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              There is a question, that every teacher, no matter what level, should ask themselves.  This question is what do you believe about teaching?  What a person believes drives their teaching.  Not only how they teach but how their students will respond.  These beliefs are not set in stone, in fact they change as a teacher gains experience.  This essay reflects my current but still expanding ideas and beliefs.
 

Purpose
 

              I teach so students can learn how to be the best they can be.  A person is not born perfect.  They also do not have the skills necessary to take them far in the world.  I teach so students can not only gain those skills, but so they can take those skills and apply it to the world around them, wherever it takes them.  As described by Stephen D. Brookfield (2013) in Powerful Techniques for Teaching Adults, “the point of teaching is to help someone acquire information, develop skills, generate insights, and internalize dispositions they did not know before” (p. 14).  My goal for every class is that, when it ends, the student leaves with new ideas and practiced skills.  

 

              The purpose of a classroom is not just to present information for students to memorize, “…but rather to facilitate student learning and thinking in general” (Svinicki & McKeachie, 2014, p. 8).  Students need to be prepared to think critically.  They need to be able to learn both independently and with peers.  As an educator it is necessary for me to give my students the knowledge, tools, and confidence necessary to empower themselves.  By facilitating learning, you help students grow into who they want to become.

 

              In an article by Robert Barr and John Tagg (1995), From Teaching to Learning – A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education, they describe the focus on learning, not instruction, as the learning paradigm.  This model’s purpose is to: produce learning, elicit student discovery and construction of knowledge, create powerful learning environments, improve the quality of learning, and achieve success for diverse students (p. 16).  I do not want to simply instruct my students.  My focus is the encouragement and betterment of the student, “whereas under the Instruction Paradigm a primary institutional purpose was to optimize faculty well-being and success-including recognition for research and scholarship…” (Barr & Tagg, 1995, p. 15).

Nature of Learners

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              A principle of learning provided by Ambrose (2010) in How Learning Works: 7 Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching indicates that a student’s prior knowledge impacts their learning.  As an educator it is necessary for me to use that prior knowledge to further a student’s education.  “Students connect what they learn to what they already know, interpreting incoming information, and even sensory perception, through the lens of their existing knowledge, beliefs, and assumptions” (Ambrose, Bridges, Lovetts, DiPietro, & Norman, 2010, p. 15).  Educators need to connect with a student’s prior knowledge not only to understand what foundation they are building on, but to also make a connection so the material that is being learned will stay with a student.  As someone that wants to teach future teachers, it is necessary to understand a student’s previous experiences.  Do they want to correct an injustice that happened to them?  Do they believe that since they learned a certain way, others will as well?  These questions are part of who I will be teaching and are necessary for me to understand to help guide them to become a better teacher.

 

              When working with students it is also important to understand their motivations around a subject area.  A “students’ motivation generates, directs, and sustains what they do to learn” (Ambrose et al., 2010, p. 69).  While a teacher cannot control a student’s motivation in a course we can generate classroom environments that shows the role in learner-centered teaching.  Maryellen Weimer in Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice discusses 5 methods to motivities students using logical consequences, consistency, high standards, caring, and commitment to learning.  By applying these methods to my classroom it helps create the motivation necessary for students to be successful.  

Knowledge

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              Knowledge for me is grounded in the importance of continually striving to be better.  “…Teaching offers great potential for continued vitality, growth, and satisfaction.  But these do not come automatically.  In fact, developing as a teacher is an ongoing activity” (Svinicki & McKeachie, 2014, p. 332).   In the field of education there is always new methods, strategies, and students.  Developing who you are as a teacher helps you become the best teacher that you can be.  By looking for innovative ideas, and ways to teach them, and by soliciting feedback from your students, peers, and faculty observers, you are recognizing that educators are life-long students.  The knowledge that there is always something to learn, helps teachers continue to improve.  Since I want to teach the next generation of teachers, I need to be willing to learn.

How Students Learn

 

              Students should have multiple ways to show their knowledge and understanding of a subject area.  The use of portfolios can showcase how a student has progressed throughout a course.  By having students focus on items and tasks that represent them, it gives a better understanding of how they have learned the material.  Using material from the course to expand on their ideas or lessons they already have made, gives them the chance to apply topics that they are learning.  

 

              Another way for students to show their knowledge is to use a performance assessment such as a presentation.  When teachers are new to the field they need practice using the skills that they are learning.  By having them perform lessons it gives them a chance to demonstrate their knowledge and receive feedback.  When a teacher provides informative feedback, it gives students a chance to focus on improvement (Svinicki & McKeachie, 2014).  The goal in this situation is for students to improve in how they present information and how they handle misconduct (i.e. classroom management).  By allowing students to present again, write a reflection, or make changes to a lesson after receiving feedback, they demonstrate how they have learned from their initial experience. 

Teacher’s Role

 

              The teacher’s role is to be a facilitator of learning.  They are there to help the learning progress and to ensure opportunities for the student’s understanding to progress.  To be a facilitator of learning a teacher cannot usually be the center of attention.  The focus of the classroom needs to be on the learner.  This type of role means that the teacher usually does not provide students with the answer but encourages them to find the answer on their own or with the help of their peers.

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              The process of facilitating learning requires a lot of thought and dedication.  A principle put forth by Weimer (2013) indicates that the learning experiences need to be designed carefully and with thought. “These kinds of learning experiences necessitate approaching design tasks with creative and ingenuity, as well as with the recognition that good designs are evolutionary.  After trying them out, original plans are changed, using feedback from students and the teacher’s own sense of what did and didn’t work” (Weimer, 2013, p. 77).  With this sort of reflection on lessons and projects a teacher can continue to ensure that students are receiving the most of out a class not only in terms of information but how well they are learning material.

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              When it comes to learner centered teaching, facilitating discussions with the class is important.  By developing ground rules with students and providing students with examples of discussion behaviors you can help create an open classroom dynamic and give students an idea of what behavior is expected from them (Brookfield, 2013).  These discussions give students a chance to compare ideas in an educational setting that gets them to not only think about what they are saying but justify if using the material used in class.  While the teacher helps with the discussion, such as providing the questions that need to be answered, they are not offering ideas and answers.  Therefore, the responses are coming from other learners.

 

              By using journals or papers, a student will reflect on the material that they are learning.  In journals they can take what they are learning and apply it to their own context.  Reflecting on what ideas would work for them inside of the classroom as well as begin to think about how to apply those ideas or strategies.   With the use of writing I can provide feedback that is focused on a specific student rather than providing a class with general ideas.

Conclusion
 

              Ultimately teaching use a wide variety of ideas, methods, strategies, and beliefs.  What works for one may not work for another.  A teacher’s philosophy is one that should be continually changing.  Since the education field is a never-ending learning process, as a teacher learns more, and their teaching philosophy should also change.  This in-depth and personal process will continue to expand and change as I expand my own knowledge.

 

References

Ambrose S.A., Bridges, M.W., Lovetts, M.C., DiPietro, M., & Norman, M.K. (2010).  How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based               Principles for Smart Teaching.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Barr, R.B., & Tagg, J. (1995, November/December). From Teaching to Learning-A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education.                Change, 27(6), 12-25.

Brookfield, S.D. (2013).  Powerful Techniques for Teaching Adults: San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Svinicki, M., McKeachie, W., & Others.  (2014). McKeachie’s Teaching Tips: Strategies, Research, and Theory for College and               University Teachers.  14th Edition.  Houghton Mifflin Company.  ISBN 0618116494. Paperback.

Weimer, M. (2013).  Learner-Centered Teaching: Five Key Changes to Practice (Second Edition).  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.