Amanda Smith

Teaching Philosophy
Critical Issues: EDU-601
Summer 2015
 The Aims of Education: In the world of Special Education I feel that the
most important aim is Inclusion. In 1975, The Education for All Handicapped
Children Act was passed to ensure children with disabilities are given the
opportunity to receive a public education. (Karagiannis, pp17, 1996) The 2014-
2015 school year was the first year that my school; Westgate Elementary has
fully implemented inclusion, in our building inclusion means that all students were
in the general education classroom with same age peers, and is given supports
within the General Education classroom. I have two specified grade levels and I
co-teach during all of the core subject areas in each grade level, the core subject
areas include Reading, Writing, and Math. I also plan and implement support for
children that need one on one assistance. I feel that inclusion is very important
when recognizing diversity in our school children are not placed in different
rooms based on their ethnicity or religion, so I believe that they should not be
placed into a special classroom based on their intelligibility level or physical
handicaps. Some research has shown that inclusion may improve learning and
academic performance for all students. Children also have and opportunity to
learn to accept individual difference and to overcome misconceptions about
disabilities. (Karagiannis, pp17, 1996)

The Nature of the Learners and the Learning: I believe that every child
learns differently and it is our job as educators to identify and provide what each
child needs to be a successful learner. It is important to provide the child with the
least restrictive learning environment so that we as educators are giving the
children an opportunity to learn among other same age peers, in an environment
that is inclusive for them.

My philosophy of teaching best aligns with Robert Gagne, he believed that

there are 5 categories of learning outcomes. His 5 categories align well with
Blooms Taxonomy which Westside Community schools has adopted for
developing five point objectives which are used for lesson planning. Gagns
work focuses on intentional or purposeful learning, which is the type of learning
that occurs in school or specific training programs. He believed that events in the
environment influence the learning process. His theory identifies the general
types of human capabilities that are learned. These capabilities are the
behavioral changes (learning outcomes) in a learner that a learning theory must
explain. Once the learning outcomes are identified, an analysis of the conditions
that govern learning and remembering can occur.(Gagn, 1985, p.15). For
example, a learner who is participating in a situation where the conditions are
right for learning, then he or she will experience the five categories of learning
outcomes that include the human capabilities of intellectual skills, verbal
information, cognitive strategies, motor skills, and attitudes.

Beliefs of Teaching: Every person perceives teaching differently;

everyone has their own opinions of teaching, and their own views on how
children should be taught. I believe that no matter what your teaching style is, it is
important to focus on the outcome, which for every teacher is the same,
teaching the children to be successful learners. As long as everyone has the
same outcome, which is the whole child, the process is to each their own. My
personal view is that the classroom should be a community. The children need to
feel that they have ownership in their learning and in the learning community.
Giving he child a voice increases their engagement and it forms a positive
relationship between the teacher and student. At the beginning of the year, I
allow the students to choose where they sit, I want them have a say, and I want
to give them the opportunity to make responsible choices, I set up guidelines for
them, such as Dont choose to sit by someone who will distract you. Or Try to
choose a seat next to someone you havent met before. Giving the children this
option right when they come into my room makes them feel like they have a
choice in their learning right away. I also believe it is very important to come up
with a list of classroom rules and procedure with the students, this again gives
them a voice, and as a teacher it helps me see what is important to them. Also,
them coming up with the rules eliminates the opportunity for them to argue about
the rules, because they were the ones that created them and agreed upon them.

My teaching philosophy aligns with Gagnes theory, he believes that

learning is a process, and there are environmental factors that affect learning. I
see this everyday in my classroom, as we discussed in class, so many different
things affect the child as learners, so recognizing these things and incorporating
different learning skills is important. In my classroom I try to incorporate different
types of learning through out the day, I have hands on learning activities,
movement activities, partner activities and quiet activities. All of these different
kinds of activities help work on all of the different skills that every child needs to
be a successful learner, and it helps develop the crucial 21 st century skills that
many employers are looking for.

Fair is not equal This is the most important and most frequently used
motto in my classroom, every child is different and every child requires different
supports to be a successful learner, so it is not important that every child has the
same things, it is important that every child has that they need to be successful.
This may mean that one child gets to do their writing assignment by speaking
into an Ipad- due to low motor control, or that another child gets to have stories
read to them during silent reading time- to improve fluency and rate. I feel that so
often in teaching everyone thinks that every child should have the same things,
but in reality each child needs their own supports to achieve our end goal of
being a successful learner. I implement different skills and strategies to assist
the higher learners that may just need support to keep their body calm, and I also
implement support for my lower learners, which may be shortening the
assignment so that they are still accomplishing the task at hand, but they do not
feel overwhelmed by the full assignment. It is my discretion as an educator to
make these decisions for each child so that they can be successful and feel
confident in their abilities.
 In conclusion I believe that as educators it is our job to make decisions
based on what each child needs to be successful. We need to give the children a
voice in the classroom and have the classroom be a safe place, and a
community that values everyone. It is important to include all types of learners in
the classroom, and most importantly be sure that we are giving every child the
opportunity to learn in the least restrictive environment, and in the best
environment for them to be a successful learner.

References:

Gagne- Conditions of Learning- For different kinds of learning different

conditions are needed, so different strategies should be used.

Gagn, R.M. (1985). The Conditions of Learning and Theory of Instruction (4th
Edition). New York: CBS College Publishing.
Gagn, R.M. & Driscoll, M.P. (1988). Essentials of Learning for Instruction (2nd
Edition). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc. http://www.icels-educators-for-
learning.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=54&Itemid=73

Kids Together Inc. www.kidstogether.org

Karagiannis, A., (1996). Historical Overview of Inclusion. (pp17)

http://kc.vanderbilt.edu/kennedy_files/inclusioninclassroomtips.pdf

Stainback Eds., (1996) Inclusion, A Guide for Educators (pp28) Baltimore:

Brookes Publishing.