WHO I AM AS A TEACHER

I believe the foundations of any good relationship are the stories that we share to build understanding of our individual perspectives of the world. Research has found that the process of story sharing within a classroom environment can help to create connections between the story sharer and his/her audience (Rhodes, 2019). This is especially important in our school communities as they are places that bring together people from many different backgrounds with individual and varied stories. I am passionate about hearing these stories and know they can be the building blocks to many strong relationships.

PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE

As someone entering teaching later in my life, I know I have a firm perspective of what builds strong relationships, and I am confidently working at developing these relationships for the benefit of all involved. Knowing how students learn, linked with physical and social relationships in conjunction with my teaching strategies, combine together to build a community of trust within the classroom and the school environment. All of these relationships are important for engagement and support within our school environments. These connections extend outside the immediate school environment into the community and beyond. These relationships support awareness and acceptance for student diversity in many forms. I believe this is especially important for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students culturally and incorporating Aboriginal ways of learning into my lessons and classrooms, such as the 8 ways of learning framework (NSW Department of Education, 2023) can boost inclusivity and be creatively engaging for the benefit of all students learning environments.

Developing various teaching strategies is important for me to know that I am providing direction for what my students need to learn their best. I want to know how to best support and understand students that have disabilities and varied learning abilities, creating differently led opportunities for a positive and productive learning environment.

Supporting and being supported by my colleagues will be beneficial for my ongoing relationships and knowing the legislative requirements expected of me for teaching effectively is definitely something that I see as essential to be up to date with and continue expanding my understanding of.

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

In practice, I endeavour to provide achievable challenges for all students’ abilities through lesson planning using the student’s prior knowledge of the learning. By using relevant teaching strategies, such as ongoing, constant, real-time feedback (Hattie, 2009), I can improve student learning outcomes and create inclusive lessons that increase students’ participation and engagement in their learning. By creating clear directions and learning intentions at the beginning of units of work and lessons, and presenting well organised activities within those lessons, I can also create a community of understanding within the classroom that helps improve and support student learning outcomes. Creating multiple, adaptable assessment strategies that are valid, reliable and fair in my toolkit allows me to adjust my teaching to obtain the best learning outcomes for my students. An important part of creating community in the classroom and the school is to have strong relationships that bridge school and home, so I am a firm believer that involving parents and caregivers in what we are learning and exploring is an important way to involve everyone in the learning process. This builds engagement for the students through their caregivers’ participation in what is happening at school. When students are engaged in their learning, they feel empowered and part of something bigger, this, in turn aids with learners’ wellbeing and it all works together to help students feel that they belong.

PROFESSIONAL ENGAGEMENT

Creating meaningful engagement for all learners is something I feel passionate about bringing into my classrooms. I believe that being clearly passionate about what you’re teaching creates enthusiasm and engagement within the classroom and beyond, and I was inspired by the passion driven project of Michelle Leonard (TEDx Sydney, 2022) to incorporate ways to bring the excitement of learning new things to the students. I believe it’s about making available choices for learning because as humans, we are wired for this opportunity. Joe Ruhl (TEDx Talks, 2015) discussed this concept, and it struck a chord for me to offer these opportunities to my students. Planning lessons with some choices in problem solving, thinking creatively and critically are all great ways I have found to improve engagement and can be a fun and successful way to learn. As a professional Photographer for many years, prior to coming into teaching, I have learned to make choices based on what is available to me at the time, selecting parts to highlight and shade. I know that during times of creativity, it doesn’t feel like other types of learning in the classroom. Time passes differently and students become engaged and present, drawing on prior knowledge and piecing it together to present a flow on learning effect. Using this as a way of teaching, encourages engagement in students learning journeys and is the teaching philosophy I will endeavour to strive towards constantly improving and evolving throughout my teaching journey.

REFERENCES

Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL). (2017). Australian Professional Standards for Teachers. Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership. https://www.aitsl.edu.au/standards

Hattie, J. (2009). Visible Learning. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203887332

NSW Department of Education. (2023). 8 Aboriginal Ways of Learning. 8 Ways. https://www.8ways.online/

Rhodes, Dr. R. J. (2019). Personal Story Sharing as an Engagement Strategy to Promote Student Learning | Penn GSE Perspectives on Urban Education. Urbanedjournal.gse.upenn.edu; The University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education’s Online Urban Education Journal. https://urbanedjournal.gse.upenn.edu/volume-16-issue-1-spring-2019/personal-story-sharing-engagement-strategy-promote-student-learning

TEDx Sydney. (2022). Moorambilla Voices from Scarcity to Abundance | Michelle Leonard. TEDxSydney. https://tedxsydney.com/talk/moorambilla-voices-from-scarcity-to-abundance-michelle-leonard/

TEDx Talks. (2015, May 27). Teaching Methods for Inspiring the Students of the Future | Joe Ruhl | TEDx Lafayette. YouTube. https://youtu.be/UCFg9bcW7Bk?si=wIQEjK4I-BzEiPu3. Offering choice.