My Philosophy of Teaching

Preface: It occurred to me after writing the following philosophy of teaching that compared to the philosophies of teaching I am accustomed to reading, my philosophy is stated in much more general terms. While broad purposes, ideals, and objectives could indicate I invested little thought in my philosophy before writing it, in my case it means just the opposite. I devoted a great deal of time and thoroughness to my philosophy of teaching, and after reflecting on my conversations, observations, and studies regarding education I adopted a common belief, that every child is unique. From that widespread belief I further realized that when one groups children together in a classroom one creates a unique mix of backgrounds, deficiencies, interests, needs and skills, and that such uniqueness demands different curriculums, assessments, management techniques, schedules, etc. It is for this reason I cannot fully endorse a student-centered curriculum over a subject-centered curriculum or teacher-guided Creative Conflict methods over telling students to figure out how to resolve a conflict by themselves. I cannot bring myself to believe that Company X produces the best cursive handwriting course, or that students who are (n) years old must read at level (m), or that the highest qualified teachers are those whose students score the highest on standardized tests.

What I can tell you is this…

My Philosophy: Education is helping an individual grow and develop self-awareness. It is helping people come to respect and engage in the world beyond themselves. It requires taking risks and is an agent in reducing inequality. It also requires a commitment between the student and the teacher and between the student and himself/herself. Education should be assisting individuals in developing personal integrity and social awareness, as well as academic proficiency. While learning how to gather information and synthesize it into knowledge is important, education should also guide individuals to a better understanding of themselves. It should assist them in realizing and utilizing their strengths and weaknesses, in such areas as their personal learning style and adapting to different environments.

I am convinced that every individual has the ability to learn and deserves the opportunity to be taught, or guided. Therefore, my objective as an educator is to deliver quality education to every student in my classroom. I will do this by offering a wealth of experience, encouraging self-discovery, and planning lessons based on my students’ interests. As previously stated, learning requires risk taking. For children, taking risks in education requires a caring and patient environment. To create such an environment, I look forward to tuning in and listening to the mind and heart of each one of my students so as to develop an awareness and sensitivity to my students as individuals. Believing in the commitment that education demands, I sincerely want my students to know that I am not going to give up on them, nor let them give up on themselves.

In order to most clearly communicate my philosophy of teaching, I will close with my education creed, or statement of belief.

I believe that every child has the capacity to learn.

I believe that every child is unique and therefore has unique needs.

I believe that every child deserves the opportunity to be challenged in a caring, patient, safe, and stimulating classroom environment.

I believe that every child deserves the assistance of an educator in discovering his/her unique learning style.

I believe that once a child understands his/her unique learning style a rich love for learning will develop.

I believe in offering students diverse approaches to learning.

I believe in setting high expectations.

I believe that developing proficiency in life skills such as, self-reflection, conflict resolution, self-confidence, gratitude, respect for all that is both inside and outside oneself, and self-discipline are just as important as academic proficiency.