Mr. Williams' Teaching Philosophy

My name is David Williams, and I hail originally from Austin, TX. My wife and I moved to Albuquerque for her career, and we’ve grown quite fond of New Mexico. I came to teaching after a thirty-year career in public safety. I had a great career, and I’ve embarked on this next life path because I’m hoping to help young people (and their families) steer away from some of the tragedy and waste I witnessed over those three decades. I hold a master’s degree in sociology, and a bachelor's in English literature. In my spare time I write, primarily in the areas of family violence and crime prevention.

I teach general science, and I believe the things students learn in my classroom should be applicable to the real world. Subsequently, many of the experiments and hands-on projects we’ll explore will be pulled from professions including medicine, law, business, and engineering. Every hobby, interest, and career in life carries its own scientific foundation, and my job is to demonstrate a world of possibilities.

Philosophically, I probably land in the area of Social Reconstruction Ideology. I believe every student deserves to step foot on campus and into a classroom knowing he or she is respected, safe, and essential. I acknowledge and respect the ideas of Scholar Academics, Social Efficiency, and Learner-Centered philosophies, but my background and vision for this next career place me squarely in a place of wanting to empower students to change the world.

Teachers must know and be responsive to the fact that every student walking in on day one is carrying some weight of emotional baggage. That emotional weight might come from despair, hunger, loneliness, or fear, and every one of us owes it those in our charge to give them the respect, support, and time they need to process their burden so they may survive and eventually thrive despite their pain.

We live in a world in which children bully and emotionally torture each other in person and online, coerce one another into self-destructive practices, and even murder one another. Now we add a global pandemic stemming from a merciless virus, and it is little wonder our students live each school day in a state of simmering fear. Schools and teachers must prepare for “worst days,” and they must show in every action and deed that they are prepared to defend each child against all harm. This may be as simple as addressing classrooms about the dysfunction of bullying, or as complex and uncomfortable as planning and drilling for active shooter incidents. Safety is a two-fold objective: Students must be safe, and they must also FEEL safe in order to learn. We are doomed to failure until we meet both of those needs.

Students must know that they are the most essential part of any education system. Yes, schools exist to foster new generations of contributive citizenry, but that speaks to the need for volume and efficiency. Unfortunately, streamlined processes don’t always meet the needs of individual students. I’m concerned—as a parent and as a teacher—that sometimes we forget each student has value and purpose. It’s good to remind ourselves of this from time to time, but it’s even more important to show our students that we know they are the foundational reason for why we are there. It’s a subtle but essential distinction which circles right back to respect and safety.

Finally, teachers play a vital role in modeling responsible, caring, and ethical behavior. Teachers are human, but we should all strive to remember why we are there every class period of every day and act accordingly. That mission, once committed to and acted upon, is more important than all the math, science, and language arts curriculum in the world.