To support my pedagogical development of my learning experience throughout the program, I have applied some aspects described in a book How Learning Works: Seven Research-Based Principles for Smart Teaching by Ambrose, Susan, et al., (2010) into my teaching philosophy in Special Education.
Ambrose, et al (2010) recommends that teachers could have bridged seven research-based principles into teaching to support students' learning in the classroom. As a professional in Special Education, I apply these principles into my teaching to support students' learning as followings:
(1) Students' prior knowledge can help or hinder learning. Making connections of knowledge learned in class or reading with students' life experience promotes learning. Students' prior knowledge is a key component for making this connection. Ambrose et all (2010) addressed if students' prior knowledge is robust, accurate and activated at the appropriate time, it provides a strong foundation for building new knowledge. When knowledge is insufficient or inaccurate, it can interfere with or impede learning. I have learned that teachers should deliberately activate students' prior knowledge to help them forge robust links to new knowledge by guiding away students' misconceptions through a process of reasoning that help them build on the accurate sets of knowledge as they will gradually revise the inaccurate knowledge.
(2) How students organize knowledge influence how they learn and apply what they know.Ambrose, et al, (2010) suggested teachers to implement a Concept Map as one of the strategies to reveal and enhance knowledge of organizations. This concept map provides organization of the course, makes interconnection among concepts explicit. For my practice, I promote students' learning by incorporating teaching strategies to promote executive functioning in the areas of goal setting, planning, prioritizing, organizing, memorizing, shifting, and self-monitoring.
(3) Students' motivation determines, directs, and sustains what they do to learn. I emphasizes on learner-centered theory with my believe that child's own instinct and powers furnish the material and give the starting point of all education that carries on one's own initiative independence of educator. My teaching styles as a facilitator promotes self-learning that helps students develop critical thinking skills.
(4) To develop mastery, students acquire component skills, practice integrating them, and know when to apply what they have learned to perform complex tasks and develop greater fluency and automaticity. My teaching goal for student learning aims at the individual students learning achievement and outcome, and self-confidence of "I can do it." As a special educator, I apply theories of learning into teaching. Many students with disabilities have strengths that are not in academic areas. However, these strengths should be recognized and demonstrated their mastery.
(5) Goal-directed with targeted feedback enhances the quality of students' learning. My personal belief, philosophy in education and professional perspectives frame my teaching philosophy that will be held in teaching to articulate goals for students' learning, implement explicit direct instruction and assessment methods into practices, and promote inclusive education.
(6) Students' current level of development interacts with the social, emotional, and intellectual climate of the course can impact learning. I believe that learning occurs through activities and discussions in natural settings that reinforce individual cognitive thinking skills to the best services for community and society.
(7) Students must learn or engage in metacognitive processes to monitor their strengths and weaknesses and adjust their approach to learning and become self-directed learners. To address the needs of students, I apply the informal assessment methods to understand students' use of executive function to process and to identify why and how particular students struggle. The Metacognitive Awareness Questionaire (MAQ) assesses students' understanding of what strategies are and how they can apply strategies to their schoolwork.