Philosophy of Teaching

Why is teaching important to me?

As adults, we are faced with with a barrage of sensory input, throughout our day and
throughout our lives. We must carefully assess and analyze this information, in order to
make informed and beneficial decisions. It is also necessary for us to navigate the
numerous and varied social interactions that our modern society demands. And with
these social interactions, it is often necessary to temper and communicate our emotional
responses too. As societies have grown and become more complex, long standing
traditions and beliefs are increasingly subject to scrutiny, subjugation, or even vilified.
As a teacher, I have concluded that it is my responsibility to provide the tools and
training for students to effectively and successfully navigate the complexities of life.
Every individual that I can provide these tools and training to, will influence other
members of the community. It is my desire to increase the likelihood that members of
all communities become more adaptive, thoughtful, and respectful. To promote these
qualities, it seems necessary to begin with guiding students through the processes of
careful observance of information, organization of that information, and synthesizing
current information with previous knowledge. I believe that these basic strategies and
qualities will result in a better community and quality of life for all of us.

What are my beliefs as a professional educator about teaching and

learning?
Based on my professional training and experience, I believe that learning occurs
through a process of association, organization, careful observation, repetition, and
assimilation. Learning begins with a monolithic archetype that serves as a baseline. In
Math, this may be the first problem students are introduced to at the beginning of a
unit. In Language Arts, it could be a simple sentence. During the initial phases of the
learning process, when exposed to new information, students will make associations
between these monolithic archetypes and similar examples that they have been exposed
to in the past. Because of their unique set of experiences, each student will make unique
associations, but they are also likely to have shared experiences that will result in shared
associations. At this point, it is important for the teacher to identify the various
associations students make with this new information, and past learning or experiences.
This will help the teacher to form an initial impression of gaps in knowledge that will
need to be addressed, and teaching strategies that may be useful to implement. As the
teacher provides more variety in the examples of the learning archetype, students will
form more associations between the initial monolith and variations related to it.
Students may begin to develop their own ideas of how to organize this new information,
but often, especially with younger students, it will require some guidance, from the
teacher, through the process of organization. Organization will help students to more
easily be able to see similarities and differences between examples, and patterns will
become more obvious. Throughout this process, the teacher should provide
opportunities for students to demonstrate careful observation of the similarities,
differences, and associations within the set of examples. It may be necessary for the
teacher to model careful observation, but students should be able to demonstrate this
behavior after a few demonstrations. As the teacher and students repeatedly go through
this process of association, organization, and careful repetition, the process and
information will become more automatic. As the connections become more automatic,
students will begin to assimilate the information and processes, and master learning
goals.
I believe that by using this approach, students of all ability levels are able to learn.
I believe that the goal of teaching should be to promote discipline, adaptation,
resiliency, creativity, and curiosity. It is necessary for the teacher to model and use
think-aloud strategies, along with having well defined expectations, to promote the use
of these concepts. At the beginning of the year, in an effort to promote these concepts, I
would use the learning strategies listed above, which would help to introduce and
reinforce both my teaching and learning beliefs.
Often, in our modern society, discipline in education is often closely associated with
an authoritarian teacher who is inflexible in classroom social, emotional, and academic
expectations, having a single, unchanging expectation for all students. My idea of
discipline in a classroom is more closely related to self-regulation and the achievement
of goals.
Adaptation is another skill that is necessary for teachers to instill in students.
Students will have to adapt to new teachers, new classrooms, new expectations, new
information, and a myriad of other things throughout their lives. Having students
actively identify and direct their adaptations will help them to be more successful in all
situations.
Helping a student to understand the concept of resiliency, and actively trying to
promote it, is one of the most substantial attributes a teacher could instil in a student.
As students practice discipline and adaptation, they will begin to be much more
conscious of their achievements, along with their deficiencies. Humans are hardwired to
respond to negative events to a much greater degree than positive events. But, if a high
ratio of positive events can be maintained (at least 3:1), an individual is much more
likely to develop resilience. This will allow a student to acknowledge deficiencies, and
then work to leverage these challenges. Students should begin to replace questions like
Whose fault is this? or How can I avoid this? with What are my options? or How
could I benefit from this? As a teacher creates more opportunities for success, students
are much more likely to develop resilience, and if students consciously make choices, in
an effort to develop resilience, the more likely they are to develop the strategies to grow
from challenges.
As discipline, adaptation, and resiliency flourish in the classroom, an environment
that promotes creativity and curiosity will develop. The confidence and cooperation
required by the teacher and students, to engage in learning through curiosity and
creativity, should eventually become an intrinsic part of the classroom environment. I
believe that students who experience a classroom environment that promotes their
natural desires to be curious and creative, will make great sacrifices to maintain this
type of learning environment, along with making great strides in their academic and
social achievements.

How are my beliefs supported by theory and research?

Organization is a big part of any teachers classroom management strategy. According
to Dr. Brandi Simonsen, an Associate Professor of Special Education, developing
predictable routines is one of the most important aspects of classroom management.
(Simonsen, 2010) Associations or connections between prior knowledge and current
information, is a common theme in educational and neurological research. Patricia
Cross argues that elaboration strategies that depend on association and assimilation,
where students have time to talk, write, reflect, and otherwise engage in activities that
help them make the material their own is a powerful pedagogical tool. (Cross, 1999)
Susan Engel, a developmental psychologist, states that If you consider both the idea
that curiosity is a powerful elixir for learning and the idea that as children age their
curiosity requires more nurturing, it's clear teachers should pay serious attention to
helping students acquire or retain a thirst to find out about the world. (Engel, 2013)

What are the characteristics of a positive relationship?

Maintaining positive relationships with students, families, and colleagues is an
intrinsic aspect of teacher success. Characteristics of a positive relationship with
students, families, and colleagues are communication, respect, commitment, autonomy,
security, acknowledgement of differences, acknowledgement of strengths, and
individual attention. The most important part of any relationship is communication. A
student, colleague, or parent should feel just as comfortable communicating ideas,
feelings, and expectations in the classroom as the teacher does. One of the most
important behaviors of a teacher is modeling respect. This can be especially challenging
in a school community, where an incredibly wide range of experiences and emotions are
always present. If a teacher addresses these challenges in a manner that is professional
and respectful, with the objective of facilitating success, positive outcomes can almost
always be achieved. A positive relationship with students, families, and colleagues can
also be maintained through commitment. If members of your learning community
believe that you are committed to following through on promises, stated expectations,
school expectations, and learning or behavioral goals, the chance for positive
relationships is much greater. Each individual also needs to know that they will be
allowed to act with a degree of autonomy. Students should be allowed basic academic
and behavioral freedoms. Parents should feel comfortable expressing and exercising
their own beliefs, perspectives, and parental approaches, as long as they are respectful.
Colleagues should also feel free to act independently within the confines of basic legal
and ethical expectations. All members of a learning community should also be entitled
to a right to not feel physically or emotionally threatened. A positive relationship with
with students, families, and colleagues should also include an acknowledgement of
differences, which celebrates and promotes variety within ethnicities, cultures, religions
and genders. Another characteristic of a positive relationship is acknowledging
strengths. This promotes perceived value, demonstrates respect for an individual, and
increases self-esteem, all of which are incredibly valuable attributes in a learning
community.