The overall purpose of my teaching practice is to empower students of all abilities to become self-directed learners in their education. Empowerment cannot be achieved without the following categories my philosophy addresses. As a teaching professional, my commitment to educating students is ever evolving as new research, technology, and practices become available. This is done by staying current with the latest research by attending workshops, reading publications, and exploring the World Wide Web (Ontario College of Teachers, 2012). As a professional teacher, I must abide by my commitment to students and student learning through professional knowledge. These skills will be acquired for me to “…understand and reflect on student development, learning theory, pedagogy, curriculum, ethics, educational research … and legislation to inform professional judgement in practice” ( Ontario College of Teachers, 2012, p.13). As my commitment to staying current with research and workshops is to better educate children, it is also a standard of practice for the teaching profession. Ultimately, standards of practices for teachers are important principles that “… convey a collective vision of professionalism that guides the daily practice of Ontario educators” (Smith, 2013, p. 55).
My first goal while working with new children is to build and maintain relationships with students that I teach so there is reciprocal trust and respect. This can be established by talking to children about their interests, conversing about their life, and bringing their personal interests alive in the classroom. Building relationships with children is the foundation to all teaching. When constructing new relationships with children, concepts such as trust, care, respect, and integrity surmount. These four ethical standards are crucial for teachers to commit to, as they establish empathy, well-being, dignity, and trust in students, guardians, and the community (Ontario College of Teachers, 2012). These four standards will be shown in my class daily and I expect my students gather an understanding for these important concepts. To build integrity in my class effectively, I must model trustworthiness by adhering to a promise. Whether the promise is positive, such as rewarding a child with a chocolate bar for improving on his or her work or a negative promise, such as not allowing a child to bring his/her cell phone in class anymore, it must be fulfilled.
Through my journey as a teacher with my students, I will grow with them as we build a partnership in education together. I do not view the children under my care as solely students, they are all intellectual learners. I want to share power in my classroom to empower students to be independent learners. These goals can be accomplished by establishing a classroom environment that conveys a meaning of shared power in education. This can be exemplified through a teacher who guides students in learning with an open ended goal. For example, this may be seen in a project where children write their goals and action plans on paper and collaborate with other students about what their goals and action plans look like. Students can collectively create and plan how they will display their goals through resources provided by the teacher. Ultimately, teachers would be vague in their description to allow students to think of their own goals and action plans, and plan together how they want to display their creation. This craft can ensue through open mindedness and flexibility. These two terms are very important because it allows the teacher to approach a lesson with an end goal that students will ultimately construct.
Open mindedness and flexibility are key for classrooms to enable self-directed learners because teachers share their power of typically being at the top of the hierarchy. I believe in this, because it allows room for creativity, determination, and innovation. Students can explore and use trial and error, without too much structure to hinder their imagination. I also believe this type of teaching allows room for teachers to make mistakes. It is acceptable to make mistakes, just as a quote from Ayers emphasizes “To make life in teaching is largely to find your own way; to follow this or that thread; to work until your fingers ache, your mind feels as if it will unravel, and your eyes give out; and to make mistakes and then to rework large pieces again and again” (Ayers, 1993, p.14).
In the chapter written by Ayers, he touches upon an important point that I believe is crucial to teaching. “School failure fit Jose and followed him around like a shadow. Since he hated school and felt hurt and humiliated there, Jose made himself a one-man wrecking crew- the path to the principal’s office was a deep rut he walked many times” (Ayers, 1993, p.15). Stories like how Jose felt about being a failure in school is what I hope to avoid seeing in my students. I believe it is important to establish a classroom community, so all students can fit in, relate, and feel a part of the classroom experience. Students should develop love for school and it is our jobs as teachers to instill these values in students that we teach. Love for school can be created by a teacher who is warm, comforting, and approachable. Students should never have a teacher who uses yelling or punishment to get their viewpoint across, as this will ruin relationships.
Lastly, another valuable practice I will utilize in my teaching philosophy is creating and maintaining an inclusionary class. This last value is the most important, yet complex. It requires an important set of skills and observation. When creating lesson plans, it is important to include differentiated teaching so children with disabilities or gifted individuals can receive necessary additional attention. This may be important in situations where students who are gifted finish their assignment quickly, and need other challenging materials. In addition, students with disabilities may need additional assistance during work time or various resources like technology.
Inclusion also comprises of children from various cultures and ensuring that children have the opportunity to share their cultural heritage with the class. These practices allow children to feel a sense of responsibility for their learning, a sense of community, and allow other children to explore various ethnicities. Allowing cultures to thrive in my classroom can begin with providing books that describe various cultures and pictures around the classroom. Students can bring in photos of their family to accentuate their home life. In addition, students can bring in different foods from their ethnicity to allow other students to try!
My teaching philosophy touches upon many important topics under the teacher umbrella. These mini topics are relevant as a whole because they are building blocks to an effective teacher. Ultimately, my hopes are to empower students of all abilities to become self-directed learners in their education.
References
Ayers, W. (1993). To Teach, The Journey of a Teacher. Beginning: The challenge of teaching (pp. 13-37). Chicago: Teachers College Press
Ontario College of Teachers. (2012). Standards of Practice. Retrieved September 27th 2016 from https://www.oct.ca//media/PDF/Foundations%20of%20Professional%20Practice/Foundation_e.pdf
Smith, D. M. (2013). A dialogic construction of ethical standards for the teaching profession. Issues in Teacher Education, 22(1), 49.