Teaching in America

Developing a Teaching Philosophy

During the 'Teaching in America' course the idea of a teaching philosophy has really become apparent to me. Reflecting upon my opinions and beliefs about teaching and learning has been a valuable exercise which, hopefully, will enable me to promote these values through my teaching in the future. My own teaching philosophy is a work in progress, one which I am sure will evolve and change over time as I gain more experience as a teacher.

I consider education to be a human right that all children are entitled to and that it should equip them with the basic skills and knowledge that they will need to succeed in the future. However, it is not enough for pupils to only learn these basic, employable skills because education is about more than the preparation for the workforce and producing effective contributors to the economy; the whole child should have the chance to develop. Schools should be a place where children learn empathy, respect, tolerance and critical thinking (amongst so many other social skills) so that they can be better equipped to use the knowledge that they acquire and co-operate with other classmates and members of society in general.

Schools should also be a place where children can have the opportunity to learn about themselves and who they want to be in the future; the teacher, I believe, should encourage and support them to fulfil these goals. Education is a product of many different areas of life and does not end when the student leaves school, it is a lifelong process. I would like to be a teacher who fosters a love for learning amongst my students so that they will become active, independent learners outside of the classroom. How I will achieve this is something that I will have to learn, but encouraging students to collaborate, discuss and learn from each other may be an effective method to encourage pupils to see themselves as knowledge bearers, something that could also increase self-confidence.

This programme has taught me that effective teaching can be a combination of child centred teaching where the teacher is a facilitator for learning and the teacher being an imparter of knowledge. 'Guide on the side' and 'sage on the stage' are two terms that I have learnt to demonstrate these different, seemingly contradictory teaching methods. As a teacher, to engage with pupils and to fulfil both the knowledge and skill based outcome of education, as well as the development of the child's social skills, a combination of the two methods, I feel, will be the most effective.

An important lesson that I have learnt through Sean's teaching style which I would like to incorporate into my own teaching philosophy is that teachers are most engaging when they are themselves, when they are authentic. Looking back at my own teachers through this lens, it seems obvious now that the most influential and interesting teachers have been those who are genuine and have a passion for their subject or teaching. Young people respect these qualities and respond to them with the same amount of enthusiasm. For me, this is the type of teacher that I will strive to become in the future.