Running head: PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
Educational Psychology
Ryan Oulton
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PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
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As a teacher, I believe it is important to continually seek further education into best
practices in teaching and keep up to date on the current understanding of how the brain processes
learning. I am a strong believer in establishing a safe, constructive learning environment that
focuses on student-centered learning and social interaction. I believe that my students should be
treated fairly and given every opportunity to have positive learning experiences. In an effort to
motivate the 21st Century Learners, as well as cater to various learning styles, I will use
technology in the classroom for purposeful and authentic learning. Additionally, I feel that a
combination of popular culture implementation and effective discourse strategies will motivate
my students to want to learn and explore in my classroom. By incorporating universal design for
learning and understanding how each unique student in my classroom learns, I will ensure my
students succeed.
One of the most effective things I can do as a teacher is design a safe classroom
environment that encourages student-centered learning. The classroom will focus on facilitating
peer-peer interactions and feature less of a division between me and the students. I will hold
judgement on responses and solutions offered by students in an effort to encourage involvement
and participation by all. Organizing the desks in pairs, featuring my desk at the back of the room,
will promote student collaboration during the learning process. Rather than students needing me
to pass knowledge to them, they will come to realize that, through discussion with their peers,
they have the tools to discover knowledge themselves (Bruner, 1996). In my science classroom,
students will take on more of the responsibility for learning; I will simply act as a facilitator to
discussion by questioning their thought process, modeling effective practices and providing the
necessary resources for building knowledge. I will develop my students’ talents, skills and
abilities in the math classroom by offering practice of material, in combination with conceptual
explanation. These teaching practices will foster linguistic, spatial, numerical, and interpersonal
skills within my classroom, ultimately producing authentic student learning.
Social-interaction between students of differing developmental levels is important in the
learning process. Not only is peer-peer conversation great for self-discovery, as mentioned
above, but also for assisting the students whom are at varying levels in their learning. I believe in
Vygotsky’s theory, in which students have two different levels of development: a level at which
they can individually solve problems and a level at which they can complete problems under
guidance and collaboration with adults or more capable peers, is useful for my teaching
applications (1978). Modelling my practice after this theory, I will group students such that
different developmental levels are represented, ensuring that more capable students can assist
their peers in increasing individual understanding. To further foster their learning, I will employ
scaffolding techniques. I will begin by giving students the necessary information and resources
to learn. While students are engaged in the learning process, I will continue to give one-on-one
prompts, reminders and encouragement. Eventually I will be able to wean out these reminders
and prompts and the students will be at a level where they have successfully demonstrated
learning on their own. While a significant amount of building understanding will be done during
school hours, I will encourage parents to partake in scaffolding at home by asking their children
to explain what they are doing, as well as celebrating their child’s accomplishments. By using
myself, parents, and peers as resources in the effort to learn, I will give my students the best
chance of success in learning process.
I will create a classroom environment in which gender and social class are not defining
features in a student’s ability to learn. Social class and gender-bias are ongoing issues, especially
in science and math classrooms (Fasado, Jakobsen & Wylie, 2007). To remain gender-neutral, I
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will feature female role models just as much as male role models in the classroom. There are a
number of female math and science historic figures, such as: Rosalind Franklin, Marie Curie,
Emma Noether, and Hypatia, whose contributions were just as significant as many male
mathematicians and scientists. I will encourage answers from female students rather than allow
male students to dominate class conversation. Making these efforts will empower my female
students and give them motivation to learn (Levi, 2000).
To accommodate various social classes within my classroom, I will plan class-time for
project research and development, as well as make myself available for extra-help at lunch and
after school to make certain all students have the opportunity to ask for adult-help on
assignments and homework. This will make sure that even if their parents are not available to
help students at home, or the conditions are less than favourable for completing work, that the
student’s learning will not be impeded. Furthermore, I will not require elaborate materials that
must be specially purchased for projects; students will be given the choice to complete
technology-based presentations rather than a presentation needing purchased materials. By
treating each student fairly, not dependent on their gender or social class, I will give every one of
my students the same opportunity to learn.
The emotional well-being of my students will be critical to the learning process.
Students’ brains are not fully developed and thus emotion can actually hijack decision making
and student behaviour (Faeth & Immordino-Yang, 2010). Keeping this in mind, I will use fun
warm-up activities like rebus puzzles and ken-kens in my classroom. These activities will serve
to both stimulate thinking and improve emotional levels within my students. Since emotion is
most effective at facilitating the development of knowledge when it is relevant to the task at
hand, I need to ensure my students are associating positive emotions with my activities;
therefore, they need to be engaging, thought-provoking, and fun. It is important that my students
have positive experiences in my math and science classrooms so that they do not develop
anxieties associated with either subject. When students have negative experiences in a classroom,
because emotional responses fuel future behaviour, they will begin to think negatively about
everything associated with the subject (Faeth et al, 2010). A negative association with a subject
will remove the motivation to learn and thus affect student achievement. By getting to know my
students’ interests I can ensure the content material is personable and thus they will be more
comfortable in my classroom.
By collaborating with my colleagues, I will be able to employ the most appropriate
academic interventions for my students. I want not only my own students to succeed in the
classroom, but all students in the school as well; by involving my colleagues in the intervention
process, I ensure that many perspectives are incorporated into action plans for the success in all
students’ learning. Since number sense in Mathematics relies heavily on language skills, it would
only make sense for me to seek help from my colleagues who are more versed in English
discourse (Dehaene, 2010). Additionally, a number of features in science and math classrooms
rely on the ability to read and write, for instance: word problems, literature reading, and lab
report writing; therefore, I need to be able to distinguish between a student who is having
difficulty with the content and a student who is having difficulty with reading and writing,
impeding their ability to learn the material. Recognizing warning signs, as well as consulting
with Methods and Resources teachers for help, will make certain my students do not have any
obstacles to learning.
The implementation of popular culture within my classroom will enhance my students’
learning experience. The 21st Century student is immersed in technology and the media’s
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influence every day. It only makes sense to take advantage of their interest in popular music,
movies, social media and hot topic issues to make learning relevant and captivating, as suggested
by Henry Giroux and Roger Simon (1988). By universally designing projects and assignments to
satisfy not only curriculum outcomes, but pop culture references as well, I essentially offer
students the chance to learn while being engaged and expressing creativity. Using popular
culture to foster creativity will ensure that my students are building new connections to material,
thinking on a higher-order level, and not simply absorbing and regurgitating content. Rather than
promoting the memorization of facts, I will encourage more meaningful, divergent thinking
(Hardiman, 2010). For example, a science project might consist of having my students bust a
myth from MythBusters or Top Gear–popular television shows–and present their scientific
evidence in a creative manner to the class. Combining popular culture with the expression of
creativity will build meaningful learning for my students.
In order to create opportunities for authentic, purposeful learning, I will make full use of
the technology available to my students. As evidenced by Chris Dede, robbing a student of all
means of technology within the classroom comes as such a shock to their system that it
negatively affects learning (2011). I am not suggesting letting students use technology just to
fulfill their daily desire, but rather as a means of authentic learning. There are a number of math
and science manipulatives and simulations designed for students to help them develop an
understanding of difficult concepts, as well as build basic number sense and spatial reasoning
skills. I believe by using simulations, I will be able to reach kinaesthetic, visual, and auditory
learners (Devlin, 2010). Additionally, having students create PowerPoints, Prezis, or other visual
presentations in class-time will increase both their technical skills and content knowledge in a
more captivating way; exclusively requiring the use of technology in classroom time will be
mindful of my students who do not have access to computers at home. Using technology for
learning will benefit my students as long as I am clear in the expectations of its use and never use
it for the sake of using it.
Although technology use can be a powerful motivator, so too can effective discourse
strategies that encourage intrinsic motivation over rewards. Alfie Kohn believes, and has
research to support, that any form of reward in the classroom, other than verbal reward, is just as
damaging to learning as punishments (Kohn, 1993). Rewards are too distracting for students and
they often lose focus on learning. Instead of offering physical rewards, I feel that unexpected,
after the fact rewards or words of encouragement on achievement are a better means of
motivating students. I also think Jennifer Schmidt and Lee Shumow’s suggestions on effective
teaching strategies to motivate science students are of particular interest to me (2014). Following
their advice, I will have my students create learning goals with expectations and intended actions
to reach their goals. Every time a student reaches their goals, they will feel good about
themselves, and thus it will increase their motivation to learn. It is also important that I instil
confidence in my students. Students’ self belief in their abilities can sometimes be rather low. By
boosting their confidence with simple words of encouragement during the learning process and
celebrating accomplishments–big or small–I can really motivate students to succeed in learning.
Finally, I would make sure to include current, relevant material in my lessons in order to foster
interest. For example, I might incorporate the Mars One project in my science lesson on space, or
analyze realistic NHL player salaries when discussing central tendency. By using effective
teaching, I will motivate my students and give them reasons to want to explore and learn each
and every day.
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Incorporating universal design for learning in my lesson plans, in order to cater to a
number of learning styles, will give all students the opportunity to be successful in my
classroom. Getting to know my students and how they learn best will be high in priority. Once I
have an understanding of the various learning styles and learning difficulties, like: dyscalculia,
dyslexia, and other exceptionalities, I can structure my lesson plans with multiple components.
For example, given a science class featuring kinaesthetic, visual, and auditory learners, as well as
a student with dyslexia, I would design a lesson on the cardiovascular system to include a small
PowerPoint lecture, a video representation, as well as a class-wide kinaesthetic simulation. The
PowerPoint presentation would be designed with dyslexia friendly font, off-white and grey
background and text, and clear separation of ideas on slides, as suggested by Christodoulou et al.
(2010). The video would give a visual representation of how the different parts of the heart work
together with veins and arteries to supply oxygen to the cells in the body. The class would then
take on the roles of different parts of the cardiovascular system, such as: atriums, ventricles,
veins, valves, blood cells, oxygen and carbon-dioxide molecules, and the lungs; the students
would then be expected to discuss and model a working system. Students would then be given
time to discuss with their peers to help each other with any gaps in learning. Offering many
different types of activities, rather than strict lecturing, will ensure that all students’ learning
styles are met and everyone is given the opportunity to participate.
Although I feel I have a good understanding of ways to promote learning in my
classroom, I will always have an open mind to new and more effective teaching practices. Not
much is known about how students learn, but what is known is the importance of emotion,
creativity, and early intervention in learning. Every student has the ability to learn, they just need
to be motivated and given the necessary resources and encouragement to flourish. Though
sometimes technology can be seen as a distracter, when properly utilized in the classroom, it can
be an effective tool in increasing interest and fostering genuine learning. No two students are
alike; therefore my teaching practice will need to include activities that reach every learning
style. In my experience, when a teacher has as much passion and concern for student
achievement as I do, students cannot help but be engaged and focussed on learning.
PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
Work Cited
Bruner, J. (1996). The culture of education. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Christodoulou, J. A., Eddy, M. D., Gabrieli, J. & O’Loughlin, T. (2010). The reading brain. In
Sousa, D. A. (Ed.), Mind, brain, and education: Neuroscience implications for the
classroom (pp. 110-136). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
Dede, C. (2011). Reconceptualising Technology Integration to Meet the Necessity of
Transformation. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction, 5 (1), 4-16.
doi:10.3776/joci.2011.v5n1p4-16
Dehaene, S. (2010). The calculating brain. In Sousa, D. A. (Ed.), Mind, brain, and education:
Neuroscience implications for the classroom (pp. 178-198). Bloomington, IN: Solution
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for the classroom (pp. 68-83). Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree Press.
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Kohn, A. (1993). Punished by rewards. New York, NY: Houghton Mifflin Company
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Schmidt, J.A., Shumow, L. (2014). Enhancing adolescents’ motivation for science: Researchbased strategies for teaching male and female students. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, a
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PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING AND LEARNING
Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes.
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