My teaching philosophy
I recently spoke with a PGCE student about how they have to write an essay demonstrating their “teaching philosophy” and how they incoporate their beliefs about teaching into every day practise.
It’s got me thinking about my own personal teaching philosophy and the things I really feel strongly about in teaching. So here’s a list of all the teaching things I’m particularly passionate about doing/having in my own classroom/teaching:
If I’m having fun, then the kids are learning - If I’m having a fun time teaching, then you can bet that the kids are enjoying the lesson too - enthusiasm is infectious! Everyone learns better when they’re having fun so I feel it’s important to plan and create lessons I enjoy teaching, so that kids can enjoy learning.
Children need to write every day - Children will read and use numbers in their everyday life without even noticing, which is all good practise that adds up! However, they may not write every day so I ensure that my all children in my class write something every day. Whether it’s a sentence, on a post it note, on a whiteboard or a full piece of writing, they will have written at least 1 sentence independently every day with me (which adds up over the course of a year!)
Praise the effort, not the attainment - The amount of effort a chld puts into their work is far more important than the outcome/attainment. If they’re praised for just the outcome, then that will be their sole focus, rather than trying and developing resilience to new challenges. I ensure that I praise the perseverance and effort children put into doing tasks, so it will encourage them to do so more in the future!
Be specific with praise - Following on from praising effort, I believe that being specific with your praise helps children more and teaches them exactly what is so good about what they are doing e.g. “You have put lots of effort into your colouring, well done” vs “I can see how much effort you have put into blending the green pencils so it is the same colour as the trees outside, well done!” Precise praise also feels more personal and helps to develop a stronger teacher/pupil working relationship.
Never be without a class mascot - I’ve written previously about the power of a class mascot (aka a small cuddly toy) but honestly having a toy that we can all look after brings the children and myself much closer together. It’s like a cheaper version of a class pet I suppose! Our current mascot Patrick the Puffin helps us with schoolwork, supports upset children, helps with behaviour management and is the star of many discussions with the children which really makes my day (and the job worthwhile!)
