Teaching

Philosophy Statement
Sarah Hillier

My passion for teaching began very early in life. Although I may not have been
aware of it at the time, I have always been and will continue to be a teacher in all
aspects of my life. I feel lucky to have had an extremely positive educational experience,
with many inspirational teachers along the way. My decision to become an elementary
teacher, in particular, stems from my own elementary experience many years ago.
While some aspects of my life outside of school were in a state of flux at that time,
school was my oasis. My teachers were kind, understanding, and supportive, and made
learning fun.
In order to be a good teacher, one must effectively convey the curriculum content to
facilitate student understanding. I do not want to be a good teacher; I want to be an
exceptional teacher. I want to be like the teachers who inspired me. I want my students
to come to class not only to learn but also to grow. I want them to feel safe, understood,
and respected. I want to be the teacher that when students look back on their academic
career, they remember with a smile just as the ones that I remember so fondly. I want
to be a mentor, a role model, and a compassionate ear. Teaching is so much more than
a job it is a lifes work.

Shaping the minds and hearts of todays youth is not a task that one can or
should take lightly. Teaching comes with a great responsibility to not only teach content
but also to teach students how to be upstanding members of society. My personal
philosophy of teaching bares some resemblance to the constructivist theory proposed
by a number of great thinkers including Vygotsky, and Bruner. According to this theory,
students learn best by constructing their own meaning and knowledge, based on their
own experiences, and are active participants in the learning process. The time of
teachers lecturing and students listening quietly in their desks is long gone. I believe that
students should be engaged in their learning processes both mentally and physically.
Students should be at the centre of all instructional decisions made by the teacher and
as such, any and all accommodations should be made to include all students in the
classroom. Teachers must act as facilitators for learning, guiding their students toward
success.

Rewards and praise are often two very contentious issues in the classroom. I
believe that students should be rewarded because they have pushed themselves and
gone beyond the expected standards. I do not believe that rewards should be used as a
method of control or used for motivation in the classroom in a Skinnerian way. Students
who are motived by extrinsic rewards will never see the true value behind what they are
learning and will also expect to be rewarded for all achievements in life. What happens
to these students when the rewards are taken away? Will they continue to strive for
excellence? Or will they simply give up. While not the case for all students, the latter is
increasingly likely. I strongly believe that praise given in the classroom setting should be
based solely on effort and not on intelligence. As noted by Dweck, when students are

praised based on their intelligence alone, they are significantly less likely to take risks
and push themselves to try new things. Students who are praised based on their effort
are likely to exert the same amount of effort if not more on subsequent tasks.

I believe that it is the job of teachers to create autonomous, critical thinkers who
are aware of their local and global communities. I believe that it also important to put
an emphasis on collaboration and for students to see other students as potential
collaborators, not competitors. As a teacher I will seek to find and draw out the
potential in each and every student in a student-centered environment. I will do this by
employing a variety of instructional and assessment methods, tailored to the students in
the class. What we teach may be dictated by a curriculum document, but how we teach
it is up to us. I am fully aware that my current philosophy of teaching may change as I
gain experience in the profession and believe that it will continue to grow and change
along with me. In dedicating my life to teaching, I have also committed myself to being a
life-long learner. I can undoubtedly say that I am committed to the task wholeheartedly
and cannot wait to see my passion reflected in the eyes of my students.