Based on my background of personal, academic, and travel experiences, my philosophy of education is one that reflects my personality and values. I come from a Catholic, Polish close-knit family. My parents have disciplined and raised my siblings and I very well, and I can thank them for always pushing and challenging me, motivating me to do my best whether in sports or academics. I am also very fortunate that my parents have taken my siblings and I across the world on many vacations. This has educated and shaped me greatly as I value and have appreciation for everything. My parents were also very supportive with the decisions I made, and if I was unsure or was having difficulties, they would encourage me by providing guidance. Because I come from a Polish close-knit family, I strongly value qualities such as honesty, trust, respect, fairness, care, and being open. Similarly, these qualities reflect the ethical standards for the teaching profession: care, trust, respect, and integrity, outlined in the Foundations of Professional Practice (Ontario College of Teachers, 2016). Naturally, I am also very determined, caring, and love to help others. For a number of years now, specifically I can remember since Grade 9, I have always volunteered within a school, hospital, or retirement home setting. Again, this comes with my personality and my passion to help others. Helping others by teaching, supporting, or even motivating others to excel in any area of their lives is what brings joy to my life and this is my philosophy of education.

 

            I volunteer at University Heights Public School in London, Ontario and one experience I will never forget was in 2014 when an English language learner came from Russian part way through the school year. His name is Serge. Serge entered Grade 1 only speaking Russian. The students would tease him as they said he was speaking a funny language. He would be alone during recess and struggled to understand the teacher and her classroom rules and expectations. Serge spent about an hour a day with an EA. When he returned to his regular classroom the teacher would talk to him very slowly and loudly. As a volunteer, the Grade 1 teacher always has me working with the challenging students and students who experience difficulties. Therefore, my time was spent working with Serge. One day, while the rest of the class was seated on the carpet and the teacher was instructing her lesson on the SMART Board, Serge and I went back to his seat and we began to read. I knew I had to be patient with Serge. He was quiet and shy, and I was a stranger to him in this new foreign country. So I began by opening the book. I placed my finger on the first word and asked Serge to read it. He just stared. I prompted him by helping him sound it out. I only received a blank stare from a very, very lost young boy. I removed my finger from the book and asked Serge, “How are you?” I asked, “Can you speak any English Serge?” Again, I only received a blank confused stare. I waited a couple seconds. At this moment my mind was quickly thinking of ways I could help Serge and get him talking. I thought and thought… and at that point Serge began to talk! Serge just went off talking about this and that. He had so much expression on his face, excitement in his voice and questions for me. I was very excited to hear him speak even though it was all in Russian. As Serge continued to tell me his fascinating stories I was sad I couldn’t respond, although I closely listened and realized even though I don’t speak any Russian, I do speak Polish and in fact some words I could understand… some sentences I could actually put together. At this point I was ecstatic! I knew I could help Serge learn English by him speaking to me in Russian, me speaking to him in Polish and slowly throwing in the English. Believe it or not, it worked! Each week I came back, Serge spoke more and more English. My teacher was overjoyed and quiet impressed that I helped Serge master the English language so well. Of course, it is to my advantage that I know the Polish language, however I believe something more significant was my ability to connect and relate to Serge. This is all he needed coming to a new country. He just wanted someone to talk to, someone who would listen to him, someone who understands and is willing to help him. I remember after meeting Serge that first day he entered the classroom, my goal was to help him, and I wanted to make him feel safe and welcome into the classroom and school community. I remember going home that day and thinking of ways I could help Serge. That was my goal. I was determined. In the end it all paid off. As I enter the school now, I find Serge running around the hallways always greeting me with a joyful hug. He has come a long way and the fact that I helped him makes this experience truly memorable for me. I learned that with teaching you really have to be able to connect with students as this makes all the difference. You have to be patient and care.

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            Now reflecting back to my first practicum experience, I taught two Grade 10 Academic Science classes. During my time teaching I covered refraction of light, and lenses and optical devices in the Light and Geometric Optics Unit of Physics. I also covered climate change in my last week of teaching. Looking back, a lesson that was my favourite and a positive experience for everyone was a lesson I taught on the thin lens equation and magnification equation. This lesson was meaningful to me because it was one in which I knew I had made a positive impact on both my students and Associate Teacher. Learning Physics while in grade 10 is not the most enjoyable unit as it may be challenging to grasp the concepts and formulas. With an undergraduate degree in Science and a passion to learn and teach, I knew I had to inspire these students by making their lessons fun and engaging, get them participating, and challenge their thinking in order to fully understand their learning. I wanted to make a difference, and especially after teaching this difficult lesson, it was evident that I had made a positive impact on both my students and Associate Teacher as they were able to follow along my lesson and completely understood the big ideas, key concepts, and mathematics involved within the unit. After my lesson, my Associate Teacher told me that she never understood Physics until I had taught her. She was also surprised to see how many students were engaged in my lesson, asking questions and even coming in for extra help during lunchtime. Even the students who struggled participated in my lesson as I sparked their interest, challenged them, wanted them to succeed to their full potential, and cared for them. To have this positive impact on my students and inspire them through my teaching and positive attitude, I knew I had done my duty and this was truly a remarkable experience that I will remember forever.

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            That being said, reflecting on my journey as a teacher candidate has changed and strengthened my philosophy of education. As I mentioned before qualities that I value are honesty, respect, fairness, trust, being open, patient, caring, etc. As I want students to prosper and appreciate learning curriculum material, many factors come into play. I realized education means more than just filling someone’s head with curriculum material, it’s inspiring one’s mind. My philosophy of education now recognizes the importance more than ever before, of actually connecting with students. In order to successfully deliver lessons meeting learner differences, it is important to always connect, value, engage, and evaluate (Cope & Kalantzis, 2008, p. 101). I want to create a safe, respectful and inclusive learning environment for all. If students do not feel safe, if they are afraid of being criticized or embarrassed about making a comment in class, then students will continue to fear sharing their thoughts and their learning will be impacted negatively. As we all know, mistakes are how we learn. Asking questions…that’s how we learn. I want to encourage students to share their thoughts and opinions to gain a better understanding of their knowledge and thought processes. I will not tell a student their answer is incorrect, instead I will approach it positively and use this as a teachable moment. I will always create a safe, trusting, inclusive learning environment. Differentiated instruction must also be incorporated into each lesson meeting everyone’s needs. Incorporating 21st century skills such as: working independently and collaboratively, developing social and interactive skills, problem solving, critical thinking, and team building strategies through group work and activities, are all essential skills students should develop early on as they will be practicing this later in their careers.

 

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“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today.”

- Malcolm X

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            Yes, we want to educate our students, but this doesn’t mean we have to do so by strictly following the curriculum and textbook guidelines. Think back to who your most effective teachers were. They weren’t the one’s who covered all of the material within the year. They were however the ones who taught you effectively. They were the ones who made lessons interactive and engaging, helping you retain information by relating it to your life. These inspirational educators were the ones who were able to connect with you. These are the teachers who made a difference, who you will always remember, and I want to be that teacher who inspires students and is a positive role model.

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            My goal is to meet the needs of all students by incorporating a variety of methods and teaching strategies. My lessons will be structured with differentiated instruction for diverse learners including kinesthetic, verbal, auditory, tactile, interpersonal, and intrapersonal to name a few. The Ontario Ministry of Education states that we should “help all students understand the benefits of diversity and of broadening their horizons through learning about other parts of the world” (2005, p. 21). Through my traveling experience, I have grown to gain a much deeper understanding and appreciation for cultural diversity. I will emphasize cultural diversity within my classroom by incorporating it in my lessons and being a positive role model. As an educator, I believe this is significantly important to inspire people for the well-being of future generations.

 

            As mentioned earlier, teaching is beyond following the curriculum expectations. Teaching involves a freedom of expression in order to get students to understand the learning objectives. The purpose of multiliteracies being applied to my teaching strategies is “to have freedom of expression, having the right to communicate either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of the children’s choice” (UNCRC 1990), (Hamilton, Heydon, Hibbert & Stooke, 2015). Therefore, I will look at student strengths and limitations to modify and structure my lessons to meet students’ needs in a form that enables them to better comprehend the material. It is important to incorporate synesthesia and metacognition as a pedagogical device (Cope & Kalantzis, 2008, p. 101). I will use a variety of methods and strategies to present and explain curriculum material. Some multimodal forms of teaching I will incorporate in my lessons in order to meet the needs of all learners include: visual, written, spoken, performative, sonic, and gestural. Specifically, for drama (miming, rap/hiphop, skit, monologues), info graphic (poster, whiteboard), digital media (Popplet, Trello, Instagram, video blogs), visual art (craft, manipulatives for the class, symbols), and SMARTBoard (interactive presentation). I believe this will create lessons with meaning-making. Language often fails as students and even adults retain their memory for a much longer duration of time by actually doing. When students physically participate in an interactive and engaging activity they will remember this unique experience, as it is more memorable to them than reading out of a textbook. Performing a lab also offers meaning-making experiences involving the use of our body and senses. Through my practice, I’ve learned that effective teaching comes with the creation of activities, assignments and projects having multiple forms of representation. As such, this will require various forms of assessment and evaluation.

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            The four pedagogical principles will always be applied to my lessons including: analyzing, conceptualizing, experiencing, and applying. Experiencing will occur when students connect their experiences and personal interests to content learned in the lesson. Conceptualizing occurs when students are encouraged to think about and explore deeper meanings/findings in daily life and make generalizations based on evidence. Analyzing pertains as students evaluate the relationship among big ideas and key concepts used to understand, predict and apply this to life. Applying calls for learners to be innovative, applying their perspectives, experiences, and knowledge to real world issues to guide their learning (Cope & Kalantzis, 2009a). Students will apply their experiences and perspectives to issues that exist globally. In addition, the 5E Learning Cycle will also structure my lessons. This includes: engaging, exploring, explaining, elaborating, and evaluating.

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            Overall, my philosophy of teaching is to care for and guide students through the learning process to grow as individuals and to prosper academically. My goal is to inspire and positively influence students by providing them with the tools they need to succeed. I want to make a positive impact on students’ lives and create a better world for tomorrow and future generations.

 

 

References:

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Ajayi, L. (2008). Meaning-making, multimodal representation, and transformative pedagogy: An exploration of meaning construction instructional practices in an ESL high school classroom. Journal of Language, Identity and Education, 7(3-4),  206-229. 

 

Cope, B., & Kalantzis, M. (2009). Multiliteracies: New literacies, new learning. Pedagogies: An International Journal, 4(3), 164-195.

 

Ontario Ministry of Education and Training. (2005). Many roots many voices: Supporting English language learners in every classroom: a practical guide for Ontario educators. Queens Park, Toronto: Author.

 

Ontario College of Teachers. (2016). Foundations of Professional Practice. Retrieved from http://www.oct.ca/-/media/PDF/Foundations%20of%20Professional%20Practice/Foundation_e.pdf

 

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2010). Growing success: Assessment, Evaluation, and Reporting in Ontario Schools. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf

 

Ontario Ministry of Education. (2013). Learning for All: A Guide to Effective Assessment and Instruction for All Students. Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/general/elemsec/speced/LearningforAll2013.pdf  

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