top of page

Personal Teaching Philosophy

The seven core tenets of my teaching philosophy are the independent learner, the student-focused classroom, explicit expectations, focused engagement, metacognitive coaching, character education and whole-curriculum connections.

 

1. The Independent Learner

 

The big idea:

The ultimate goal of education is the development of a self-reliant individual who has the necessary skills to confidently understand and productively participate in their society. Therefore, although I am committed to creating an optimal environment for learning, my aim is always to arm all students with the skillsets that will allow them to thrive independently in any environment they may face in the future, and succeed in their own self-directed endeavours.

What this means in practice:

As each student works through my units of learning, I regularly evaluate how the individual demonstrates these core skills (critical thinking, literacy, conscientiousness, etc.) and include them when I identify both immediate specific goals and broader long-term goals in my ongoing feedback.

 

2. The Student-Focused Classroom

 

The big idea:

My ideal classroom is one in which I do as little of the talking as realistically possible, and tell my students nothing that they are able instead to tell each other. My role is to guide them, through design of classroom activities as well as encouragement of good metacognitive habits, towards finding and sharing knowledge through productive avenues of independent and collaborative inquiry.

What this means in practice:

I put a lot of thought into the questions I pose students, to make sure that I am guiding them socratically towards productive reasoning processes rather than calling on rote learning recital. I also consider what conditions create the most productive student dialogues, and will take measures such as splitting the class into two groups so that one may have a guided discussion with room for participation from every student, while the other works on assignments, and then switch.

 

 

3. Explicit Expectations

The big idea:

The most significant finding of Hattie’s monumental meta-analysis on effective practice was the power of what he called ‘visible learning’, which is unleashed when every student understands and recognises the whole process of learning: what they are learning about, what skills they are developing, and how they can measure their improvement. This awareness gives students ownership of their own learning. This finding is fundamental to my teaching method, and I take from it that I must always clearly articulate what I expect students to do in my classes.

What this means in practice:

This means that I set and maintain clear expectations of student preparation and classroom routines; I signpost what we are doing with consistent cues, such as whiteboard notices, at all times; I provide clear and frequent feedback whenever I can to help students track their process of learning; and I model the skills we are working on with explained exemplars.

 

 

4. Focused Engagement

The big idea:

The ability to focus is a key life skill in a modern world in which students face unprecedented obstacles to fixing their attention for extended periods of time. One of the most basic things that I believe in developing in students is thus the  ability to focus their attention consciously and constructively. This is an important component of the elusive but prized goal of ‘engagement’ in schoolwork, and so I think carefully about how to help students to focus by regularly refreshing their minds through smooth shifts of the modes of attention that I engage.

 

What this means in practice:

I vary activities in intervals of 5-20 minutes between modes such as reading, audiovisual content, class discussions, written exercises, small group tasks, rapid-fire games, tactile and kinaesthetic activities, and non-curricular brain breaks. While research does not support the belief that students benefit from catering to their individual ‘learning styles’, it does show that this kind of variety keeps them focused and stimulated without leading to fatigue.

 

 

5. Metacognitive Coaching

 

The big idea:

It is self-evident that asking ’Any questions?’ is a terrible way to gauge whether a class is following the material, largely because students who are struggling at all will often feel uncertain about the kind of questions they should even ask. Thus I find it is infinitely more useful to teach students to identify the kind of questions they should raise and investigate in any learning context, and to draw confidence from the reasoning process that they internalise rather than feel uncomfortable about not yet knowing the specific answer to any given question.

What this means in practice:

In practice, this means that I explicitly incorporate ‘thinking routines’ into my materials and raise them with struggling students. I also observe students thoughtfully to try to identify the kind of thinking patterns they follow, and guide them towards more productive thought processes, including constructive attitudes about themselves and their learning.

 

 

6. Character Education

 

The big idea:

I am inspired by the best ideas that have come out of research in Positive Education, especially seeking whole-student development and wellbeing, building on character strengths and encouraging the ‘growth mindset’ with an internal locus of control. I believe that the attitudes and skills that allow students to thrive amount to what can be called strength of character, which can and should be a part of every education.

 

What this means in practice:

I consider the individual personality types and character strengths of my students, in order to play to those strengths and encourage the traits that they should be proud of, so that they may evaluate themselves as learners without drawing comparisons to an abstract ideal of a ‘model student’ with strengths and preferences that inevitably vary from their own.

 

 

7. Whole-Curriculum Connections

 

The big idea:

Coming back around to the original goal of developing the skills of the independent learner, I am dedicated to drawing out the connections between all areas of the curriculum so that students can connect the relevance of their whole education to their own lives and futures. I believe that finding such personal significance is key to experiencing the autonomy, mastery and purpose which have been identified as driving all highly motivated students.

 

What this means in practice:

I am always looking for opportunities to combine different disciplines and skills within my own subjects and in collaboration with other teachers. I try to help all students to find subtopics of personal interest in line with their own values and priorities, as these are the inquiries that will help them to discover the individual meaning and purpose of their education.

bottom of page