My Teaching Philosophy

I see students as the next generations’ heroes in so many fields. In my vision, I have to inspire students and prepare them with confidence, knowledge, experience and skills. Which means I encourage, communicate, guide, teach, and assess students in order to enrich their infrastructures.

Students need emotional support, but accompanied with structure of the classroom expectations, individual student expectations, clear and direct instruction, and accommodations to students’ needs to be successful. I have learned to incorporate various approaches into a multi-lesson that assist in reaching to students that learn best with lecture and notes or the hands-on student. My lessons have grown to incorporate the idea of an active learner to ensure that by doing activities pertaining to the lesson they understand and practice the information they’ve learned. After this field experience and the one for ED 300, I learned that my ELL students need guidance and kept at a steady pace that may require them to be behind the other class, which is perfectly fine too. In my ED 460, I’ve grown to understand that explaining with guided worksheets or explanations to help a student grasp the concept you are trying to convey to them is tedious, but worth it for the student. Also I’ve understood the importance of their first language to learn and develop academically in the English language, and should not necessarily be taken away but used to advance their understanding as an initial platform. For my students with IEPs, I must be aware of their academic and classroom needs to provide a space for them once they’ve been placed in a mainstream

The administrators should fully understand their administrative responsibilities in order to provide support and understanding to the teachers. In the case study, when Sharon spoke to the principal about her co-teaching concerns with Betty the principal told Sharon, “Don’t rock the boat and see what happens”. Administrators should be trained and have adequate knowledge about collaborative teaching in regards to the benefits and challenges that educators may deal with in the classroom. If the administrators are aware of any potential concerns, then they can better communicate with teachers to ensure the appropriate steps are taken to encourage co-teaching and successful outcomes in the

I honestly would not make any changes to my original teaching philosophy statement because I believe that after reading through the entire phycology book, the things I read only supported the things I stated in my philosophy statement. When writing my philosophy statement I had not taken any previous education classes to aid my original teaching philosophy but I have been working with kids my entire life and so I have seen first hand what things work with children and what does not. This does not by any means mean that I know everything and have all the answers to teaching, it simply means I have had a little bit of a head start with working with kids. You learn my trying something out, analyzing if it worked, the reflecting on that and changing it. Even before taking this class and reading that in the text I was already practicing this when I was the Sunday school teacher for 2-3 year olds at my dads church. Another thing that gave me ideas on my teaching philosophy statement was by being in a class and have an amazing teacher, or a not so amazing teacher. Even without the knowledge I acquired in this chorus I was able to see the things my teacher did in a class and reflect on if, for me as a student, they were helpful. These two reasons are why I believe my reasoning behind teacher philosophy statement is sound.

My philosophy of teaching is deeply rooted in nurturing the potential each and every student in my classes. Providing a creative environment that allows self assessment, growth, group interaction and mentorship are at its very core. Having taught in Higher Education for many years, and as an instructor of Media Arts and Animation, and Game Design, I have had the amazing opportunity to work with some of the brightest and creative young professionals. Teaching has not only broadened my love of art and exploration, but my determination to help students that do not have the confidence to persevere through their education, yet have the passion to follow their dreams.

Since the beginning of my academic career, teaching has always been an important part of my academic duties.

Dictionary defines ‘Philosophy’ as ‘love of wisdom’. It is made up of two Greek words, philo, meaning love, and sophos meaning wisdom.

All students can learn no matter what age or disability. The purpose of education is for students to learn and be taught information they will need for success. It is to help them strive forward to reach their goals and dreams in the future. Also it is for teachers to address all of the learning abilities and needs in the classroom.

My teaching motivation is a resultant of my current position as a lecturer and formerly teaching assistant, professional development experience as trainer and trainee, industrial experience as professional water modeler and own academic experience as a student. My philosophy in teaching is hinged upon the impression that fostering the attainment of the conceptual theory is difficult without commingling practical skill sets to facilitate further learning and thinking and real-life problem-solving. This philosophy is premised on the idea that attending a lecture is enjoyable to students if the instructor presents conceptual theory in classroom linking professional practices with latest research or case studies or examples. I emphasize on engaging students within the classroom environment and putting knowledge into context so that its relevance is apparent. One of my principal objectives in teaching is to facilitate learning by helping students to gain the necessary skills to become active participants in their own learning. I perceive teaching as an approach analogous to the training of trainers (ToT) where students in today's class will be seen as the future trainer of class, research or professional practices. I relish teaching as an opportunity to mentor and inspire both graduate and undergraduate students to prepare them for a better future world.

Albert Einstein once stated, “Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school.” In a philosophy that resonates with me, Einstein emphasizes the importance of unmentioned elements of education. Attending school not only develops a student in academics, but instills permanent skills and traits via activities outside the regular classroom such as arts, athletics, and social interactions. By pursuing a core desire to become a well-rounded individual, I often get involved in the said extracurricular activities, allowing expansion of my education. Through this expansion I have grown to greatly enjoy school, as many activities led to diverse, positive experiences that shaped my feelings for education. My genuinely supportive and good-natured attitude towards education stems from the lifelong balance of amusement, achievement, and friendship present in my schooling.

Being the science of teaching, pedagogy encompasses the complexity of a teacher’s work. Roget (1997) defines pedagogy as “the act, process or art of imparting knowledge and skill” (Roget, 1997). This module has developed in me the appropriate pedagogical knowledge and skills and helped me evolve as a beginner teacher. Since the start of the module, I have discovered many new dimensions to teaching which has been added to my philosophy of teaching.

Being an educator is a lifetime job. Throughout your life, you will run into things that will shape you into being an educator . You will not realize it until it comes full circle and you have to put those experiences to use

My teaching philosophy is a discussion-based approach. In my view, students are best learning when they are going through vigorous discussions and debates among themselves on relevant topics regarding course materials. Under the outcome-based education system, students have to memorize lots of course materials for writing good essays in a standardized format during examinations. This teaching and learning approach is, however, demotivating both lecturers and students to learn and to think of new ideas out of existing ideas available from course materials. Therefore, believing that teaching and learning are most effectively executed by discussions on courses materials, I believe that the role of a lecturer is to facilitate students to think deeply about the issues that they are interested.

My role, as an educator, is to guide, engage, motivate and inspire students to learn so that they can realize their full potential and achieve their educational or personal goals. As a mathematics instructor my goal is to guide my students to learn to communicate mathematically, value mathematics and its usefulness, understand the material presented, able to recall and apply the concepts. Furthermore, I hope to deepen students understanding in the subject and become confident in their mathematical abilities. My philosophy of teaching begins with a brief discussion of my teaching methods. Finally, I discuss my assessment tools and how these tools contribute to student learning.

My teaching experience has showed me a lot not only about the field of teaching but also myself. It has helped me reflect on my current status as a teacher along with my future status as a teacher. As my teaching experience has showed me is that my strengths as a teacher is patience, planning and organization. This has helped me manage all the struggles that a new teacher faces. Getting accustomed to fellow colleagues, administration, schedules, school paperwork, etc. I know I had struggles but thanks to a fellow teacher I was able to ask him what things meant and understand how to properly do them. My strengths not only helped me get through the daily grind but also my classes. Working in an elementary school is a first and a surprise. I always saw myself in middle or high school. It has been a blessing in disguise because I able to use my strengths of patience, planning and organization to provide meaningful and insightful lessons. I can see how much they appreciate what I do by the letter and drawings they give me. It reaffirms that what I am doing is making a difference.