Teaching Philosophy

When considering your philosophy in education, one must first ask themselves the
question, Why do I teach? Individuals must be able to identify their reasoning as so to why
they became and are a teacher, which will lead to their purpose and role as an educator. Their
answer to this question, Why do I teach? will impact their philosophical beliefs and pedagogy.
I believe all children are exceptional individuals who have unique learning abilities. Not
one child is equivalent therefore, not all children learn the same. All children have various
backgrounds, various funds of knowledge and various experiences that contribute to their
understanding and learning. As an educator it is my role to teach and meet the needs of these
students, who are completely different from one another. Due to these vast differences among
my students, this greatly impacts literacy in my classroom. As a special education, reading
teacher I have firsthand experiences with readers, who are all at different reading levels. Though
I have students who are at different levels, I need to keep in mind that they also have a specific
learning disability in reading; and as an educator I need to cultivate their learning at their
academic present levels. Therefore, the foundation of my philosophy stands strong with theorist
Lev Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner and Louise Rosenblatt.
Curriculum Statement
Throughout my masters program in literacy education, I learned about new insights and
new perspectives on literacy that has shaped my education and literacy philosophy. I must first
begin with the behavioral approach because this impacts my everyday decisions as a teacher
when it comes to local, state, and national policy. This approach is usually based on a plan,
sometimes called a blueprint or document. Goals and objectives are specified, content and
activities are sequenced to coincide with the objectives, and learning outcomes are evaluated in

relation to the goals and objectives, (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013, p. 2) Based on how I been
taught at the University of Toledo and The University of Nevada, Las Vegas this approach has
been instilled in my views of education planning. As this is my approach, the domain I follow
defines curriculum as a plan for achieving goals, (p. 8). I believe in order to teach any
concept, an objective, or target skill you must have the end goal in mind. However, Lev
Vygotsky, Jerome Bruner, and Louise Rosenblatts work particularly corresponds with my
personal teaching philosophy.
Teaching/Instructional Practices
As stated earlier, I believe the role of an educator is to provide instruction that meets their
students needs as well as foster their education. To begin this concept, I will start with Jerome
Bruners theory on the act of learning.
According to Bruner, (1960) he stated the following:
Learning a subject seems to involve three almost simultaneous processes. First there is
acquisition of new information-often information that runs counter to or is a replacement
for what the person has previously known implicitly or explicitly. At the very least it is a
refinement of previous knowledge, (p. 48).
I believe activating students prior knowledge is very important when teaching any new lesson,
topic, or skill. I believe this gives me an opportunity to see what my students may already know
and allows me to observe and evaluate students initial understandings. All students come to
school with funds-of knowledge and it is important for students to have an opportunity to reveal
their understandings. This allows my classroom to be a safe place to share and discuss their
thoughts whether it is correct or not. Also, by activating prior knowledge, it allows me to debunk

any misconceptions that my students may have. It truly is an opportunity to informally assess
my students as well as create a baseline of where my students are before I continue to teach a
lesson, topic, or skill.
Not only is activating prior knowledge important for teaching a new lesson or skill, but is
also important to use throughout teaching. Activating prior knowledge can used for review,
connecting lessons, and connecting previous learning from students. I agree with Bruner (1960)
that this is and should be the first step in teaching and the first process of learning.
To cultivate my students literacy needs and learning further, I need to continue to be the
facilitator in the classroom and continue to give them guidance. The way this can be done is
through Lev Vygotskys proposal of zone of proximal development. ZPD is the gap between the
childs level of actual development determined by independent problem solving and her level of
potential development determined by problem solving supported by an adult or through
collaboration with more capable peers, (Dixon-Krauss, 1996, p. 15) Due to my belief in
Vygotskys theory of zone of proximal development this affects the way I teach.

This theory is

what I believe and hold true to when teaching students literacy skills and key concepts from
Common Core State Standards. Educators must provide assistance and support when teaching
new concepts and/or challenging tasks to students.
I apply Vygotskys theory by implementing some of the teaching practices that connect to
his ideas by using a variety of methods and strategies such as: scaffolding (term not used by
Vygotsky), guided participation, and peer interaction. The term scaffolding is often used when
adults or other more competent individuals provide some form of guidance or structure that
enables children to perform tasks in their zone of proximal development, (Ellis Ormrod, 2008,

p. 45). Through my teaching experiences, I use this method when introducing difficult and
complex tasks. Students are still cognitively developing and need this direction from their
teacher to help promote their development of thinking with gradual release.
Another approach from Vygotskys theory is guided participation or also called assistive
learning. This idea is correlated to Vygotskys theory or zone of proximal development that I
believe in. With guided participation or assistive learning, the educator actually challenges the
student beyond their zone of proximal development but within the learners scope.
Vygotsky argues that current learning can be conceptualized as the zone of actual
development (ZAD) and this is where minimal learning occurs because the child is doing
what he/she can already do without assistance. But when the learner is challenged beyond
their ZAD, and assisted by more capable others, to work within the ZPD then there is
potential for new learning. (Morcom, 2014, p. 19)
This is important to the way I teach because once I teach students a new concept by scaffolding, I
must also know that students need to be challenged and my role is ultimately changed. I am
there to assist students and guide them if they are to struggle or if the material becomes too
complex. However, the ultimate goal is to promote development within students own learning.
The last teaching practice I implement from Vygotsky is peer interaction. I believe in
cooperative learning and student-led instruction. After I fulfilled the first two strategies, of
scaffolding (modeling) and guided participation or assistive learning (guided practice), I then let
my students work together to practice the concept (independent practice). Dixon-Krauss (1995)
cited Vygotskys work by stating, Learning occurs as the child gradually internalizes higher
level thought processes that are activated through social interaction with an adult or in

collaboration with capable peers. (Vygotsky, 1986). I believe in student cooperation in my

classroom. Students are expected to collaborate, help, and support one another. Students learn
this very early on that I frequently have small group and/or pair activities. Teamwork is a
common theme that can be see within my classroom. Vygotsky's theory emphasizes social and
communicative use of language among adults and peers or peers with peers.
These are the three main notions that I whole heartedly believe in from Vygotskys theory
of zone of proximal. I believe that these are the necessary steps to partake in as special
education reading teacher. The next step as an educator is to continue to implement these
concepts so that my students can reach their highest potential through my instruction, coaching
and training.
Learning Environment
As I move away from my teaching practices, I will begin to focus on my internal goal as
a reading teacher. Going back to the question, Why do I teach? I want to focus on what I hope
to instill in my students when they are responding to literacy and that is hoping they fall love
with reading. I as a teacher, need to encourage and nurture students as they respond to a text. At
this point, it is not about how to teach reading but how to shape a young reader.
Authors, Mills, Stephens, OKeefe and Waugh (2004) utilize Rosenblatts theory and
explained:
Literature, is valued not because readers acquire information from it but because
literature provides additional experiences. When teachers bring this understanding to their
work with children they use texts to help children live beyond their ordinary lives-to
come to understand, from the inside, about other people, other places, other time, (p. 49).

This concept is important to me as teacher because I need to inspire and encourage my students
not only to become good readers but to have a love for reading. Many new understandings,
interpretations and insights can occur when a reader can take a step back from the demands of
school policies and can actually have discourse with the teacher and other students. Rosenblatts
theory of transaction and transactional allows the opportunity for students to interact with the
text, in which I try my very best to implement in my classroom because I feel this is extremely
important when considering literacy.
Conclusion
In the end, I will continue to learn what is necessary, as an educator, to meet the needs of
my students. Their learning is in my hands and I need to ensure that I shape and mold their
education to the best of my ability. As I stand strong with my philosophy and pedagogy as it is
today, I will always consider to rethink the posed question, Why do I teach? years to come.

Bibliography
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Cobb, J. B., & Kallus, M. K. (2011). Historical, theoretical, and sociological: foundations of
reading in the united states. Boston, MA: Pearson Education Inc.
Dixon-Krauss, L. A. (1995). Partner reading and writing: peer social dialogue and the zone of
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Ellis Ormrod, J. (2008). Educational psychology: educational psychology. Upper Saddle River,
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Mills, H., Stephans, D., O'Keefe, T., & Waugh, J. R. (2004). Theory in practice: the legacy of
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Morcom, V. (2014). Scaffolding social and emotional learning in an elementary classroom: a
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Rosenblatt, L. (1995). Literature of Exploration (5th ed.). New York: The Modern Language
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