“Ms. Barrus, you should be a counselor because you always ask about what’s going on in our lives.” This statement from a 5th grade girl one morning brightened my day, because she noticed me doing what good teachers do -- get to know their students and show their students they care. Being a counselor is just one of the many roles of a teacher. Teachers are leaders, encouragers, and mentors. They must be willing to continually reflect on their experiences and make improvements. My teaching philosophy has developed and changed over the course of my college education as I have learned from my professors, theorists, and my personal experiences in elementary school classrooms. I am convinced that I will continue to learn and expand my teaching philosophy as I have more experiences with students.
Many aspects of my teaching philosophy stem from Vygotski’s theory of social context and Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences. I believe that learning is socially constructed and therefore the role of a teacher is to facilitate student-centered hands-on group learning. The teacher’s job is to engage students by finding ways to build upon their prior knowledge and providing them with concrete learning experiences in a social setting. I also believe, like Gardner, that each student has different intelligences and that teachers should provide learning activities that incorporate these intelligences in the classroom to meet the needs of diverse learners.
I believe that students learn best when they are participating in collaborative hands on learning. When students discover something in a community of learners, they are more likely to take ownership of the information and remember it long-term. Students also learn best when they are challenged, but not to the point of frustration. Classroom activities should be “geared up” and “geared down” in order to challenge gifted learners and make growth possible for students with learning difficulties. When students are in a state of disequilibrium they are forced to stretch themselves and grow in their understanding, so teachers should provide students with diverse experiences that broaden the student’s range of knowledge.
In order to provide the best learning environment for students, teachers need to have a classroom management system that will minimize distractions and make it easy for students to learn in a safe and comfortable environment. I believe that students should be involved in coming up with the rules so that they can feel a sense of responsibility to follow the rules. When students know what is expected of them and what the consequences are of their actions, they can feel confident and comfortable and focus on learning. One of the most important rules to have in a classroom is that of respect. Students need to respect themselves, their peers, their teachers, and other adults in the school and students need to be shown respect by their peers, their teachers, and adults in the school. In an environment of mutual respect, distractions are eliminated and authentic learning and exploration can take place without the fear of failure or ridicule.
