Free My Teaching Philosophy Of Instruction Essay Example

In all my teaching endeavors, I view myself a learning facilitator and not as an expert whose only job is to deliver information to students. Therefore, when it comes to teaching, my style orients more towards creating an environment whereby students can learn and digest information on their own. This is only possible by first being conscious of the different learning rates and comprehension styles of students.
I try to study my students individually, learn their needs and weaknesses and consequently come up with a method of facilitation that will ensure that they do not just hear what is being taught, but they understand it and tuck it in their memory such that they will never forget. I understand the importance of individual instructions particularly considering that students have different rates and styles of understanding. This is why I plan my lessons in a way that allows me to avail individualized instruction to my students. This is especially the case for technical subjects whereby I take time with every student adapting the instruction to their needs. I also believe greatly in teamwork and group work, and I believe that students can learn a lot from collaborative efforts. Therefore, one of the prevalent instructional activities in my classroom include various group discussion as well as projects
I believe that this teaching style is responsible for the success that I have witnessed in my students all over the years. Changing it would mean using one mode of instruction to diverse students with different learning and comprehensions and obviously, some would be left out. Consequently, I plan to stick to my current teaching style as it caters for each and every student.
Teaching gives me personal satisfaction, and I cannot imagine myself in another profession. Perhaps the greatest reward that I get from teaching is seeing my efforts help another individual to move from one level of knowledge to another. I have a great desire to share my knowledge and my passion with my students and seeing them excel motivates me even more. Personally, I think that I would be in the teaching profession even if I was not getting any monetary benefits. Passing on knowledge and helping students to apply this knowledge in their lives for their own benefit is enough reward for me and gives me all the self-satisfaction and motivation that I need.
I hold several beliefs about learning and students that propel me towards becoming the best educator that I can be. First of all, I believe that learning should not solely be about the short term. Students should not just be taught or exposed to information and knowledge that they will utilize in the short term. My conviction is that learning should be concerned with the long term. I also believe that this kind of life learning only occurs when the students are not just being introduced to facts, but are rather fully involved in the classroom activities and can make connections to the information that is being presented. I believe that if a child does not leave a classroom understanding the content of the class and its application to real life, then that class is useless. Therefore, my goal in every classroom is to ensure that by the time students leave, they not only fully understand the content and information in that class, but that they can also apply this information in real life, preferable to boost the status of their lives. My other major belief is that a positive and warm learning environment motivate students intrinsically to not only work hard but also to behave. This is also accompanied by my belief that students are accountable for both their learning and behavior and it up to the teacher to make the students aware of this. In addition, I believe that teaching should cater for each individual’s educational needs nd understanding patterns. This is because modern classes are comprised of very diverse students.
Consequently, I have progressively adjusted my teaching style to fit with these beliefs. For example, in the classroom, I always try to elevate the level of responsibility in my students by giving them choices. Through this, they feel a sense of control and ultimately realize that they are responsible for their own success and behavior.
In order to cater for the diversity of my students both in terms of learning needs and understanding patterns., I utilize a variety of instructional and assessment methods. These range from common problems solving, data visualization, graphical analysis and even relation to real life events. In addition, I believe that students look up to their teacher as a model of what they are learning. This is why I tend to convey my individual enthusiasm to the students by talking about personal research on what I am teaching to students and other activities related to the topic under discussion.
Given the opportunity, the number one improvement that I would make in my teaching is on student feedback. Unfortunately, due to the intensive nature of teaching and the relatively large size of the class that I instruct, I rarely have enough time to listen and adequately respond to each and every student’s feedback. In the future, I plan to improve on this and ensure that at the end of every session, I assess each of the student’s feedback and appropriately respond to it.

References

Muijs, D., & Reynolds, D. (2010). Effective teaching: Evidence and practice. Sage.