I was raised by a family of educators. Generations of my relatives have taught at levels ranging from preschool through university. As a result, I quickly learned to view teaching as a rewarding and intellectually stimulating profession, and my passion for education flourished through academic and extracurricular experiences in high school, college, and beyond. I relished the unique challenges that arose as I taught students new ways to think about the world, and I was eager to develop and tap into the boundless supplies of creativity, patience, and energy that teaching demanded. I loved the art of teaching for its own sake, and, as a result, my early understanding of education was largely focused upon myself as an educator.

 

To be sure, I would stop short of calling my former self a selfish educator. I loved my students, and I was always eager to ensure that they were learning as much as possible. However, I rarely took time to think about why it was important that they learn a particular topic or skill. Of course learning how to speak a new language or how the government functions was valuable, and I did not think I needed to spend much time articulating why this was the case. On some level, I believed that the mere fact that I was able to teach it made it worthy of my students’ time and attention.

 

Spending time working in education outside of the classroom helped me to develop a more nuanced, student-oriented perspective. I realized that a passion for teaching was far less meaningful without an accompanying passion for learning. In other words, I missed my students and came to realize that their knowledge, development, and experiences were the proper focus of any teacher’s efforts. Thus, when I began teaching math for the first time, I set out to create a vision with students at its heart.

 

My philosophy of mathematical education is rooted in the idea that math is relevant to—and, indeed, essential in—all students’ lives. Students who achieve at high levels and learn concepts deeply in their math classes will develop the cultural competence to be informed citizens who can solve problems, reason logically, build models, understand statistics, plan wisely for the future, etc.

 

Math permeates many aspects of life, and one must be mathematically literate to understand current events, create sensible budgets, pay taxes, and fulfill many other regular obligations. I consistently challenge my scholars to draw connections between the math we are learning in school and their goals for the future. Ultimately, I want all students who take a class with me to be eager for future math learning because they can relate what we do together to their own lives. I am always ready (and eager) to answer student questions about why they need to know about certain topics because I truly believe that they need to know everything we cover in my classroom regardless of their plans for the future.

 

It is becoming increasingly common to hear algebra and/or statistics described by education leaders as civil rights issues. Students who understand these fields are more prepared to understand things the read or hear and think critically about the information they receive. Education remains one of the most reliable means for combating the systemic inequalities that affect so many students within our society, and that is one of the primary reasons that I continue to be so passionate about teaching and learning.