MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

The Institute of Teachers' Professional Teaching Standards Framework combined with the Quality Teaching Framework sets a high standard of expectations of teachers which is befitting of a profession of such great importance. As teachers, we hold a significant degree of influence over our students and their future and thus I feel it is crucial that I am always striving to be the best teacher that I can be. I believe strongly in being a lifelong learner and in always seeking to build upon my knowledge and improve my pedagogy. I see this occurring not only through additional study/training but also through cooperation with peers and learning from my students. My passion for teaching stems from my own love of learning. Quality teachers have inspired me and showed me the impact a teacher can make and my teaching experiences have shown me that not only can we make a significant positive impact on our students but they also can do the same for us. For this reason, I seek to create a classroom environment that is one of mutual respect and where the students feel safe and valued. I aim to do so by placing great importance on getting to know all of my students so that I can best cater to their differing needs. I believe that including my students in decision making and allowing them to make choices in the classroom will empower them and help them to develop intrinsic motivation and a passion for learning. When students make choices it will also help to make the learning significant for the students which is an important part of teaching as is reflected in its prominent place in the Quality Teaching Framework. For similar reasons, I believe it is highly important to make strong home-school links and always seek to find ways to include the students' parents and care givers in the classroom. When planning, I look not only at ensuring I fulfill the requirements of the syllabus but also make strong considerations of notions such as Blooms Taxonomy and Gardner's Multiple Intelligences to ensure that I am attempting to cater for the different learning styles that are present in my classroom. I believe assessment is the foundation stone of any teaching. It is important to keep accurate up-to-date records of student progress from both formative and summative assessment as this will allow me to be aware of my students' current capabilities and to be able to plan appropriate lessons and make modifications where necessary. Constant assessment will also allow me to monitor my own teaching and assess the success of my approaches based on student improvement. Likewise, I find my own critical reflection on lessons or incidents in the school environment as a very useful tool for my own professional development. With regards to behaviour management, I believe that behaviour performs a function and behind it is a reason. It is imperative that I seek to address these rather than just reacting to the behaviour itself. In order to change challenging behaviour I must look at the variables in the environment that lead to the behaviour and determine an appropriate intervention which focuses on adjusting the environment so that appropriate behaviour is supported. In order to promote appropriate behaviour, I need to create a classroom environment based around notions of positive behaviour support. In order to achieve this I must provide explicit instruction about school and classroom behaviour expectations. Further, I aim to help develop student coping skills and calming strategies and make use of proactive strategies such as using appropriate reinforcers and in particular by catching them being good. This will ensure that my focus is on promoting positive behaviour rather than just stopping the negative.