Development of Personal Teaching - Learning Philosophy

Development of Personal Teaching-Learning Philosophy

Vipasha Bhardwaj (student)

AU ID 3277775

HLST320

Assignment 1

Lorena Stewart (Tutor)

Athabasca University

March 2, 2018

Development of Personal Teaching-Learning Philosophy

        At its core, a teaching philosophy is a personal statement that offers insight into an instructor’s beliefs about teaching. In essence, it is the “why, what and how” of one’s teaching. This personal assessment of my own philosophy of teaching and learning is unique to me. It provides insight to my personal learning style, which speaks to the understanding that every student learns differently. It touches base on my own personal professional teaching philosophy, which incorporates how social cognitivism compliments my understanding of teaching and learning. This personal assessment will be tied together by incorporating a personal example of teaching that I have conducted that falls in line with my own personal teaching philosophy.  

Personal Learning Style

        A learning style can be defined as “the way a person responds to and uses stimuli in the context of learning” (Stevan, 2014). It is important to recognize that every person in unique in their preferences for different learning styles and techniques. Some people may find that they have a dominant style of learning, but also poses qualities of other styles of learning that they use in different circumstances (“What’s Your Learning Style The Results”, 2011). For example, through the use of an online assessment, I was able to identify my own personal preferred learning style. According to the assessment, my score was as follows; auditory: 45%, visual: 50%, and tactile 5% (“What’s Your Learning Style The Results”, 2011). This score breakdown is evident of the very fact that people can have more than one learning style while still possessing a dominant style of learning. According to the following assessment, my dominant learning style is “visual” (“What’s Your Learning Style The Results”, 2011). As a visual learner, I learn best by reading or seeing pictures (“What’s Your Learning Style The Results”, 2011). I understand and remember concepts best when I am able to picture what I am learning in my head as well as by using methods that are primarily visual (“What’s Your Learning Style The Results”, 2011). According to the assessment, visual learners may have difficulties with spoken directions and may be easily distracted by sounds (“What’s Your Learning Style The Results”, 2011). Visual learners are also attracted to color and to spoken language that is rich in imagery (“What’s Your Learning Style The Results”, 2011).

        Through self-reflection, it is clear to see how I am dominantly a visual learner. In class I love to sit at the front of the room because I feel like I get distracted when people around me are fidgeting, talking or making any noise. When I read books, I prefer literature that is vivid with description, as I like to picture scenes of the book in my head. If I am reading a piece of literature that does not give me the ability to visualize things in my head, I find that I am not able to focus on the content of what I am reading. I learn best by color coordinating my notes, and by ensuring that I am very organized and meticulous when it comes to writing notes.

Teaching- Learning Philosophy

        I believe that knowledge is the power that shapes who we are and empowers us to enhance our unique sense of self and community. I believe that teachers are facilitators of learning and reasoned thinking. It is imperative to engage with students and challenge them to become active participants in the learning process. I believe that it is important to provide students with various approaches, resources and tools that facilitate their learning. I value each individual learner’s individualities, varying potentials, diverse backgrounds, and personal resources. Valuing students and showing passion for teaching opens up channels of communication and motivates students to work hard. Ultimately the goal is to motivate learners to be better critical thinkers and better engaged in active discussions and/or hands-on application of concepts.

        I closely resonate with the social cognitivism theory, which emphasizes the collaborative nature of learning that builds on past knowledge through new learning experiences (Wang, 2012). Each individual must be willing to play a central role in mediating and controlling their own learning, while I as an educator must foster new understanding in students through the reliance on open-ended questions that promote extensive dialogue among students (Wang, 2012). I must tailor my teaching strategies to the student’s responses and encourage them to analyze, interpret and predict information (Wang, 2012).

Examples of Values and Beliefs of Teaching and Learning

        A great example of teaching that I have conducted that falls in line with my philosophy of teaching and learning is when my little brother recently came to me to get help on his physics homework. I started off by getting him to read the problem out load to himself. Then I proceeded by asking him what the question was actually asking him to calculate. He then crossed off any information in the written question that was not pertinent to figuring out the final answer. Then I asked him to explain why he thought that the remaining information was important for figuring out the answer to the question. He proceeded by drawing a diagram to show how each value would fall into place on the diagram to show visually how his thought process worked. He then went back and plugged in the values from the question into a formula to formulate his final answer.