There exists, in the academic world, lots of specific language designed and communicated between those who speak and understand it. For instance, philosophy in teaching means a couple different things. On one hand, it means what type of philosophy the teacher will bring into the classroom as it relates to classroom management. For instance, the overview of the class, their ideas and beliefs about teaching and the student’s learning, preventative and responsive strategies for behavior, how they want their classroom to physically be structured, their reward and incentive systems, consequences, their response to bullying, and their plan for crisis intervention. Now, on the other hand, it means what type of philosophy in a teacher brings with them into the classroom as it relates to how they feel and think about teaching and learning, and why they are important. For instance, as you will read below, my thoughts and feeling about teaching and student’s learning, their needs, their accommodations, their challenges, their successes in both school and in life.
Since I am still new to this teaching gig, I will leave it as is and move forward, taking with me everything I can along the way. With my philosophy that all children deserve to have the same opportunities at success in life and in school, and that each has needs that must be met no matter how they may manifest. Children are our future and we must not only cherish them and mold them, but we must prepare them for their future.
Teachers have lives outside of school, believe it or not. They are someone’s child and were someone’s student at one time. As such, they have been socialized and have become the people they are because of their upbringing. They bring with them an ideas about how the education system is supposed to function, ideas about how they should teach, ideas about how to deal with behavior issues, and ideas about what an effective classroom management plan looks and feels like.
Teachers have their own opinions on issues and many have children of their own that they either raised or are raising. They have family, friends, and their intuition. They are not teaching for the paycheck, that much is certain, but are spending their days guiding children for some reason or another. They also bring with them, into teaching and into the classroom, the desire to see students succeed both inside school and out. Each teacher develops their own philosophy about teaching and learning, as they grow up in the teaching side of education. They begin teaching, bringing with them a lifetime of experiences and adjust accordingly. They are flexible to schedule and behavior changes. They are cognizant of assessments and just how little time they have each day.
Teachers are either ‘old school’, where results were obtained at certain costs that might not be affordable in today’s era, or ‘new school’, where they have been pounded with policy and legislation that mandates yearly assessment goals will be met. The teacher’s job has changed in many respects over the years, but the reason they do what they do has not. They understand about the No Child Left Behind Act, IEP’s, 504’s, Reduced Lunch Programs, and the theory behind ‘Inclusion’. They must adapt and adjust if they are to survive and have a career.
Teachers bring their own philosophy to their classrooms and the students will eventually reap those rewards, because teachers do not become teachers if they do not wish to help children succeed. They bring their philosophy on teaching and learning after healthy amounts of self-reflections and inner dialogue. Just as every snowflake is different, each teacher is also. They come from ‘all walks of life’ to help students walk in theirs. Their philosophy revolves around others…their students.