Unit 6 Portfolio

According to UNICEF (n.d.), every child has the right to go to school and learn, regardless of

who they are, where they live or how much money the family has. Because of this, governments

are doing their best in providing the necessary materials to educate citizens. Parents are also

doing their best for their children’s’ to get education. Therefore, educators whom the government

and parents have entrusted their citizens and children respectively also have to do their best in

knowing and educating these children well. Thus, this paper seeks to provide and explain my

teaching philosophy and also how to identify my students’ background.

My teaching philosophy

As a progressivist, I believe in the complete development of students. That is having the students

at the center of education where they can be active individuals to think and explore

independently, solve problems in society and be morally good citizens. This is in line with

Dewey’s view that education should allow individuals grow, and/or be enlightened citizens who

can utilize their skills and interest to secure social efficacy. (Mintz, 2017, as cited in Dewey,

1916). With this philosophy, I believe every individual has the potential to be successful to

achieve his/her goal if he/she is giving the proper guidance in the classroom. To improve the

lives of my students, the following measures are what I have put in place in my teaching

philosophy.

Firstly is getting to know my students. Since every student is a unique individual, I need to build

diverse and inclusive classroom culture. Knowing the students by name will make them feel

inclusive and important. I also have to know where they come from and the kind of socio-

economic situation they live in. For example, years ago in Ghana, in my classroom, I realized

that one of my students was not performing academically.. I took it upon myself to visit her at

home and I realized that she was really from a poor family. Her mother was sick and the student

has to trade for money to cater for the family and pay school fees because her father was dead. I
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fought for scholarship for her in order to study well and now she is a professional nurse. Because

I kept track of her and also built good relationship with her, she was able to share her problem

with me for help.

Secondly is the use of diverse learning needs. In my classroom, I make sure that my students

gain knowledge anytime they come to class. Therefore I try to use some diverse learning needs

like introduction of adaptive technologies (examples are talking calculators, speech-to-text

software), encouraging all students to participate in classroom discussion and activities, and the

use of different teaching strategies like differentiated instruction, project-based learning, etc. The

use of all these help my students to enjoy my teaching and encourage them to come to school

always.

Again, in the classroom, I focus on the ways my students learn and then identify their task

orientations. The moment I get to know their orientations, it will help me structure tasks to take

them into account. (TeacherVision, n.d.). This makes them always be on course. For example,

since every student is a unique individual, before they begin a task, they need time to prepare. As

a teacher, I have to honor their preparation by given them time to prepare and also provide them

with advance organizers. In this sense it will make the students feel that I am there for them.

Indentifying and addressing students backgrounds in my teaching practice

Identifying and knowing the background of students are very important. For example, in my

classroom, I have students from diverse backgrounds like religious, cultural, socio-economic

status, etc. According to Vigen (n.d.), knowing the background of your students helps you to

plan how to teach them, helps you present a subject in an interesting manner, and also helps you

as a teacher to know what motivates them. Below therefore are some ways or strategies I can use

to identify the background of my students in the classroom.

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The first strategy is observation. Observing the interaction of students helps in knowing who gets

along or does not get along with who, in surveying their personalities and also in planning

classroom seating chart. For example, I would not like to put so many extroverts sitting together

because they might cause a lot of distractions in the class.

The second strategy is providing my students a survey that asks questions about themselves. This

can be done on the first or second week of school. The survey will help me know what my

students are interested in, their background and things I will add to my lessons. Providing the

students with a survey will also give the chance for students who are not vocal to express their

interest through writing.

A third strategy to help me identify my students’ background is to have a bulletin board that

features the student of the week in my class. (Vigen, n.d.). For instance, each week, I can ask the

student of the week to bring pictures of four of their favorite things they want to do in future.

This can be another opportunity for students to express themselves through visuals. As a teacher,

it will help me know my students well since what they bring to class will represent themselves.

Finally, I can get to identify my students’ background through class performance. For instance, if

a particular student is not performing, it is sign for me to know that there is something wrong. In

this sense I have to approach the students to ask why and try to help him/her to solve whatever

problem he/she is encountering.

In conclusion, teachers have a duty which goes beyond just teaching. It is the responsibility of

teachers to know the background of their students so that they can teach their students well.

Knowing students background is even for the benefit of the teacher so that he/she can know how

to plan well, how to make proper seating arrangement and know the right method for teaching.
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References

Mintz, A. (2017). What is the purpose of education? Dewey’s challenge to his contemporaries. In

In L. Waks & A. English, (Eds.), John Dewey's democracy and education: A centennial

handbook (pp. 81-88). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

TeacherVision (n.d.). How to meet culturally-diverse students where they are. Retrieved July 27

from https://www.teachervision.com/teaching-strategies/strategies-for-teaching-

culturally-diverse-students

UNICEF (n;d;). Education: Every child has the right to learn. Retrieved July 27, 2021 from

https://www.unicef.org/education

Vigen, B. (n.d.). Understanding students. Retrieved July 27, 2021 from

https://www.d.umn.edu/~hrallis/courses/3204fa04/assignments/eg_assignments/

brianne_us_eg.htm