A Coherent Statement Of My Own

In my Foundations Of Education (EDUC 203) course my professor challenged us to create our own teaching philosophy. This took me a long time, as I find that I want to incorporate so much into my statement. This is the first teaching philosophy that I have created for myself, that I can see changing throughout the rest of my education and later throughout my career as I gain experience and knowledge through time. While sitting over multiple cups of tea here is the first draft to my teaching philosophy:

“I believe that the teacher is to be an encourager, a guide, and a support for students in their learning journey. The teacher is to be a model to the students of what he/she wants his/her students to become, as if they were his/her own children. The teacher is to create the classroom to be a second home, a family like environment, where learning becomes a joyous aspect of their world, something they strive to build upon for the rest of their lives. I believe that knowledge is important for students to be able to grow, and help others grow, creating the world to be a better place; not just academic knowledge but knowledge of the world around them, the diversity of the people that inhabit the world around them and how to handle it, respect it and love upon it in the best way that they can. The teaching of knowledge is not just filling their brains with facts, but learning values, and behaviour that can influence the future to be a better place by putting it into action of daily living. I believe that students are image-bearers of God, made in his image, each individually unique and that is beautiful. They are not just bodies for the teacher to teach, but valuable pieces of gold to be handled with care and loved upon. The role of schools is to develop future stewards of society that we are proud of, that long to take what they have learnt and use for good, bettering all those around them.”

I think this is a good head start on my teaching philosophy. I find that it is difficult to really nail down what I want my teaching practices and philosophies to look like with such little experience with being the teacher of a classroom. My philosophy is centred on my students and enabling them with knowledge and teachings to help them better the world outside of the classroom. I see the world as such a fallen place, and the only way to influence it in a more positive direction is to begin with influencing the up and coming generations in a positive direction. This can be done directly, or indirectly through myself as I model for my students what I hope they are to become. A classroom example of this philosophy would be a very student centred classroom. The teacher is the leader of the classroom, but more in a guiding way, encouraging the students to think in new ways and look at differing perspectives, determining their own course of action and opinions to gain independence. If I hope to see my students put equality, respect, kindness, honesty and hard work into their futures I must model that for them first as at an elementary age students will follow after their teacher in every way. The incorporation of social issues and how to properly handle situations relevant to their age group (i.e. fighting in the playground, or sharing when someone has less than you) can and should be incorporated into lessons to show students what treating others with love and respect looks like. I hope that in my classroom these values will be engrained into their brains that they begin to act this way without having to think about it first. This ties into creating a classroom to be like a second home, a family like environment of which students feel comfortable, and loved each time they walk through the door; not just by me as the teacher, but also by all of their classmates. I feel that all of this ties into my Christian worldview that demonstrates the light of Jesus to my students, for them to go forth and demonstrate to others.