Makayla Davis Personal Teaching Philosophy

TLED 315 December 4, 2019

Personal Teaching Philosophy

When I decided I wanted to pursue a career in the education field, my main motivation

was just to work with children. I enjoyed being around children and seeing their minds working

as they discovered new things about themselves and around them. I loved seeing the “a-ha”

moments. Once I began the track of getting my degree and becoming licensed, I learned that

education was about so much more than that and the different approaches to teaching. After the

experience I’ve had with the observations and the knowledge I have gained through my

education classes, I have come to find that my personal philosophy of teaching is more student

based than teacher based. I believe that all of the students I will teach throughout my career will

be different and have different learning styles. I believe that it is my responsibility to meet the

needs of each student and adapt my teaching to best suit each individual. I want to provide a safe

environment for my students where they feel free to be express themselves and learn from each

other, as well as learn from their different experiences. I will always encourage my children to

push themselves and take risks, expressing to them that mistakes are just another opportunity to

try again and learn. I want to challenge my students in order to help them grow academically, as

well as emotionally. As a teacher, I also want to grow, recognizing how important it is to adapt

and change. I will have an open mind and learn from my students, as well as my colleagues and

other professionals. I believe there will always be more for me to learn and new ways to grow.

There are a few different teaching philosophies that are student centered, each having

different approaches to things such as discipline, classroom organization, and teaching styles, but

they all have the student as their main focus. The three student-centered philosophies are

progressivism, humanism, and constructivism. When I conducted deeper research about the

student-centered philosophies, I discovered that I personally believe in different aspects of each

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style, instead of being limited to one philosophy. For example, I believe the discipline style I

want to have in my classroom would be considered part of a constructivism approach. I also plan

on following the humanistic approach in regards to the learning focus of my students. I want to

carry each of these aspects into my classroom with the goal of best needing all of my students’

needs and giving them the greatest opportunity to learn and reach their full potential.

Starting with my own classroom management, I want my students to be self-motivated. I

want to establish a sense of importance and respect for my students. After discussing classroom

management with other teachers, I believe that students should have a part in developing the

rules of a classroom. When the students come up with their own rules, they know the value of

that rule. I want to have open discussions of why they think something should be a rule, while

also discussing the consequences that would happen if rules weren’t followed. This allows for

expectations to be set, but the children having a say in them. I believe this would cause students

to be more mindful of their actions and how it would affect them and their fellow classmates.

While this approach mainly comes from a progressivism approach, I also want to use part of the

humanism approach to discipline in my classroom. While giving the students the freedom to

come up with their own rules and consequences, I also want to encourage my students to carry

out the discipline within each other, while only giving my opinion as a guide when needed. By

doing this, I am giving my students responsibility and encouraging them to resolve conflict

between themselves.

As a teacher, I recognize that all of my students will be different and some of those

difference will be in their learning style, backgrounds, points of view, etc. Each of these

differences make us who we are. With that being said, I will encourage my students to be

respectful of each other’s differences. I want to acknowledge that all of my students are different
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while teaching my students that were all a family in the classroom and all have the same goal,

reaching our full potential. By having a classroom climate where all students are respected, I

believe students will feel welcome to ask questions and share their opinions, knowing that the

classroom is a safe place for them to grow and be themselves. By creating this environment, I

want my students to feel comfortable in trying new things and having discussions about what

they are learning, while also being able to voice their needs. This approach mainly comes from

the ideas of constructivism.

With regards to my teaching style, I would say I lean towards a humanistic approach.

from my clinical experiences and discussions with other teachers, I have come to the conclusion

that students will be engaged at the highest level when the lesson is interesting to them in some

way. In order to know what interest my students, I would have to get to know them beyond

surface level and really get to know my students. By doing this, not only am I figuring out the

best way to teach to my students, but I also hope to show my students that I value who they are

and want to help them reach their full potential. While I know not everything I teach at the basic

level is going to be interesting to my students, I plan on changing the context and delivery of my

lessons to something of interest, as well as creating real-life connections to things my students

are interested in. My reasoning for taking the humanistic approach to my teaching still comes

from my own experiences in the classroom. As I entered into high school and was able to

recognize it, I noticed myself withdrawing in classes that I considered “boring.” The classes

weren’t necessarily challenging, but it was challenging for me to find motivation to pay attention

and sometimes even complete assignments. As a future educator, I do not want to be responsible

for students not enjoying learning. I believe it is my responsibly to keep students interested and

engaged.
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Finally, a major component of my educational philosophy comes from the constructivism

approach to classroom organization. This approach places students in groups within the

classroom, encouraging discussion and collaboration. During my observations, I was able to sit

in on a lesson in math where the teacher asked questions and, instead of calling on one student

for the answer, she told them to turn and share with their neighbor first. By doing this, she was

keeping all of the students engaged, and she was giving students to talk about their answer and

hear answered that may be different then their own. Not wrong, just different. Another benefit of

grouping students for classroom instruction is that sometimes students do not fully grasp a

concept when you are teaching. While you should always adapt your lesson to best suit each

student’s needs, sometimes they will still struggle with a concept, even after accommodations. I

have seen students finally understand an idea, only after hearing another student explain the

same thing. By grouping students together in seating, you are encouraging collaboration, which

can benefit both students.

Through my clinical experience, I have learned so much about myself as a future

educator. There are many aspects of a classroom that I never thought about on a deeper level,

that I did think would have an impact on students. Now, not only am I seeing these things, I am

learning how I would approach a situation and how I would handle it. While I don’t want to put

myself in a box and label my teaching as one specific philosophy, I have noticed that the

meaning behind my actions in the classroom reflects a student-based approach. I want my

students to feel safe, comfortable, and important, in hopes that I will be able to help them on

their journey of reaching their full potential.

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References

“Building an Educational Philosophy in a Changing World.” Foundations of American

Education: Becoming Effective Teachers in Challenging Times, by James Allen Johnson et
al., 17th ed., Pearson, 2018, pp. 106–140.