Teaching Philosophy :: Philosophy of Education Statement Teachers Essays

Teaching Philosophy I believe that teaching is a profession in which the educator has many opportunities to apply her knowledge of content area, personal strengths and creativity, and her life skills to the tasks at hand on a day to day basis. For example, when working in cooperation with other teachers, handling difficult situations with students and even just enjoying the satisfaction of a job well done, all three of the above mentioned qualities come into play. In order to keep all of these in balance, however, it is imperative that the teacher, or teacher in training, has a clear idea of what may be defined as her philosophies of teaching. First and foremost, I have a firm conviction that the teacher and school environment must actively promote, incorporate and develop diversity in the classroom. In today’s classroom it is inevitable that many types of diversity will be present and I believe it is the teacher’s innate responsibility to recognize and support it. Diversity comes in many forms including learning styles and abilities, race, religion and sexual orientation. Any diversity encountered in the classroom should be embraced as a chance to grow and learn for the teacher, the student who is deemed as ‘different’ and the total student body. This personal philosophy has developed within me as a result of my own experiences in a diverse public school system as a student. I intend to both support my diverse classrooms and to help other educators and students to promote, incorporate and develop diversity in their own classrooms. A second dimension in my teaching philosophy is based around the term ‘enthusiasm’. Enthusiasm implies energy, vivacity, creativity and consistent effort and in relation to my philosophy, these qualities are exhibited in a three dimensional model in the classroom. Two of the dimensions depend on the teacher. First, the teacher must be enthusiastic about the most important aspect of her job, that is, the students themselves! She must demonstrate consistent effort and energy when interacting and engaging with her students both inside and out of the classroom.