Running head: PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 1

Philosophy of Teaching

Ashley L. Moose

Regent University
PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 2

Introduction

My personal teaching philosophy is grounded in my personal relationship with the Lord.

As with everything in my life, I want my philosophy of teaching to be biblically based. This

means that the focus and purpose of my job as an educator is to bring glory to God. I am a

Christian educator, not an educator who is a Christian; my relationship with the Lord defines

who I am as a teacher. My beliefs about who students are and what they can become are all

based on scripture. I believe that each and every child has a soul of eternal value. I believe that

each and every child is capable of living an amazing and fruitful life through the strength of

Christ, and I believe that each and every child’s life will be used to glorify God, whether they

come to salvation or not. These cores beliefs about students shape the way that I will operate my

classroom. My objectives as a teacher are to teach students how to be people of good character,

to teach them life-long skills that will help them become successful, and to help them find what

they are passionate about in life.

Teaching Goals

My first goal in teaching is to teach my students how to be people of good character. The

current culture of America is a culture that is focused on success, money, and power. Our

children are being raised to crave fame. They are being told that they should do anything and

everything to be successful and to never let anyone get in the way. I believe that these messages

are harmful to the character of children. Rather than teaching our children to crave success, we

should teach them how to treat others and how to live lives of integrity and character. We should

teach them that sometimes doing the right thing might not lead you to fame or power, but that

God honors integrity. This goal would be a lot easier to reach if I were to teach in a private
PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 3

school where I could explicitly teach that Christ is the reason that we live morally sound lives.

However, I desire to teach in a public school. I believe that this goal can be reached through

classroom management. I will run a classroom that is founded on a few “rules” that all of my

students will be expected to follow - tell the truth, be kind to one another, help out when you can,

and do your best in everything that you do. One thing I have learned during student teaching is

the value of clearly and explicitly stating expectations and consequences related to student

behavior. I will clearly explain what I expect of my students and I will hold them accountable to

my expectations. I truly believe that students thrive when they are challenged to do more and be

better. I will use classroom management and rules as a tool to challenge my students to live a life

of great character.

My second goal in teaching is to teach students life-long skills that will help them

become successful adults. This is a goal that I have added to my list after the first half of my

student teaching. There are many amazing parents of students who truly pour their heart into

their child and do their best to raise them and equip them with skills that they will need as they

grow. However, there are also many parents who either do not know how or do not care enough

to take the time to foster life skills in their children. There are students who come into a 2nd

grade classroom lacking the ability to read, write, or even have a normal social interaction. One

of my goals of teaching is to equip each and every student with the ability to read for

understanding, write effectively, and verbally communicate their thoughts and emotions. I want

to teach my students not only how to read, but how to critically think about what they read. I

want to teach my students not only how to write, but how to write with a purpose and how to

engage readers. Lastly, I want to teach my students how to communicate their thoughts and
PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 4

emotions in an effective and calm manner. There are so many children who lack these types of

skills, but I believe that these skills are necessary for anyone to be successful.

My last goal in teaching is to help students find what they are passionate about. I firmly

believe that every single person on the earth has a specific purpose designed for them by God. I

also believe that God uses every single person, Christian or non-Christian, to glorify Himself.

My desire as an educator is to not simply get information into my students heads so that they can

pass SOLs. I want to guide my students to use their education to discover what they love in life.

Some students may love music or sports, but they will not be able to chase that passion without

being able to read or write. Some students may love reading and writing, but they will not be

able to chase that passion without being able to pass a History or Science course. I desire to help

students find their passion, and then equip them with the tools that they need to follow that

passion. My ultimate desire in this goal is that students would one day come to know Christ as

Savior and use their passion in service to Him.

Conclusion

My personal teaching philosophy has evolved and become much more detailed during my

student teaching experience. I have always known that my goal in teaching is to glorify God, but

I have struggled to figure out how to do so in the public education world. However, as I have

spent time in a 4th grade and Kindergarten classroom, I have learned how I can teach students in

a manner that glorifies my Savior. As I teach my students to be people of good character, to grow

skills that will help them be successful, and to find what they are passionate about, I will strive to

do the same.