lesson reflections are a vital part of my professional development strategy.  

            Conclusively, I perceive each student as an asset to my classroom. Every student deserves to feel valued and find an environment that helps him blossom. By creating a safe and meaningful learning environment and using appropriate teaching methods that provide my students with attention through consistent feedback and support, I hope to make a difference in the lives of my students inside and outside of the classroom.