Teaching philosophy

Due to the wise leaders of the United Arab Emirates, the education field has been given a great
position in the country. As a teacher, I believe that education is the foundation for countries
development. And constructing the fundamental basis of teaching in the UAE thrust it to be one
of who regularly records the first positions. I trust that educating kids and the youth is the true
wealth of a nation (Etemad, 2016). In this philosophy statement I will discuss some of my
pedagogical core beliefs:

Effective Reading:

Reading opens the minds and extends the knowledge. It takes you to journeys around the world
while you are sitting in your place. I believe in reading’s power. It has the talent to quietly teach
the people and excitedly educate the children. The actual reading is seen as an integral part of
childhood development and mental growth (Freire,1983). I considered the reading as a basic
solution to promote various essential skills, but it should be applied efficiently to benefit
students. Therefore, I trust in including the writing summary to be an interactive approach, which
basically supports readers to well understood the texts. For instance, during my teaching practice,
I had many students who were lack of writing skills. Thus, I implemented reading stories
sessions and then asked students to write summaries. It had a significant impact on the writing
skills. And I am sure that it would have a great influence on other skills such as the critical
thinking, the creative writing, speaking skills and the problem-solving.

Productive discussion:

At the core of my pedagogic philosophy is the belief that discussion during the session is
important. It promotes critical inquiry and logical reasoning. During the class time, I ensure to
react to the student’s answer and then quickly wait for other student’s comment, resulting in
asking again who has another opposite view, then enquire for analyzing and give logical reasons
from the rest of students. In this argumentative process, I postulate that most students will be
involved in completing the conversation and competing to offer their concepts. However, I
affirm that all learners will develop their critical thinking even if they did not participate
apparently by saying their opinions. Moreover, it supports the student’s exploration of different
information and it structures the intelligence of analysis and logic. The positive influence of this
approach has shown to systematically improve students’ rational writing, where it shows a broad
range of student's different ideas and well-evaluating of information (Swan, Shea &
Fredericksen, 2000). Moreover, this strategy promotes the social interaction. I aim to enhance the
natural route of students’ critical thinking to experience more advanced conversations like a
public speech or the freedom to express thoughts and creativity.

Educator’s manner is important:

The educator’s manner with the young students could influence student’s actions and behaviors.
Teaching the students what they have to do is superior to directly judge that they are guilty.
Teachers has to realize that in the classrooms we have young students who need to be nurtured
before they just have a lesson. In my teaching practice, I start the session with reminding
students about what they have to do, which recalls the classroom rules. However, sometimes I
see learners are not committed to my policies. As a result, my mentor school teacher was
proactive where she shot them out of the class, which I consider that to be incorrect. Therefore,
my strategy is “teach before punish” which means being a positive teacher who encourages,
reward, reinforce good students’ behaviors. This strategy can work if students feel honestly
inspired by teacher praise made within the class time. It will enhance their confidence to learn
more and act positively towards the good behaving (Belsky, 2008).

Technology vs. handwriting and cognitive development:

I appreciate the positive effect of technology in education field. It suits different learning styles
such as the visual and auditory learners. It has the great capability to engage wider children to
involve in entertaining learning. However, I strongly advice that getting young students practice
handwriting besides typing on iPads or computers. It is one of the traditional successful methods
that still has the high effectiveness of gaining knowledge, practice the writing skills, identifying
the information. It is like a part that completes the puzzle of teaching. For instance, for grade one
learners are learning the English letters; they won’t distinguish the letter or install it in their
minds until they write it on paper, color it, draw it, which enlightens the picture of that letter on
their brains. Further, they will understand today what do they have to learn. Moreover,
handwriting contributes to cognitive development and improves their mental involvement
(Spear-Swerling, 2006). Thus, alongside with the reliance on the technology, I strive to keep on
applying handwriting as essential skill which needed to be active for the most activities in
classroom. Moreover, it is good to specify time to practice writing every day. As I believe that it
improves many other skills such as the writing, fine motor skills, and develops the ability of the
high attention.

Conclusion:

I have realized that the most efficient method that makes my class time valuable and viable to
everyday experience is my interaction with students throughout the mental growth process.
Through my positive constructive feedback to my students I will be able to make this approach
so productive of critical thinkers. Additionally, through my choice of instructional principles that
draw my teaching style and strategies, I am striving to show how these beliefs establish a
powerful structure for teaching. I teach by these principles because of my belief that they provide
a path for enhancing oneself and one’s society.
References:

Belsky, J. (2008). Rewards are Better than Punishment: Here’s Why. Psychology Today.
Retrieved 15 September
2017, from https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/family-affair/200809/rewards-are-
better-punishment-here-s-why
Etemad, H. (2016). The changing global economy and its impact on international
entrepreneurship (1st ed., p.
265). Gheltnham: Edward Elgar.

Freire, P. (1983). The Importance of the Act of Reading. Journal of Education. 165(1), pp. 5 - 11

Retrieved March 23, 2018 from https://doi.org/10.1177/002205748316500103

Spear-Swerling, L. (2006). The Importance of Teaching Handwriting. Reading Rockets.

Retrieved 15 September
2017, from http://www.readingrockets.org/article/importance-teaching-handwriting
Swan, K., Shea, P., & Fredericksen, E. (2000). Building Knowledge Building Communities:
Consistency, Contact
and Communication in the Virtual ClassroomJournal of Educational Computing
Research - Karen Swan, Peter Shea, Eric Fredericksen, Alexandra Pickett, William Pelz,
Greg Maher, 2000. Journals.sagepub.com. Retrieved 16 September 2017, from
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/W4G6-HY52-57P1-PPNE