Week 4. How do I develop a philosophy of teaching?

I haven’t thought in this topic before, why a philosophy of teaching? to answer this questions I would like to start with what Gail Goodyear and Douglas Allchin, in their study of the functions of a statement of teaching philosophy (Goodyear and Allchin, 1998), identified:

“In preparing a statement of teaching philosophy, professors assess and examine themselves to articulate the goals they wish to achieve in teaching.... A clear vision of a teaching philosophy provides stability, continuity, and long-term guidance.... A well-defined philosophy can help them remain focused on their teaching goals and to appreciate the personal and professional rewards of teaching.” (pp. 106-7)

So by having our own philosophy we can growth as teacher, and we can also change different behaviors. But how can we create a philosophy? I would use the four questions prepared by Lee Haugen in March, 1998: To what end? By what means? To what degree? And Why?

To what end?: It’s to establish our objectives, what do we want our students to learn by the end of the class or course, do I want my students to learn only the basic concepts of the field I’m teaching or do I want  to go beyond that? To answer all of these questions we definitely have to think and discuss them with our colleges.

By what means?: It’s how am I going to achieve the objectives, which methods am I going to use? Remember the activities you are going to choose have to lead you to the objectives considered before.

To what degree?: It’s how we are going to measure our students learning, I don’t care if I covered 2 lessons in a week but if they really learned something from them. Even though we have standardized evaluations forms we can create our own method related to our objectives.

Why?: Why and I teaching, what do I want my students to learn? Do I want to make the differences in my students lives?