Dina Rashid

My Teaching Philosophy

​

“In Every person there is a sun. Just let them shine.” Socrates

The wise words of Socrates make one wonder of how important teachers in our lives are. She is the one who would inspire, direct and help in the process of personal and educational development. Teacher is the one who would motivate students and prepare them to be lifetime learners.

During my many practicums at schools, I came across a wide range of students that are different in level of preparedness, socio-economical background, behavioural and cognitive readiness for school and learning in general.  So, my teaching philosophy in teaching these students is not to have a standard bar of academic achievement that students must reach, but rather take individual students from where they are and help them grow to the next level. It is also important for me to foster their critical thinking skills, literacy skills, engage and motivate them. My believes are based on the theories of Lev Vygotsky’s, Lawrence Kohlberg, Erik Erikson, Jean Piaget. However, latter believed that children are learning the same thing about the same time, Vygotsky disputed this fact, saying that children learn at different speed (Schaffer, Wood & Willoughby, 2002).

Over my time student-teaching I identified 5 main pedagogical areas which I constantly develop.

1. Differentiation/Multiple Intelligence

2. Social interaction/ Vygotsky’s theories

3. Classroom management strategies / behavior management

4. Assessments

5. Home-school connection

​

Differentiation As I said earlier, each child is unique and require individual approach to learning. We all experienced old-type teaching, where teacher talks, students listen and learn. Well, it doesn’t work always. Students might listen, but learning isn’t taking place. According to Howard Gardner’s theory of Multiple Intelligence (Gardner,1991)

Each person has an individual learning style. During my student-teaching in the boys’ school, I have noticed that majority are kinesthetic learners, however there are many visual, audio and musical intelligence styles in the class. As a teacher, I have to embed different activities in my lesson that will have students understand the concept better. For example, when learning about 3 different types of animals (carnivores, herbivores and omnivores) I’ve shown them a pictures of carnivores’ teeth (visual), have them act it out, pretending to be a tiger saying “Carrrrrnivore” (kinaesthetic), have them make a carnivore’s jaw out of play dough. (Appendix 1) I found that acronyms and mnemonic devices are more effective then choral drilling. For example it’s hard to memorize vowels for grade 1 students, but when I rearranged letters as I O U.A.E. it became much easier. Or another example: memorizing which months have 31 days ( just use your knuckles). Also, it is important to use TPR, a language teaching method (Asher, 1977) in my ESL lessons. TPR is crucial in ESL early and primary years to enhance language acquisition.

Vygotsky’s theories are the foundation of my teaching philosophy. I truly believe that social interaction plays a huge role in child’s development. Community plays a central role in the process of "making meaning." (Vygotsky, 1978)

More Knowledgeable Other (MKO), Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD) and peer interaction are interconnected principles that I use in my lessons. I don’t believe in homogeneous grouping, in my class, students are grouped by mixed abilities. This way, student who have better understanding of the concept can be the MKO and explain it to the other student (ZPD), and these activities lead to peer interaction. They learn by interacting with each other (Vygotsky, 1978)

Nothing of the above can be achieved without proper classroom management strategies. Classroom management include many aspects as such as behavior, classroom layout, routines, instructions and communication. Young learners strive on routines, they don’t simply know what your expectations of them are. By implementing consistent routines and instructions, children feel safe, tend to be more focused, on task and less disruptive. In grade one English class I used to write our planner of the board and tick out things that we’ve already done. (Appendix. 2) Example of an English lesson on Sunday: 1. Greetings; 2. Classroom rules/Duties/ 3. Days of the week; 4. Phonics; 5. Revise HFW; 6. Groups; 7. Back to the carpet. The first 4 points and the last one always remains the same, I change the following depending on the outcomes for the certain lesson. This way students are aware of what is coming next and what is more important to students – is to know when they will be able to finish!

Assessments are very important in daily learning.  Teacher might have formative assessment as a tool for learning and scaffolding. I use formative assessment in every lesson I teach, it can be as simple as asking questions to elicit answers, scaffold and have students think critically. For example I ask students to use hand signals (Five fingers scale/Thumbs up/down) to indicate their understanding of the concept. I would ask them to talk to partners and share what they have learned in the lesson. Summative assessment or assessment of learning gives me a clear picture of students’ individual progress and needs, concepts that might need an extra attention and have to be re-taught. It also gives me chance to reflect on my teaching. (Appendix 3)

During my teaching practice in the boys’ school I have noticed how important is Home school connection in managing behavior, completing homework, attendance and overall progress of students. Bringing these worlds together benefit students tremendously. In most of behaviour-related issues in my boys’ class, sending note on dojo system makes wonders. (Appendix 4) This way, parents are aware of what is going on in the school and can improve their child’s behaviour by talking to him at home. Sending reminders on WhatsApp group give better chances of students completing and bringing in their homework on time, study for a weekly spelling test etc..  Here is an example of seeing education as a partnership between a teacher and a parent: I had a case when the homework was given, and a student couldn’t complete it because it was too difficult. Next day, angry parent (who is neither not on class dojo system nor on WhatsApp group) sends a note accusing teacher for poor explanation of the material. Note that this parent takes only his child’s perspective, there is no parent-teacher communication. As a result, homework is not done, and child might need an additional support. Other parent, who is involved in his/her child’s education, sends a message if any question occurs. Teacher explains electronically. As a result, homework done, student understand the concept!  This life example shows the importance of home school connection in every aspect of school life.