Teaching Philosophy

My personal teaching philosophy is built off a compilation of multiple learning theories. I

view them as a series of observations that can be compiled together to create a wider view on

how the human mind learns. With behaviorism as the foundation for the other three learning

theories, it offers a very basic explanation for the mode of operation most humans, and even

animals, use to relate to each other. Behaviorism is not isolated to a learning environment. It

dictates the way we interact with our family, friends and society. If an event or interaction

triggers an uncomfortable emotion inside of us, we instinctually associate the object causing that

response with the emotion we feel. It is important to understand this effect in the classroom

setting, as we can make more efforts to trigger good responses in our students. However, I do not

believe that conditioning is a one-way tool. Students can, and do, condition teachers in the same

way we may try to condition them. In the end, it is a cycle of humans doing what humans do.

While behaviorism describes the way we change and react to our environment,

constructivists and memory theories all work to describe mechanisms of the mind assembling

new information (Ormrod, 2015). Taken in isolation, any one theory falls short in describing the

full scope of contextual differences between informational stimuli we come across. Memory

theory describes the basic formula of what happens when information enters the mind—it is

received, used, and stored. Although psychologists debate the actual phases of memory, most of

the theories describe a similar pattern. Memory theory does an adequate job at describing how

the learning process feels in my own mind. I find it easier to work with complex information

written out before me (relieving the working memory), because it gets frustrating to continuously

try to recall the same facts over and over in order to solve a problem. I also can relate to theories

on the patterns of long-term memory storage. Most specifically, I can tell that information is both
stored and recalled easier in my mind when I am aware of the direct link/memory it relates to.

This information is very useful as a teacher, because it encourages me to use as many real-life

examples as I can, in hopes that the students will make solid connections between the content

and information that is already stored in their minds.

Even memory theory, with its enlightening tale on learning mechanisms, does not give

the full picture of how humans access new information. This is where Vygotsky and Piaget work

together to describe the constructivist theories—the kind of circumstances that push our minds to

expand and assemble new information. According to Piaget, our access to new information

comes through experiences. And according to Vygotsky, our access comes through social

interactions. In reality, learners encounter both internal and external learning stimuli; both

theories come with valuable information. From Piaget, we get the idea of learning in schemas, or

patterns (Settlage, 2017). This coincides well with memory theory’s description of storing new

information by connections we make to old memories. We have mental patterns on how we

access the world, and we assemble new information into those patterns, to continue making sense

of the world. Staying aware of this is very useful as a teacher. With the idea of schemas comes

the acknowledgment that our students are taking in the new information we give them in the

context of their previous perceptions—including their previous misconceptions. It is important to

stop and access the thinking patterns of our students in order to determine how their learning

may be misconstrued by misconceptions they hold. Vygotsky’s theory lands beautifully here by

letting us know that misconceptions will generally stay that way unless pointed out by social

interactions. As long as a student can keep making sense of new information through the lens of

their misconceptions, they will continue to hold those false ideas. We can see patterns of this in

people who grow up in small towns with like-minded people. They will usually adopt the
philosophies of those around them. It is not until we experience a new culture, or read a new

mindset, that we are likely to change our philosophical opinions or care about people groups we

had no relationship with. The same is true, and often less obvious, for the classic educational

subjects.

Vygotsky also contributed one of my favorite pieces of learning theory—the zone of

proximal development. This is a theory that heavily impacts my daily practice and use of

scaffolding. I believe more teachers would do well to heed to this principle. I witness students,

on a daily basis, giving up if an assignment is too hard. Instead of challenging them and allowing

them to grow, we often stifle their connection to learning by giving tasks that their minds are not

ready for. However, if you break down the assignment into smaller tasks, that they are more

comfortable with, or sit down and guide them through the thinking patterns, they stay motivated

and connected to the material. This is another reason it is important to assess student’s prior

knowledge and to continue modeling thinking patterns through challenging material.

Inquiry and student-centered learning are both applications of constructivist theories that

I practice in my classroom (Miranda & Hermann, 2012). It helps students to develop scientific

understanding in the context of interacting with a new phenomenon (social) as well as building

on personal schemas they have of the world.

Learning theory is diverse and often divisive. In order to gain optimal benefit from these

great theorists, I choose to take the pieces of their work that make the most sense and are most

applicable to my daily life as a teacher. For me, this has meant incorporating more real-life

examples, modeling thinking patterns, scaffolding scientific principles, and inquiry to create an

environment where my students can learn most effectively.

References:

Miranda, R. J., & Hermann, R. S. (2012). An Integrated Instructional Approach to Facilitate Inquiry in

the Classroom. Science Scop, 35, 66-72. Retrieved November 16, 2017.

Ormrod, J. (2015). Human Learning + Pearson Etext Access Card (7th ed.). Pearson College Div.

Settlage, J., Southerland, S. A., Smetana, L. K., & Lottero-Perdue, P. S. (2017). Teaching science to

every child: using culture as a starting point (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.