Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
I believe that the main purpose of education is to provide unique and authentic learning opportunities for each individual throughout their education in order to obtain the knowledge and skills necessary to enter adulthood. In order to accomplish this, I believe each student must be assessed individually and taught in an environment that specifically suits their needs. Students should learn in an environment that builds self-esteem and self-motivation. My goal for their education is to create a challenging environment that encourages each student to reach their highest potential.
One of the problematic issues in educating young children today is instilling in them self motivation. Too often educators are forced to use external motivators to reach desired outcomes in their classrooms. I intend to create a classroom environment where students are allowed the opportunity to grow in their self-motivational thinking and become stakeholders in their own education. One practical way for engaging students as stakeholders in their own education is to monitor their own learning by providing them the opportunity to take part in lesson preparation and post-lesson reflection. I believe that it is also crucial to engage students as active participants in learning activities both inside and outside of the classroom. One way I will accomplish this in my classroom is by providing motivating lessons and giving quality assignments. Every lesson and assignment used in education must be strategically designed to motivate students to want to learn more about the material. I also believe that students must be provided opportunities to become independent learners. Group work is a great motivator in the classroom; however, allowing students to explore material on their own will provide them the opportunity to truly evaluate their self-motivation and interest toward the subject matter. I will use instructional methods such as discovery learning which will help create an environment conducive to the construction of self motivation. Students may also make stronger personal connections with the content if they are allowed to explore and experiment with the material on their own.
Students should be able to look toward their teacher as a role model. That is why I believe that I must conduct myself professionally inside and outside of the classroom. In the classroom I will be an example of a person who is passionate about exploring and learning new concepts; a person who reads for the enjoyment of expanding one’s own imagination and wealth of knowledge. I will also build a professional relationship with each of the students in order to create a classroom environment where both the rights of the teacher and the rights of the students are respected. By creating this type of an environment in the classroom, where both the students and I work together, there will be very few behavior issues which will ultimately lead to less distraction in the classroom. I will do my best to create a relationship of mutual trust with my student’s parents. Nurturing this relationship will allow us to support and invest in their child’s future which will undoubtedly result in a brighter future for us all.