Teaching Philosophy
Statement
ECE 451
Emily Byrne
Teaching Philosophy Statement 2
Introduction
Ever since I was little I knew I wanted to be a teacher. If I were bored
during a read aloud, I would grade my peers on how well they read the
passage. If they messed up I circled the word, so I could remember later. I
thought every teacher was so nice, and had the best job in the world. When I
got older I realized not every teacher was so nice. It was obvious that some of
my high school teachers did not want to be there, and they would treat the
students badly. My brother has Asperger’s, and he got it worse than I did. Even
after all of that pain and heartache, I decided I still want to be a teacher. I
don’t want children, like my brother or even like me, to feel unwelcomed and
not safe when they come to school. I want to help the children that have felt
like they are being ignored. I am going to put my all into being a teacher,
because every student deserves it.
There have been many theorists, and strategies discussed in class. Some I
agree with and some I don’t. Every time I learn about a different theory or
strategy, it benefits me whether I agree with it or not. Every new thing I learn
helps me to develop what my classroom will be like. It also helps me develop my
philosophy as a future teacher. So I would like to learn as much information as
possible. I would like to gain as much as I can from this experience. This paper is
basically what my teaching philosophy is so far.
Body
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The one theorist that inspired me was Howard Gardner. I identified with his
theory the most out of the other theorists. Gardner’s multiple intelligences theory
is about how students can be gifted in more than one field; they don’t only
excel at one thing. “ Howard Gardner encourages teachers to assess all learners
in a way so that instead of finding out who is smart, the teacher aims to find out
how are my students smart (Henniger, Rose-Duckworth, 2009.)”A student can be
linguistic, mathematical, spatial, musical, kinesthetic, interpersonal,
intrapersonal, and naturalistic. A student can be gifted and struggle in more
than one area. Like Gardner, I believe that no student is the same. Every student
has his or her strengths and weakness’. It is up to the teacher to figure those out
and challenge the success and strengthen the weakness. By knowing the areas
of what the students excel in helps with differentiated instruction. By using
Gardner’s theory, I can use different types of instruction to give the students
what they need to succeed.
Another theorist that I agree with is Lev Vygotsky. His theory is called the
social development theory. Vygotsky believed that people learned form
interactions with each other. His theory encourages teachers to plan lessons that
challenge the students. This refers to the zone of proximal development, which is
what a learner can do with help, and without help. After the teacher figures out
the zone of proximal development they begin to scaffold. “Teachers
demonstrate, do parts of the task students cannot do, work collaboratively with
students where they need help, and release the responsibility to students when
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they can perfrom the task independently (Henniger, Rose-Duckworth 2009.)” I
like this theory because it explains that you can help the student, but not give
them the answer. A teacher can guide the student to work independently, but
ultimately they need to get there themselves. I also think it is more rewarding for
the student, when they come to the answer themselves.
One of the topics that I think is important in the classroom is play. Many
teachers today have given up on having play in the classroom, but they don’t
realize that that’s when students learn. One of my favorite types of play is
Dramatic Play. It is very spontaneous and unstructured. I think when students are
not told what to do, they get curious and explore. If a teacher can observe
students play they can determine how they are feeling. “Dramatic play reveals
children’s attitudes and concepts toward people and things in their
environment (Browne, Gordon 2014.)” This can be a way for children to battle
with their feelings. I observed a pre-school classroom where dramatic play was
always encouraged. I saw a group of girls playing house, where one girl was the
mom, and one was the daughter. During their play, the daughter asked her
mom If she could buy some new shoes. The mom, in the scene, said no. From this
I can make the conclusion that maybe the girl’s parents are experiencing
money problems, and it is affecting their children more than they think it is. In my
future classroom I will encourage dramatic play, even if I am in older grades.
Young students need the chance during the school day to free their minds and
cope with issues they may be having.
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Another type of play that I will be having in my classroom is child initiated
play. This is a type of play that the children decide what to d, from the guidance
of the teacher. Using scaffolding during these play occurrences is key. Childinitiated play can be used to help students with math and reading. For math
the teacher can have the children work together and count the days on the
calendar to the next holiday. The teacher could stand back and let the children
come up with the answer together. For literacy, a writing center is a perfect
place for child-initiated play! The student can write out a story, with guidance
from their teacher, and act it out later with their peers. “Through their play, the
children practice and stretch their language skills, build vocabulary, and
experiment and figure out how language works (Anderson, Sharp, Spainhower,
2104.)” Child- initiated play gives students a chance to problem solve on their
own in a safe learning environment.
I will also be adding word walls to my classroom. They can enhance
student’s knowledge for words, no matter what grade. The literature behind the
word wall is a good excuse to introduce the students to new words. The children
can always refer to the word wall when they are learning something new. They
are a source of reference for all sorts of reasons. Word walls are public, ongoing
displays of words used to help students learn spelling, reading, and writing
strategies. “They have the potential to transfer ownership and control of reading
from the teacher to the student. When children participate in creating and
maintaining word walls, they play a role in their own learning (Johnston, O’Kelley
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Wingate, and Rutledge, 2014.)” Word walls help give students the choice of
where they want their stories to go. In my classroom, I would create a literature
based word wall. This wall will display different vocabulary words from the stories
I may read to my students. I think this would be the best option, because they
may encounter a word they do not understand when they are learning to read.
I will have the word walls decorated in a fun way so the student’s eyes will be
drawn to it. The words will be placed in different categories, like fancy, plain,
and sight words. This way they know what different kinds of words they can use
by looking at the categories.
Something else that I want to incorporate into my classroom is an anti-bias
environment. This type of environment helps students accept their own, and
peers, successes. They learn to appreciate each other’s differences, and
similarities. Anti-bias environments teach children skills on how to identify and
deal with the hurtful impact of bias on themselves and others. This environment
encourages a positive attitude. Students get to experience an affirmative
multicultural curriculum that highlights different cultures in a way that includes
everyone. “ Multicultural education is a process of comprehensive school reform
and basic education for all students. It challenges and rejects racism, and other
forms of discrimination in schools and society, and accepts, and affirms the
pluralism that students, their communities, teachers represent (Bishop,
2001.)”Ways to eliminate the biases from the classroom could be multicultural
books, costumes, and free talks! There are so many ways to make sure each
Teaching Philosophy Statement 7
child is welcome. This experience can be very eye opening towards the
students. My classroom will be a safe space that includes positivity. I want
students to feel proud of themselves and where they came from, and not feel
ashamed.
As a future teacher, I am not looking forward to standardized tests. I
believe they are no good for students, teachers, and education in general. I
believe these tests take all the creativity out of learning and force teachers to
“teach to the test.” I also do not think they correctly show a students ability,
especially if gifted and ELL students are taking these tests. “Standardized test
scores often measure superficial thinking (Kohn, 2000.)” a study posted in
educational philosophy that students who were considered “actively” learning if
they asked questions of themselves, while they read or tried to connect to the
past. The “superficial” learners were copying answers, guessed a lot, and
skipped the hard parts (Kohn,2000.) I believe that standardized testing take the
critical thinking out of learning. When I have my own classroom, I will make my
lessons as creative as possible, and try not to teach to the test (even if I have to.)
I understand that this is all easier said then done with today’s educational
society.
I will also use different learning styles in my future classroom. Learning styles
are different approaches and ways of learning. It is important to consider when
planning lessons for a class. The three categories are visual, auditory, and
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kinesthetic learners. A student can learn from all three categories, but one is
usually more dominant. For me I learn best from listening to lectures, and taking
notes. Some people have to see what they are learning, or actually do it. “
Information on learning styles is important to your future teaching because it
helps explain why students are so very different in the ways that they learn
(Henniger, Rose-Duckworth, 2009.)” I believe knowing different students learning
styles helps them learn to the best of their ability. It is important for a teacher to
help a child discover their learning style. I also think the use of different learning
styles, during lessons will help the class stay focused on what they are learning.
I also think communicating with parents is very important. They have a
right to know what their child is doing all day in school. I believe they have a say
in what happens in the classroom. “Teachers, parents, and children all benefit
when positive communication and interaction take place between the home,
and school (Henniger, Rose-Duckworth, 2009.)” one way to keep the
communication going would be to send parents weekly news letters about
what their child will be doing in class. Another form of communication could be
making videos of the students activates and upload them to a website. This way
the parents won’t feel obligated to come to the classroom all the time. I believe
the best way to a foster a child’s learning is to have the teacher and parent on
the same page. I think if there is constant communication, and availability
between the teacher, and parents there shouldn’t be a problem.
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I think as time moves on, and I acquire more experiences my teaching
philosophy might change, and that’s okay. I feel that is a good thing, because it
means I am learning more. I want to learn as much as possible so I can be the
best teacher I can be. My teaching philosophy may change, but my love for
teaching never will.
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Works Cited
Anderson, G. T., Spainhower, R., & Sharp, A. C. (2014, May). "Where do the Bears
go?" The Value of Child Directed Play. Naeyc, 8-14.
Bishop, R. S. (n.d.). Using Multiethnic Literature in K-8 Classroom (pp. 1-6).
Retrieved from http://secondaryworlds.com/documents/bishop.pdf
Gordon, A.M. & Browne, K.W. (2014) Beginings and beyond: Foundations in Early
Childhood Education. Maiden Open University Press
Henniger, M. L., & Rose-Duckworth, R. (2009). The Teaching Experience: An
Introduction to Reflective Practice (3rd ed.). N.p.: Pearson Custom Publishing.
Kohn, A. (2000, September 27). Standardized Testing and Its Victims. In Education
Week . Retrieved December 16, 2015, from
http://www.alfiekohn.org/article/standardized-testing-victims/
O'Kelley Wingate, K., Rutledge, V. C., & Johnston, L. (2014, March). Choosing the
Right Word Walls for Your Classroom. Young Children, 52-57.
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