Monday 18 March 2019

Teaching philosophies in education

Teaching philosophies in education
Teaching philosophies express your values and beliefs about teaching. It is a self-reflective statement that describes both what you believe and provides concrete examples of what you do in the classroom to support those beliefs. It must be written in first person and should convey a professional image of your teaching. Teaching philosophy should be brief and well written. While Teaching philosophy can be probably longer at the tenure level (i.e. 3-5 pages or more), for hiring purposes it can be typically 1-2 pages in length. A teaching philosophy is also a document in progress and it should change and evolve as your teaching experiences build. 

Purpose of Teaching Philosophy 

Your reasons for writing a teaching philosophy may vary. You might be writing it as an exercise in concisely documenting your beliefs so that you can easily articulate them to your students and peers. It might serve as the introduction to your teaching portfolio. Or, it can serve as a means of professional growth as it requires you to give examples of how you enact your philosophy. 

Your teaching philosophy in education does several things for you. It can: 
  • Clarify what you believe good teaching to be. 
  • Explain what you hope to achieve in teaching. 
  • Contextualize your teaching strategies and other evidence of teaching effectiveness. 
  • Provide an opportunity for reflection on and the development of your own teaching. 
  • Convey your teaching values, beliefs, and goals to a broader audience 

How to write a Teaching Philosophy 

It is important to start by describing where you want to end. In other words, what are your objectives as a teacher? The rest of your philosophy statement should support these objectives which should be achievable and relevant to your teaching responsibilities; avoid vague or overly grandiose statements. 

Here are the questions to prompt your thinking: 

Concept of teaching 
  • What are your values, beliefs, and aspirations as a teacher?
  • Do you wish to encourage mastery, competency, lifelong learning, critical thinking?
  • How are the values and beliefs realized in classroom activities?
  • You may discuss course materials, lesson plans, activities, assignments, and assessment instruments.

Goals for students 
  • What skills should students obtain as a result of your teaching?
  • Think about your ideal student and what the outcomes of your teaching would be in terms of this student's knowledge or behavior.

Teaching methods 
  • What methods will you consider to reach your goals and objectives?
  • What are your beliefs regarding learning theory and specific strategies you would use, such as case studies, group work, simulations, interactive lectures?
  • You might also want to include any new ideas or strategies you want to try.

Your interaction with students 
  • What is your attitude towards advising and mentoring students?
  • How to make students feel comfortable in the classroom?
  • How to encourage students to interact positively with one another?

Assessing learning 
  • How will you assess student growth and learning?
  • What are your beliefs about grading?
  • What different types of assessment will you use (i.e. traditional tests, projects, portfolios, presentations) and why?

Professional growth 
  • How will you continue growing as a teacher?
  • What goals do you have for yourself and how will you reach them?
  • How will you use student evaluations to improve your teaching?
  • How might you learn new skills?
  • How do you know when you've taught effectively?

Now that you've written down your values, attitudes, and beliefs about teaching and learning, it's time to organize those thoughts into a coherent form. Responses to all of these questions will require some reflective thought and you will likely benefit from discussing them with other faculty in your department. Consider bouncing your responses off of your colleagues, ponder their responses, re-evaluate your positions, revise, talk some more, etc. Over time your responses will change to reflect how you have grown and changed as a teacher. Think of your teaching philosophy as a work in progress over the course of your career. 


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