Statement of Teaching Philosophy
“Difference is not deficit — atypical children can learn with their individual learning styles and with individual multiple intelligences" (Berger, 2009). Each child is a unique individual who has high potential and ability to learn, to grow, and to mature physically, emotionally, intellectually, and socially. This belief influences how I view and teach children. 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. My personal belief, philosophy in education and professional perspectives frame my teaching philosophy that will be held in teaching to articulate goals for student learning, implement explicit teaching and assessment methods into practices, and promote inclusive education. To include all diverse students getting access to the curriculum, I will provide several ways to facilitate learning by integrating digital technology and implementing the universal instruction design concept into teaching such as Blackboard, Google Document, Prezi, LiveBinder, Fuze and Tegrity.
The purpose of education is to help children learn the accumulated knowledge, content, conceptual frameworks and the ways of thinking. Teachers are scholars who have a deep understanding of their discipline and clearly and accurately present it to children. Teachers will enable individuals to reach their full potential as human beings and as members of a society that will bring them a success in academic and in life. These individuals will receive an education that will enable them to think and act intelligently and purposefully in society.
Inspired by my child with special needs, it is my desire to be an educator who helps diverse students; particularly, students with disabilities meet their utmost potential in learning. Inspired by John Dewey, I integrate four fundamental philosophies into my teaching philosophy: the learner-centered, scholar academic, social reconstruction and social efficiency philosophies.
An emphasis is on a Learner-Centered theory with my belief that child’s own instinct and powers furnish the material and give the starting point of all education that carry on one’s own initiative independence of an educator. My teaching styles as a facilitator promotes self-learning that helps students develop critical thinking skills. My teaching style as a delegator might be best suited for curriculum that guided inquiry-based learning. My formal authority teaching style promotes clarification on teachers’ expectations. My teaching goal for student learning aims at the individual students’ learning achievement and outcome, and self-confidence of “I can do it.”
To address the needs of students, informal assessment methods help teachers understand students’ use of executive function processing and identify why and how particular students may be struggling. Performance-based assessment and portfolio assessment are examples of classroom measures (Fuchs & Fuchs, 1991). The Strategy Use Survey (STRATUS) assesses students’ self-reported strategy used in reading, writing, spelling, math, studying, and test taking that focuses on students perceptions of their use of planning, organizing, memorizing, shifting, and self-checking strategies for their school homework. The Metacognitive Awareness Questionnaire (MAQ) assesses students’ understanding of what strategies are and how they can apply strategies to their schoolwork.
Various instructional accommodations provide students with scaffolds that help them with goal setting. Although these accommodations are prescribed for students with learning or attention difficulties, they are considered as best practices in general education; for example, rubrics, samples of finished projects, visual presentations, and the calendars provide task requirements explicit for all students as well as address the needs of students with different learning styles (such as visual, verbal, auditory, kinesthetic, tactile). As an educator in special education, differentiating teaching instructions and providing accessibility to curriculum can make a difference in learning not only to students with disabilities but also to all diverse learners.
Being an effective teacher who promotes inclusive education, it is critical for me to provide accessibility by implementing the concept of Universal Design for Learning and be accessible to students who need extra support and to make the curriculum. The course content and materials must be accessible to diverse students, including students with disabilities. Curriculum must be designed, implemented, and assessed for inclusion by both general and special educators to enhance the quality of education for diverse learners. Nevertheless, curriculum for inclusion still remains an ambiguous concept in relation to learners with disabilities, special educators, and curriculum implementers. To better support teachers and learners in inclusive classroom, the individualized educational programs (IEPs) and curriculum need to be regenerated with an emphasis on the individual students’ growth and development and their knowledge base rather than the accountability mandated by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA).
Consequently, an appropriate education may include regular and special education that relates to curriculum design and implementation, teaching strategies and methods, and assessment to facilitate the unique needs of individuals with disabilities to be successful in the inclusive classroom. The concept of accessibility and inclusion can be applied into teaching in all educational levels, including K-12 and higher education. The ultimate goal for teaching and learning is students’ success in academic and in life.
Inspired by Jesuit Education, I do believe that the commitment to inclusive teaching can create equitable learning environments where all learners can be successful. These teaching methods and practices promote inclusion regardless of differences in identity, background and ability as specified in a statement of the Reinart Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning.
References
Berger, K. S. (2009). The Developing Person: Through Childhood and Adolescence (8th ed.) New York, NY: Worth
Fuchs, D., & Fuchs, L.S. (1991). Framing the REI debate: Conservationists vs. abolitionists. In J. W. Lloy, N. N. Singh, & A.C. Repp (Eds.), The regular education initiative: Alternative perspectives on concepts, issues, and models (pp. 241-255). DeKalb, IL:Sycamore.
Meltzer, L. (2010). Promoting executive function in the classroom. New York: The Guilford Press.
Michael Stephen Schiro (2013). Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns. Sage Publications.