Teaching Philosophy

Celebrating each student’s individuality, creating a fun and safe learning environment, and
differentiating instruction for each learner are the most important aspects of my teaching
philosophy. The field of education covers a multitude of abilities, behaviors, needs and experiences;
while also providing students with the knowledge they will need to be productive citizens in our ever-
changing global society. It is important that each student feels safe to embrace what makes them
unique to build community in the classroom. The community that I create will build a dynamic group
of learners who use their uniqueness and skills to help their peers grow.
 
            As a teacher, it is my job to create a space that students feel safe and comfortable so
dynamic learning will occur. To create an environment that allows every student to be successful, I
heavily reflect on Brain Cambourne’s Seven Conditions of Learning. Brian Cambourne, an Australian
educator, researched and outlined a series of interactive processes teachers can use to facilitate
students’ understanding of the learning process. This model revolves around immersion,
demonstration, expectations, responsibility, approximations, practice, and
feedback/support/celebrations. Each of these supports the students and the teacher in Discovery
Learning. By incorporating Brain Cambourne’s research into my classroom I am able to create an
interactive and dynamic experience between the individual learner and the content, thus engaging
students in complex learning tasks.
 
            I know that my role as an educator is critical to the growth of my students. My students will
need me to be prepared, knowledgeable, approachable and inspiring. Throughout my lessons I must
immerse students into the content using sights or sounds and make the content meaningful and
relevant to them. I will demonstrate using practical examples and require students to explicitly
demonstrate what they have learned using a variety of approaches. I will explicitly and clearly set
high expectations of all my students and provide a supportive environment for them to reach those
expectations. I strive to have my students become accountable for their own learning.  Students
learn to take responsibility by having the ability to make decisions themselves and engage in a
variety of problem-solving activities. It is also important that make approximations toward learning
expectations to plan challenging lessons for students. Students need purposeful repetition and
practice with new knowledge or skills. To do this I will gradually change variables, supports,
groupings, complexity, and context of learning to build student’s confidence with the knowledge or
skills to make them independent learners. While students are learning new content, it is important to
recognize that they will do so at different paces and in different ways. No matter how a student
learns, continuous purposeful feedback is crucial. Using concrete, realistic feedback will help the
students set new goals for themselves and help me plan future instruction.
 
            By embracing individual students’ strengths and differences, it helps to create a community
of learners that is creative, persistent, innovative, respectful, and invested in lifelong learning. The
behavioral, social, and academic skills students learn in my classroom will help them through the
rest of their lives.