My teaching philosophy revolves around making an impact in students lives. I believe that as a teacher it is important to be a role model for students, so they can see the important values that you try and pass on to them. I value the importance of creating a safe, cooperative classroom with high engagement and student-centered learning. I believe that teaching is the world’s greatest and most rewarding profession that an individual can choose. As a teacher, you get to shape the lives and minds of the children you teach. I hope to be a role model for students, by carrying myself in a respectful, responsible, empathetic, kind and honest way. As a teacher, I hope to inspire my students to always try their hardest, treat others how they would like to be treated and inspire them to be contributing members of society. I want to be a teacher because I want a make a difference in children’s lives by helping them develop these qualities through my own teaching.
My teaching philosophy is underpinned in a constructivist view of learning by Vygotsky (1962) and Piaget (1936), as I believe students are active learners who construct their own knowledge, and that social collaboration is important for the construction of knowledge (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). My teaching philosophy aligns with Vygotsky’s sociocultural view as I believe a collaborative classroom is important as knowledge is socially constructed. My teaching aligns with Vygotsky’s theory of assisted learning, as I focus utilise modelled, guided and then independent practice during my lessons, which is reflective of his view that teachers should guide their students by using language and visual learning (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016). My teaching philosophy also aligns with Piaget as I believe knowledge is actively constructed by using their own prior knowledge to shape their new understandings while they are learning (Woolfolk & Margetts, 2016).
My first practicum experience has shaped my teaching philosophy as I observed the importance of a student-teacher relationship which is built on respect and trust as teachers are extremely important individuals in children’s lives. My experience allowed me to continue to develop my teaching philosophy as I observed how important teachers for students. As a teacher, I hope to create a safe environment for students to learn collaboratively to form new ideas and knowledge as we all learn together.
References: Woolfolk, A., & Margetts, K. (2016). Educational Psychology (4th ed.). Melbourne VIC: Pearson Australia.