Post 11: Fear and Horror

I've been teaching in a class of a former student of this program and a former attendee of the same class in which I will student teach. I chose the teacher I will student teach for because of his attitude and dedication to his students. He really loves his job and his students. I'm excited to work with him and learn from him, but I'm fearful of losing myself in the process. I have a teaching philosophy and many standards I want to hold myself to.

My fears come from the observation of his former student teacher. Not that this teacher is not excellent or doing wonderful things. My concern is that his style is so similar to his mentor teacher that I'm concerned I may follow. Not that it's the wrong path, but it's not mine. Does student teaching overwhelm any and everything learned up to that point? Will I set aside the foundations of education to follow a guide? If I do so, I may be an adequate teacher, but I will be limited because instead of knowing my foundation and theory for action, I will be say things like, "I do it this way because that's how my mentor teacher did it." So the action may be excellent, but the reasoning is horrendous.