Every truth has four corners. As a teacher, I give you one corner, and it is for you to find the other three. - Confucius
I believe learning is the acquisition of knowledge through experience. By immersing students in realistic situations that encourage problem solving; retention and deeper understandings are developed. I believe it is my role as a teacher to provide my students with endless opportunities for exploration, to inspire risk taking in learning, and encourage independence.
I hold high expectations for all my students, as every child is capable of learning and improving on their ability, whether academically and/or socially. I believe that success cannot occur without good communication, initiative and problem solving, independence and resilience. My classroom aims to foster and establish these skills to ensure the best possible outcomes for my students. My understanding is that establishing strong relationships with my students will create a good foundation for learning. Therefore, ample time is spent from day one, getting to know students’ abilities, interests, and backgrounds and establishing a welcoming ‘community-like’ environment. Building and retaining a strong content knowledge across all areas is something I strive for. I believe it enables me to provide rich learning experiences for my students, that are both relevant and engaging. To encourage critical thinking, problem solving, and independence I often provide open-ended, flexible tasks for students. This ensures a good depth of challenge, but also gives students the opportunity to use their imagination, something which I don’t think is encouraged enough in the modern classroom. When planning assessments, I always consider whether I am evaluating content knowledge or a skill. If it is content, I make assessments relevant and flexible. Why limit students to one way of showing what they know, when how they present this knowledge is not the focus? I want to encourage initiative and self-expression, not restrict it. When teaching a new skill, I employ a scaffolded method, to ensure success is possible for all. If it came down to summarising my teaching philosophy into three words I believe they would be: Exploratory, Relevant & Flexible |
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