Teaching Statement

Professional Knowledge
Despite diversifying and extending my teaching philosophy during my final FPE, the fundamental
core of my philosophy has remained the same. I approach teaching with a non-prejudiced
outlook and a leveled expectation for all students that is relative to their learning capabilities. In
other words, it does not matter where you come from, what ethnicity you are, rich or poor,
whether you are male, female or identify as any other sexual orientation- I will always treat every
student with the utmost respect and value their opinions and beliefs. I always set achievable
goals based on an understanding of a student’s physical, social, cultural and emotional needs,
which is in accordance with APST standard 1.1 Physical, social and intellectual development and
characteristics of students. One strategy I used to foster a sense of belonging was to give each
student a hand shake or high-five as they entered the classroom in the morning. Students
become more open to sharing and felt like a valued member of the class. This relates to
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs which must be met before true learning can occur (Maslow and
Lawery, 1998).

Professional Practice
A constructivist approach to teaching, especially using the inquiry approach, suits the way I teach
and who I am as a person. This approached is based around the philosophy findings of Piaget,
Vygotsky, Dewey and Freire (Duchesne & McMaugh, 2016). It puts the students at the centre of
the lesson and drives the learning from their knowledge and content understanding, which is
done through a variety of activities. The lessons can be continuously modified as student
knowledge is uncovered, and the teaching speed is determined by what the students know,
continuing on to the next lesson. One example of the inquiry model being implemented was
during spelling. I would start with a grapheme story teller to capture students’ interest. Then, I
would play a short activity by throwing a ball to selected students to brainstorm words with the
weekly grapheme in it- words could then be added to the spelling butcher’s paper which was
displayed for the week on the spelling wall. Students responded well to the hands-on activities
and could add new words to the spelling wall that were learnt from an authentic setting-home. It
 Teaching Statement

was clear that from the inquiry approach, students’ engagement levels increased drastically and,
as a result, less behaviour management issues occurred.

Profession Engagement
Every professional placement has highlighted further the importance of communicating
effectively with colleagues. I strongly believe that it is one of the most important tools to extent
your teaching practice as well as having positive and supportive relationships in the workplace.
Learning experiences can be shared and new ideas can be gained and implemented into your
teaching practice. I also engaged with parents and careers on a regular basis which helped create
strong bonds with parents and people in the community. This relates to APST standard 7.3.
engage with the parents/carers. One example of this strategy was when one of my students was
in the process of being diagnosed with autism and ADHD. The bond I formed with the student’s
mother in the first few weeks helped me to understand what the student’s triggers were and
what strategies I could use to de-escalate him in a negative situation. We ended up
communicating every morning and discussing how the student was feeling and how the student
behaved the day prior. I also developed, with the support of my mentor, a reward system and
de-escalation strategies sheet that went with the student to all of his classes, which provided a
great feedback tool on how the student behaviour throughout the day. Both strategies highlight
how important it is to engage with parents and carers to get a better understanding of all your
students and to record and provide feedback on student behaviour.

Referencing

Duchesne, S, & McMaugh, A. (2016). Educational psychology for learning and teaching (5th ed.). South
Melbourne, Vic: Cengage Learning.

Maslow, A. & Lowery, R. (Eds). (1998). Toward a psychology of being (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley & Sons