Teaching Philosophy
As a new teacher, it is important for me to develop a philosophy of teaching which will guide my decisions as a professional educator. This philosophy includes four major topics: the purposes of education, how students learn, ways in which I want parents and community involved my classroom, and my position as a role model.
I believe a teacher must be aware of the many purposes that education serves for society. My work will be directly compensated with taxpayer money, so my own goals are most aligned with the ideas of preparing all children to be responsible citizens and productive members of society. That means teaching literacy, computation, and the rudiments of government, as well as skills which will enable students to be successful in the workforce or higher education. Other purposes that The People expect education to fill, including instilling moral values or fixing societal problems, may be expected from me by my district or community. I have chosen the fields of Mathematics and Technology because I believe they are the most critical to both succeeding in today's world and contributing to today's world.
I believe that all students can learn, and that the key to positive learning is positive teaching. I will express my greatest enthusiasm and highest commitment to the material. However, students have to want to learn in order to actually learn, so I must show them the value of learning and the relevance of the material to their lives. Strategies that cater to applications, such as Realistic Mathematics Education and Developing Software for Real-Life Purposes, are ones which I will rely on heavily. Positive teaching also includes helping student set attainable goals and see the rewards in accomplishing those goals.
I will involve parents and the community in my classroom as much as I can in a variety of ways. Studies show that family involvement promotes better attendance, graduation rates, parent and student satisfaction levels, and assessment scores. This involvement also reduces grade level holdbacks and negative behavior. All of these factors promote a better education for all students, so I will frequently communicate with parents and ask for their participation in their children's education. I will also get the community involved to show the students the direct impact of what they are learning.
I will to be a role model in my fields, math and technology, which are so critical to success in today's world, no matter what field a student may eventually choose to pursue. I will inspire a sense of interdisciplinary importance, drawing heavily between my two fields and incorporating as much of others as possible. Technology in particular often seems useful only when applied to solve problems in another field. My technology teaching will be highly project-oriented, focusing on applications to a wide variety of fields. Mathematics is more difficult to make project-oriented, but I will do my best to show students the applications to other fields. Real-world leadership is about interdisciplinary problem-solving, and I would like very much to boast that my students become great leaders.
These four areas of my teaching philosophy (the purpose of education, how students learn, parental involvement, and my position as role model) will shape the strategies I use to teach, and the goals which I set for my students and help them set for themselves.