My teaching philosophy constantly changes as I reach the end of my degree and learn about more pedagogy in each of my education classes. The teacher that I want to become aligns closely with the theories of John Dewey and Maria Montessori. Both Dewey and Montessori had a strong belief that teaching in a classroom should be aligned with student interests and involve real-life applications. Additionally, they believed that strong and healthy relationships with the community and our students are key to a successful classroom environment.
While I believe in reaching every outcome outlined in the Saskatchewan curriculum, this material must be taught in a way that the students will be inclined to learn. By incorporating a learner-centred approach into my lessons, the students are more motivated and engaged in the learning. Additionally, I believe that a strong relationship with each of my students is crucial for a successful learning environment. To create these relationships, it starts at the beginning of the year by allowing the students to get to know me and allowing them to share about themselves. Additionally, creating a safe space within the classroom is crucial for students to build strong relationships with me. For example, allowing the students to have a space to calm down in or ways to communicate their emotions to me by using colours. By building these strong relationships with my students, I can communicate with them deeper and possibly personalize assignments for certain students if their situations are different.
As Dewey and Montessori mentioned, real-life scenarios within the classroom are very important. By including real-life scenarios, the students will gain an understanding that their learning in the classroom can be applied to their life outside of school. In turn, this could create students who become lifelong learners and strong citizens in the community.
In regards to assessment, I understand the benefits of a summative assessment. However, I do not plan to base my classroom only on summative assessments. Rather, having a series of formative assessments throughout a unit with a summative assessment at the beginning, middle, and end of the unit would be more beneficial. By doing this, I can fully understand the student’s starting point in a unit and then base their final grade in the unit off of their progress. Additionally, formative assessments allow for more feedback and reflection to understand if the learning for these students is useful.
I am a huge believer in social justice in my classroom. Although I plan to teach grade one, so the students will be quite young, they can still learn about social justice to an extent. In my classroom, I want to include all students regardless of their ability, race, culture, or personal interests. By doing this, I am role modelling to my students that anyone can participate regardless of who they are.
Overall, there are several beliefs involved in my teaching philosophy. Altogether, I plan to be a strong and welcoming teacher who fosters the students learning and healthy relationships. While the students learning curriculum material is important, their well-being and interests need to be fostered to have a rich learning environment.