Although I am an infant in the teaching profession and still have much to learn from my experiences, I have built a set of teaching philosophies, beliefs and attitudes from university, practicum and work related experiences. I predict these ideals will ‘mature’ as I gain experience. In no way do I believe the below practices are universal solutions as I believe the classroom environment is highly dynamic in nature. Therefore, I feel teachers need to be constantly analysing, reflecting and experimenting in order to meet the needs of their unique group of students.
Basic needs
I believe before a student can successfully interact within a classroom environment their basic needs should be met. As a teacher I can work towards meeting these needs by communicating with school leadership; parents and the children involved.
Teaching practice
I believe students learn best when they construct their own meaning and build understanding from their prior knowledge. The best way for a teacher to facilitate this is to have students inquire into interesting, meaningful, real-world concepts. Students should also be exposed to and be able to express understanding from a variety different stimuli.
Behaviour management
I believe in developing the class as a ‘team’ in which students are part of a unique group in which they are responsible for each other. In theory should minimise bullying and antisocial behaviour while also helping to address a number of basic needs – safety/security, love/belonging and self esteem. Below are some examples on how this could be achieved:
- Clear rules and expectations that have been decided upon as a class.
- A clear expectation that each student is responsible for the well being of their classmates.
- The development of a unique name and perhaps motto for the class. This helps to develop a sense of pride within the group.
- An expectation that bystanders (students who watch someone do something wrong towards property or others) are just as much to blame as the culprit. For this to work, the teacher needs to teach how a bystander should intervene in different situations. A teacher should also teach his/her students how they should handle personal conflict.
- The regular usage of positive evaluative praise in the classroom.
- When punishing children for poor behaviour, choose a punishment which will make them accountable for their action. This means the student will more likely accept the punishment while understanding the consequence their action has on others.
- Give every child a daily classroom task which assists with the management of routines. This helps to build a sense of importance and responsibility for being a member of the class.
- Children should be seated randomly by having their names pulled out of a hat, this should be done on a weekly basis. This helps to develop cohesion, understanding and social skills within the group.
Digital literacies/ICT’s/interactive learning
Personally, I believe teaching in the 21st century is an exciting time as there are many interactive and engaging tools emerging for use in the classroom. Therefore, it is important for teachers to keep up to date with new technologies and how to effectively use them in order to create rich learning experiences. Currently, I enjoy using the interactive smartboard in order to engage students.
Communication with parents
Parental interest and support is essential for a child’s development of knowledge and understanding. To achieve this I feel parents should be kept up to date regularly with what their child is learning at school. Therefore, I believe in sending weekly letters to parents outlining what the children have learnt. I would also ask parents to reinforce and assess understanding by working with their child through short, structured activities.
Daniel Ogden 