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Teaching Philosophy
“The true function of the teacher is to create the most favorable conditions for self learning…True teaching is not that which gives knowledge, but that which stimulates pupil to gain it. One might say that he teaches best who teaches least.” John Milton Gregory As an educator it will be my hope to not only nourish my students intellectually but emotionally and socially as well. I wish to provide a classroom where it is safe to discover and question and grow. I feel that it is important to display enthusiasm about teaching and concern for the students. When students see that a teacher cares about them as a person they are more eager to take part in the class. This philosophy of care and concern will be at the center of the way I conduct my class. After all, the very reason that I will be teaching Language arts is not necessarily so that every student can be a great poet, but so that they can use what is learned in my class to move on to the next stage in their life and someday become knowledgeable and productive members of society. I believe that the goal of education is two-fold. The first of these two goals of to instill a desire for learning into the students that will follow them for the rest of their lives. There is an old Chinese proverb that states, “Give a man a fish and he will eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.” Education serves as a foundation that will serve as a stepping stone for the learning that will take place over the rest of their lives. It teaches them both how to learn and the importance of learning. Secondly, the goal of education is to prepare students for the life that faces them outside of the school setting in which it is the hope that they will become contributing members of the community. The students that are now filling the classrooms will soon be the adults that are leading the country. Therefore we must teach them the values that we want placed in our country to make it great. Values such as tolerance, lifetime learning, generosity, all of which can be demonstrated in the classroom in hopes that it will be practiced over a lifetime. In order for my students to reach a point in which they desire to learn and can become productive members of society I must do my job as a teacher. I believe that the role of the teacher is to both impart knowledge and them provide and facilitate experiences in which that knowledge can be analyzed and tested. One could say argue that direct instruction is the best way to teach a lesson and the next could insist that indirect instruction is even more effective. Knowing that all students grow in different environments I would venture to say that by integrating the two teaching styles more students could flourish in the classroom. In order to provide opportunities for students to grow to their full potential I feel that I will need the help of parents and community members in order to make the teaching come alive. In all honesty parents and members of the community are just as much a part of a student’s education as a teacher is . There are so many reasons why the community and parents play such an imperative role in students lives. I truly believe that parents are the most important source of encouragement, and learning in a Childs life. They are the ones that children model their behavior after and strive to please. If they are absent is a students education then it is likely that a child will care little about their education as well. The members of the community and parents of students also serve as out-of-class teachers. Many times education serves the purpose of imparting knowledge on to students. However, everyone knows that experience is the best teacher. Therefore parents and the community and have an awesome opportunity to teach students lessons that can never be taught in a classroom. It is my goal to assist the community in creating beneficial learning experiences for students. Along those lines, since one of the purpose of education is to prepare students to be productive members of society members of the community can serve as models of what it looks like to be a productive member of society. In order for students to feel as though they can learn in my classroom I feel that it is important that I provide the students with an encouraging environment that promotes intellectual, emotional, and social growth. By doing this students will feel safe to question and seek answers. And by nurturing their developmental needs education becomes a holistic experience that will further them in their efforts to become mature adults taking part in the community around them. |