Running head: MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My Teaching Philosophy: Making a Difference

Richelle E. Colucci-Nunn
Drexel University

Running Head: MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

My Teaching Philosophy: Making a Difference

To be a teacher is to make a difference in children's lives. As a former social worker
working with adjudicated youth, I know that there are so many children who end up in the
system because they did not have appropriate support at an early age. As a teacher, my
sustained and close contact with children will afford me more opportunities to make a bigger
difference in more children's lives than I had as a social worker.
A teacher fills many roles as she develops appropriate learning environments and makes a
difference in her students' lives: guide, researcher, advocate, lifelong learner, turnaround person
(Benard, 2004), and key player in the child's microsystem and mesosystem. She guides her
students in the learning and development process and conducts action research in her classroom
to determine how to best meet her students' needs; these roles are supported by staying current on
child development research. A teacher also advocates for children in her classroom (and in
society at large), helps her students develop their resiliency, acts as a turnaround person for a
student when necessary, and for all students, acts as an integral connection between home, school
and the community as part of a student's mesosystem.
As a guide in the learning and development process, a teacher gives equal attention to all
domains of student development (cognitive, literacy/language, physical/motor, social/emotional,
and, I would argue, resiliency), since development in one domain can enhance development in
another. For example, facilitating play in the classroom enhances language, which has a
reciprocal effect on cognition and intelligence (Trawick-Smith, 2010). To effectively guide her
students, a teacher also creates a physical environment conducive to learning for a diverse group
of children; this environment should include displays and books that reflect and respect all types

Running Head: MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

of families, cultures, and people with disabilities.

Students should be viewed with respect to their innate temperament and developmental
level (which may not be consistent with their same age peers), within the context of their culture
and family values (not based on the values of the dominant culture), and as capable of achieving
high expectations (not lower expectations due to factors such as socioeconomic status or culture).
As a teacher, I would work with students from primarily a constructivist, social constructivist,
and ecological systems theory perspective, but would also judiciously apply concepts from
behaviorist theory.
To make a difference in students' lives, a teacher should allow students to take active roles
in the learning process. Not only does this foster autonomy in children and create an
environment in which opportunities for participation and contribution are maximized (Benard,
2004), but Vygotsky argues that children demonstrate their best problem solving abilities when
working with a more competent peer or adult (as cited in Trawick-Smith, 2010). In addition,
children in both the preoperational and concrete stages of development benefit from concrete,
hands-on learning experiences (Trawick-Smith, 2010), which suggests that a teacher-directed
learning environment is not appropriate for preschoolers, kindergarteners, or children in the early
primary grades.
A child-centered learning environment provides plenty of opportunities for social learning
and scaffolding, such as having children work in groups or assigned pairs on daily activities or
projects, which I believe will not only benefit field-sensitive learners (Trawick-Smith, 2010), but
all children, as it will teach them valuable collaboration skills. Sociodramatic play, another way
in which students can take an active role in their learning process, has the potential to not only

Running Head: MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

facilitate development of social competence but also language, creativity and cognitive
development (Trawick-Smith, 2010).
An understanding of age and developmental functioning influences the teaching process
as it serves as a guide for curriculum planning, identification of children with special needs,
understanding and appreciating diversity, and facilitating advocacy efforts. For example,
preschool teachers should plan a curriculum around development of social skills and making
friends, which may be the most important goals of early childhood programs (Trawick-Smith,
2010, p. 298). If a teacher does not understand the limitations to children's thinking in the
preoperational stage (and, to a lesser extent, in the concrete operational stage) or what behaviors
and skills are typical at a particular stage of development, she may develop a curriculum which is
not within a child's Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky as cited in Trawick-Smith, 2010),
thereby leading to the child's frustration or boredom. In the worst case scenario, a teacher could
fail to or inappropriately refer a child for evaluation of special needs if she does not understand
typical and atypical child development.
A teacher who makes a difference enjoys solving the puzzle behind the way each child
thinks at each stage of development (which cognitive structure is being used or what limitation is
impacting a specific thought process or behavior) so that she can work with the child more
effectively. She can also incorporate into her curriculum some of the activities suggested by
Trawick-Smith (2010) such as reversal activities and categorization to help children develop their
cognitive thinking skills at various stages of development. To address the varied levels of
development within her classroom, she can apply the instructional pluralism strategy suggested
by Hernandez (as cited in Trawick-Smith, 2010).

Running Head: MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Gardner argues that there are multiple intelligences (as cited in Trawick-Smith, 2010).
Because each child is a product of his own biological make-up, culture, and experiences, and
may possess a variety of multiple intelligences (although not necessarily the linguistic and
logical-mathematical competencies valued by the dominant society), multiple methods of
evaluation should be employed in the classroom to determine how and what students are
learning. Examples include culture-free tests and qualitative observations of performance. It is
important that cultural variations are kept in mind when assessing children using qualitative
observations, as not all cultures place the same value on certain skills or behaviors, and children
may not have had the opportunity or been encouraged to develop those skills or behaviors at
home. In addition to evaluating children across a wide range of development areas such as music
and movement (Trawick-Smith, 2010), a teacher who wants to make a difference will ensure that
each child is recognized for his own area of excellence, regardless of whether it is valued by the
dominant culture or even strictly related to the curriculum (such as a child whose strength is
being kind to others).
Family involvement affects the teaching and learning process in several ways. From an
ecological systems perspective, it is imperative for a teacher to involve the family and other
community supports in order to help the "whole" child. Baumrind has found that parenting styles
can impact a child's social, emotional, and intellectual development (as cited in Trawick-Smith,
2010). To better understand and work with students from a strengths-based perspective and
therefore help develop their resiliency, it is important to connect with all caregivers in students'
families and build a relationship with them. To truly make a difference, a teacher should work to
help families recognize and appreciate their child's talents and to foster resilience in the family

Running Head: MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

caregivers so that children have the best chance for a positive family environment. If, however,
the child does not have these relationships at home, a teacher can provide an alternative source
of protective, nurturing support (Benard, 2004, p. 65).
As I have discussed here, a teacher can make a difference in the lives of her students by
having a firm grasp of typical and atypical child development and employing multicultural
teaching strategies grounded in theory and research. Ultimately, however, I believe that for a
teacher to make a true difference, she should also possess the four clusters of turnaround teacher
competencies as described by Public Impact (2008): driving for results, influencing for results,
problem solving and personal effectiveness. I plan to be that teacher.

Running Head: MY TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

References
Benard, B. (2004). Resiliency: What we have learned. San Francisco: WestEd Publishing
Company.
Public Impact (2008). School turnaround teachers: Competencies for success [PDF document].
Retrieved from
http://www.eed.state.ak.us/stim/pdf/Turnaround_Teacher_Selection_Toolkit.pdf
Trawick-Smith, J. (2010). Early childhood development: A multicultural perspective (5th ed.).
Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill.