Philosophy of teaching
My philosophy of teaching is based on my personal beliefs and values. I value individuality, respect, empathy, and honesty. I believe in being genuine, invested, trustworthy and inspiring. Each of these beliefs and values shapes the relationships that I will have with students in order to help them succeed in the classroom and beyond.
I believe that each student is unique. When I walk into my classroom I will see not a class or a group of students but twenty-some individual students. Each student in my classroom will have unique skills, talents, and abilities. In addition, each student will have a unique personality, home situation, and struggles. In order to best teach my students I will need to address these differences in my teaching strategies and assessments. Just as each student has different qualities, each student will also have different leaning styles. I believe that teaching must be geared towards these different learning styles. This means more work for me as a teacher, but will result in more successful students.
I recognize that as an individual, each student deserves respect and an investment of time and effort. I believe that if a student senses your true investment in their learning, they will also understand that you are truly invested in them as a person. This is important because a student is more likely to learn and be willing to put in the work if they believe that the person teaching them has a genuine interest in their well being and in their future. This allows for genuine relationships with students. As a teacher I want to be approachable. If I am not genuinely interested in being there or in the students’ learning, it will be evident in the way I interact with the students both in and outside of teaching times.
Motivation is a key element in the learning process. In order for students to succeed both within the classroom and in life outside of school, they must learn to be intrinsically motivated. I believe that when individuals trust those teaching them they are more motivated in their learning. Students must understand the purpose and benefits of what they are learning. This makes planning meaningful assessments and assignments instead of “time fillers” essential.
I believe that teaching occurs both in and outside of the classroom. I believe that if I have taught my students only the written curriculum and nothing else then I have failed as a teacher. I believe that every teacher should mark a student’s life for the better. Part of the teaching that I want to occur in my classroom is that of character development, relationship building, and self-confidence. Each of these things is vital to a student’s development and cannot be taught through textbooks.
Teaching is important to me because I want to make an impact on students’ lives. I want students to leave my classroom feeling confident in the knowledge they have attained. Not only do I want them to feel confident in the knowledge they have learned, but in themselves as people. I want each of my students to know that they are capable of amazing things. I think it is crucial for children to know that someone believes in them. As a teacher I may not know the students’ home lives or the conditions in other classrooms. What I will know and be able to control is how they are treated by me in my classroom. If I can build a relationship with each of my students, it will reinforce that they are special and wanted by someone, which for some students may be a rarity to hear. I find this heartbreaking, but I have the chance to change that. I have seen in my own experience how much it matters to a student to be loved and cared about. Whether that is in kindergarten or grade 12, everyone longs to be loved and appreciated. I think it is critical to build people up. I have seen how easy it is to pull someone down. As a teacher, I will be someone whom students look up to. The power of my words is immense. Even if they are hearing negative things from everywhere else, I want my classroom to be a place where students feel accepted, needed, and loved.