My Beliefs About Teaching

Perspective 1 My Beliefs About Teaching

Calvin Irwin
EDUC250 B
Red Deer College

My Beliefs About Teaching

Each teacher is unique in the way they personally teach and believe in what teaching means to
them.As a prospective teacher, through this assignment I would like to establish what my own
beliefs are and how I got to them. Before I knew my philosophy on teaching I had to research
and look into which philosophy of education I agree with most closely, then look at examples of
teachers I have seen through film or had in the past, and lastly ask my self some questions in
order to truly establish my core beliefs on teaching. I hope to create a unique perspective on
teaching that develops a basis on where I stand as a future teacher.

I took some time reviewing the four separate philosophies of education in order to have a sense
of where I stood. The four philosophies being perennialism, essentialism, progressivism and
reconstructivism each had a few similarities but were also very individually different. It is rather
difficult for me to chose one over the other because each has its positives. If I were to pick only
one I would pick the proggressivist philosophy. I would pick progressivism over the others
simply because if I recall to my own learning experience, I found school to be much more
interactive and ingaging when the lessons were relevant to me. Progressivism is built around the
students interests,experiences and needs with less focus on the content and more on experience
and hands on learning. Although I do believe in the essentialist perspective that puts more
emphasis on strong core curriculum, I think students can retain knowledge longer and more
easily through progressivism.

Secondly, I looked into a few movies that had good examples of teachers who made the
classroom an enjoyable experience not just for a few students but for the whole class and thought
back on teachers in my life that did the same. One of the teachers in the textbook Becoming a

My Beliefs About Teaching

teacher said that my desire to teach stems from wanting to inspire kids to do great things with
what they love. We are all good at something and I feel that I can help students realize this
because I believe it(pg.9). In the movie Dead poets society, the teacher Mr. Keating played by
Robin Williams encourages his students to pursue their dreams by seizing the day and figuring
out what they are truly passionate about. A great example of one of my own teachers was my
high-school biology teacher Mrs. Jwasko. She really took the time to figure out what each of our
individual strengths were and in what we enjoyed most doing. I think it is important as a teacher
to make students feel confident in life and encourage students to take risks. I hope that I can
inspire students to go on and believe in themselves and take on tasks that they once believe they
could not do.

Thirdly, I would just like to answer all of the questions that were asked in the description of the
assignment. I would like to become a teacher because I feel that it is such an amazing
opportunity for a career to be able to see the progression that a student can make in his or her
learning throughout one year and then carried on throughout the rest of their education. The
feeling of helping a student work through to solve a problem and then seeing them manage to do
it on their own is something I look forward to. As we discussed in class, being a good teacher can
be divided up into several different perspectives. The perspective of the student (future student),
the government and the child. I think some of the most important things that makes a teacher a
good teacher is their knowledge of the subject that they teach, their understanding towards
children and their continual life long learning throughout their career. I want to be the type of
teacher that is very approachable, a strong leader and fair to all of my students. I want to inspire
students through progressive learning, engage students through the application of technology,

My Beliefs About Teaching

and to create a safe environment of learning where everyone feels comfortable. Some of my
personal qualities that I believe will help me as a teacher are that I am very calm and patient
towards people who are learning something new. I am also a very quick learner when shown first
how to do something so I think this will come in handy when I am learning things from
colleagues or my students. One of the only things about me that I could see being a hindrance
would be that I am introverted most of the time and a rather quiet person. I am sure that as I work
through my education courses that I will develop more leadership skills and become more vocal.
I believe teaching will have many challenges, but the rewards will most certainly outweigh those
challenges.

In summary teaching can be perceived many different ways. Everyone has their own opinion on
which angle of teaching works best. Personally, looking at what philosophies, examples of
teachers in films and in my life and reflection on the questions above I have found that it all
comes down to the student and their ability to retain the knowledge they have learned in the
classroom. I think that if that is succeeded, it is a direct result of the genuine care and
encouragement that the teacher pours into the students life.

My Beliefs About Teaching

These are a few of my beliefs about what good teaching stems from. A good teacher enjoys
learning and does so for his/her entire career. As teachers I believe that it is important that we
continually learn new skills in order to keep up with the quickly advancing technology and be
able to apply it in the classroom to engage students for example. I also believe it is important as a
teacher to keep an open mind to learning from students because they are often the ones who
know most about the latest technologies. I believe a good teacher enjoys to work with students. I
think that if that joy is lost, there is no real enthusiasm and passion brought into teaching and
then the classroom can often be a negative experience for everyone. A teacher who cares about
building relationships is very important. How am I as a future teacher suppose to help students
out if I dont know what their interests are or what kind of learner they are. I believe that good
teaching means that the teacher is an effective leader in the classroom and is able to teach others
how to stand up for what is right. Leadership is an important ability to learn because no matter
what direction the students are going career wise, they will most certainly be put in social
contexts where leadership is needed. As a teacher being a confident leader also means being
patient and being able to manage a full classroom when things dont go as planned. A good
teacher engages not just a select few in the class but everyone, making sure no student is left out
or behind when understanding a new subject for example. A good teacher is able to take the
curriculum given to them by the government and develop their own lesson plans through
thorough research and come out with lessons that engage the student and stick in the minds of
the learner. Good teachers go beyond the classroom, whether that may be after school coaching
or raising money for the schools charity or helping students develop their own groups at school.

My Beliefs About Teaching

My metaphor for teaching is that teaching is like a rubiks cube. In the first year as a teacher
every color is scrambled every which way. You look at each side and every different square
represents the individual students. You must observe and learn where they are in order to
complete the cube. You know the steps and what the outcome should be so you begin. The first
thing you have to do is start with a color. Each year you have the option of approaching the cube
from a different color. You can either pick a new technique or stick to what you know from the
previous year. Its easy to mess up the cube half way through if you lose patience or lose
confidence in your ability to solve it. You have to care for each individual square at the same
time that you are focusing on the cube as a whole

My Beliefs About Teaching

References:

Haft, S. (Director). (n.d.). Dead Poets Society [Motion picture].

Parkay, F., & Stanford, B. (2010). Becoming a teacher (4th ed.). Toronto, Ontario: Pearson.

PHILOSOPHICAL PERSPECTIVES IN EDUCATION. (n.d.). Retrieved September 19, 2015,

from http://oregonstate.edu/instruct/ed416/PP3.html