Teaching Philosophy

Below you will find my teaching philosophy that I developed in 2008, my first year as a teacher. It will be interesting to see how my philosophy has changed as a result of the learning I have gained through my Masters program.

July 28^th 2008 – Teaching Philosophy

I believe that learning is an integral part in the development of children and therefore the job of a teacher holds great responsibility. This responsibility involves the guiding of learners in developing deep knowledge and understandings about the world in which they live. When learners come to know and understand their world they are able to interact positively with their surroundings and those they share it with. There are two quotes that guide my belief of what teaching is, one being ‘A lack of knowledge is a very dangerous thing’ and ‘In the end we will conserve only what we love and we will love only what we understand.’ Baba Dioum. Both these quotes reveal the effect learning and developing deep knowledge and understandings has not only on an individual’s life but the impact an individual has on their world. As a teacher, I believe that I should look at the impact my teaching has on every facet of a learner’s context, as it is not just what we learn that is important, it is what we do with the knowledge that we gain.

I believe to meet my responsibility as a teacher the following need to be focused on within the learning environment:

• A physical environment that is welcoming, learner centred and immerses learners in their learning.
• Individuals should be aware of their rights and responsibilities. The understanding that with rights come responsibilities. We are all responsible for our actions and our actions towards others.
• Development of a sense of community within the classroom. This creates acceptance, a willingness to help others, sense of belonging and security.
• The development of skills and strategies. Skills and strategies are the ‘tools’ of the learner. They are apart of the learning process but are not the result.
• Development of confidence and high self-esteem within learners.
• Development of empathy, compassion and personal values.
• Group work to develop social skills, decision making skills and problem solving skills.
• Fostering the drive for students to delve deep and get their hands dirty in all presented information, truths and knowledge.
• Development of metacognition and reflection so students are aware of how they learn, how to increase learning and who they are as a learner. This will allow students to develop the skills necessary to be self-sufficient.
• I want students to develop multiple perspectives within their learning, to look at both sides of every story and question things that they believe are unjust.
• I want students to find relevance within their learning and apply it to circumstances beyond the classroom and school walls, to show concern for that which is beyond themselves and believe that they have the ability to positively impact their world.

To achieve the above focal areas, the following pedagogical practices will be used:

·         Immersing students in present learning with posters, students’ work, books, games, computer programs, internet sites, newspaper and magazine articles, display centres and learning centres.

·         Involving students in the set up of the classroom e.g. what posters to use, where resources should be placed, involving students in the development of class rules.

·         Using Vygotsky’s Social Cultural Theory and Constructivist theory to guide practices. Inviting parents into the classroom to help, seating students in heterogeneous grouping as well as homogenous depending on task, teaching group work skills, using group work.

·         Group work that allows students to take on different roles and learn from others and have opportunity to use their skills to help others.

·         Using developed pedagogical practices in particular De Bono’s Six Thinking Hats and Bloom’s Taxonomy to encourage higher order thinking skills.

·         Using a variety of learning structures to meet individual learning needs and so students are comfortable and are able to work as a whole class, in groups and individually.

·         Modelling, guiding and allowing for independence when teaching skills and strategies.

·         Provision of learning experiences that relate students’ learning beyond the classroom environment to ensure learners find significance in their learning.

·         Bringing in cultural knowledge to ensure all learners find relevance in their learning, to include all students and to encourage acceptance and understanding of others.

·         Integrating Key Learning Areas in learning experiences to ensure all learning outcomes are being met and create richer learning experiences.

·         Develop units of work that follow the Quality Teaching Model.

·         Adapting learning activities to maximise the learning of students who may have special needs. This may include an idividualised activity that focuses on common outcomes but is designed to meet specific needs of the student.

·         Provision of learning experiences that allow students to question stated ‘truths’, possible injustices and allows for multiple perspectives of a given situation so students learn to look beyond the surface of any given situation, analyse it and develop beliefs that are based on deep thought not what people will have them believe.

·         Use of formative, summative and diagnostic assessment to guide future learning activities, focal outcomes and areas of need for individual students and the class as a whole.

With all this, I hope students will learn the skills, knowledge and understandings that will allow them to live and interact positively with the world beyond the classroom. I hope students will become reflective thinkers who question what is right and that which is wrong. I hope that through learning students will become well adjusted members of their community so their wellbeing is high and above all, are happy.