Running head: TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 1

Teaching Philosophy: Lessons of the Past for the Future

Erick M. Balandran

Undergraduate Student at the University of Texas at El Paso

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY 2

Abstract

This paper will explain the different teaching methods I was exposed to during the

semester, including what I learned during my time observing other teachers conduct their own

lessons. Additionally, it reflects my own personal views that I feel are important and relevant for

educators to utilize as well as the teaching and learning methods that I feel are important to

effective teaching and how I will utilize these skills in the future. As a teacher in secondary

school, I plan on connecting with my students through technology so that they can be ready to

utilize technology when they get to college should they pursue a higher education. This falls in

line with the connectivist theory, which will be elaborated in my essay. Being a relatively new

teaching method, I think it fitting for a new teacher to use this method for class enjoyment. After

all, teaching is supposed to be fun for both parties, at least that is what I believe.
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Teaching Philosophy: Lessons of the Past for the Future

My views on teaching and learning are very simple: I wish to educate students not just in

my subject area, but also by teaching them lifelong goals and lessons by using my subject area. I

feel that the best way to achieve this goal is to create strong and healthy bonds with my students,

especially since we will be seeing each other for most of the year. In my hours of observing

classes this semester, I have noticed that students tend to listen to teachers they like rather than

those they dislike. What I’ve noticed in these observations is that the teachers who were not liked

were the ones who continually assigned reading on a nightly basis. Given that I too wish to use

books, I will use a different approach to connect with the students to get on their good side, such

as using favorite shows to connect with readings. Additionally, I will be learning from them how

to properly reach out to them and how to engage them in the classroom. As far as I am

concerned, teaching works both ways between the educator and the student, and I hope to learn

from them as much as I hope to teach. This essay will serve to elaborate on my teaching

philosophy as I discuss past experiences in school while covering what I have learned from

observing teachers at work and in my career towards becoming an educator, and by addressing

how this relates to my learning theory and how I plan to act as an educator.

In my lifetime, I have met two teachers that truly made an impact on me and had the

biggest influence on me to choose teaching as the career I wanted to pursue. The qualities that

these teachers had that made them stand out was their willingness to connect with their students

to truly reach and educate them. These two teachers saw students as human beings and treated us

as such and were effective in passing along both their lessons from the class and life lessons to

us. I wish to do the exact same with my students as an educator. I want to be able to effectively

connect with my students so that I can reach them and truly pass on knowledge not just of my
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subject area, but on life. I do not want to just teach a lesson to my students that they will

remember for the day but lessons they will think about as they go on through life. The teachers

that impacted me did not just stick to their given subjects to educate us; they used other mediums

to help us learn both their subjects and to prepare us for the future. I intend on implementing the

same teaching methods by utilizing what I can to help me connect with my students. This falls in

line with the connectivist learning theory. This theory, as explained by John Gerard Scott Goldie,

the former lead researcher in the evaluation of ethics learning in Glasgow University’s

curriculum for 10 years, states that: “connectivism asserts that knowledge and learning

knowledge are distributive, i.e. they are not located in any given place, but instead consists of

networks of connections formed from experience and interactions between individuals, societies,

organizations and the technologies that link them” (Goldie, 2016). I plan on incorporating

technology into my lessons beyond just PowerPoint slides. One tool I am familiar with is

Edmodo, which acts as a pseudo social-media site that is school-centered. Another app is

Kahoot, which is a game like Jeopardy that can be played on laptops or cell phones to answer

questions based on a lesson.

During my time spent observing teachers conduct their classes, I was exposed to various

teaching methods. For example, one teacher read a book to her students while pausing every now

and again to elaborate on key words or phrases. Another teacher placed her students in pairs and

had them rotate partners to get new viewpoints while completing worksheets analyzing pictures

or works of literature. The group work method really stuck with me because the students were all

actively engaged in the activity but most importantly, it helped students build bonds with each

other. This aligns with the collaborative learning theory that, as Amy Hoaglund, Karen

Birkenfeld, and Jean Box, faculty members in the undergraduate teacher education program at
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Samford University, state, “in order for the group to be successful, the members had to

collaborate and share responsibilities. They had to work together to problem solve as well as

complete complex tasks” (Hoaglund, Birkenfeld, and Box, 2014). Teamwork went a long way

with the students in keeping them engaged with the activity. As the article described, this was a

successful collaborative culture for the students. Additionally, the classroom setup facilitated

working in the power zone, one of the “five critical practices that are at the core of highly

effective instruction” (Cain and Laird, 2014). It also allowed students to converse with one

another in small and effective groups, which is another one of the five critical practices. I intend

on working in the power zone as well and after seeing how beneficial small group purposeful

talk can be, I intend to use that tactic frequently. Similarly, seeing how useful group activities

have been in my college classes has helped me develop a fondness for group activities. I used to

prefer individual work over group work because I felt it was a waste of time and just an

annoyance especially when it came to projects. However, I have come to realize that being in a

group does not necessarily equate to projects. Group work can be something as simple as sharing

ideas and providing feedback to one another and receiving peer feedback is useful to producing

quality work while also measuring understanding, as was the case in the classes I observed this

semester. Discussions were at the center of the groups, but no conversation was ever the same as

groups rotated so ideas could be shared between two different individuals.

I never really paid much attention to the different teaching methods and techniques used

by my teachers and professors until this semester. One of my professors always talked about

never disciplining their students or making them feel bad for going off topic or using their

phones rather than paying attention. Instead, she always found a way to make a connection with

the lesson to whatever had the student’s attention at the time, as is the center of the connectivism
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theory (Goldie, 2016). This inspires creativity and works the imagination with students,

something that is not used often enough in class. This brings me to another professor I have who

encourages students to use more than just textbooks when it comes to learning. Graphic novels,

videos and pictures are some examples of different tools available to educators that are not

utilized as often as they should be. I noted in one of the dual-credit classes I observed that the

students regularly used laptops to access Blackboard or databases or even useful websites

containing information relevant to the day’s lesson. I began to think that we should be striving to

find ways for technology to be helpful in the classroom. One such way to implement technology

in the classroom is by using an application (app) for mobile devices called Edmodo. This app

acts as a social media platform that is student-centered. The student-centered approach is one

that, as communications instructor at Skyline College Jennifer Mair writes, “Dialogue and

deliberation skills have a place in every sphere of life. They support productive communication

and navigation of challenging conversations and situations in all our relationships, whether in the

workplace, in our homes, or in our communities” (Mair, 2016). In this instance, students can

deliberate with each other as well as the teacher for any questions, which is useful for students

who are unable to meet with teachers after school. It also allows teachers to post assignments or

alerts for what to expect in class or what is expected to be turned in the next day, ensuring

students do not forget about their homework. Given that the app acts as a social media platform,

it allows students to remind each other about upcoming events for them to attend as a group. The

most important takeaway from this is that it allows students to communicate with each other as

well as the teacher, allowing a healthy bond to form. I plan on integrating this app with my

students as a professor since it can be extremely versatile in reaching out to students while

allowing them to reach out to me for any questions they have regarding assignments.
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The learning theory that I have really taken a liking to is the connective approach to

learning. As Goldie states, this theory views “Knowledge is viewed as a process, fluid and

dynamic flowing through networks of humans and their artifacts” (Goldie, 2016). The reason I

am fond of this method is because of how relevant it is to both teachers and students. Teachers

can connect with students using technological platforms like Blackboard to keep track of

assignments while making announcements. Similarly, teachers need to collaborate among each

other to revise lesson plans and discuss what activities engage the student body to improve their

lessons for the next day. This resonates with the collaborative group theory mentioned by

Hoaglund, Birkenfeld, and Box. These faculty members state that in their collaborative cultures,

“The focus of the group was learning: their own professional learning as well as that of the

students they were serving.” (Hoaglund, Birkenfeld, and Box, 2014). Teaching is a very group-

oriented field, so I believe it is best for everyone to get along with each other. This theory applies

to both students and educators, and thus I will rely on using group discussions over readings as

well as images relevant to readings to help fuel discussions. Similarly, I will use apps like

Kahoot to measure understanding and use Edmodo to remain reachable to students.

As a potential English teacher, I want to help my students find a love for literature so that

they can read on their own time. Reading is an activity most students despise doing, so I aim to

change their attitudes about it. Group work comes into play here by having students discuss

symbolism or characters among each other to see who notices what details about the reading. I

then want them to extend their discussion to real life situations where they can imagine scenes

from shows or movies that match what is going on in the reading. This helps them cement the

information in their minds, but also helps me create future lessons that I may make connections

to what their interests are. My focus of using literature is to help students with their critical
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thinking skills so that they may identify themes presented in novels or plays in real life. In a

lecture on September 18, 2018, to a SCED 3311 class, Doctor Arroyo discussed and showed the

class an image of Bloom’s Revised Taxonomy Wheel through a PowerPoint slide. According to

this image, this falls under the “Analyze” portion of the wheel, which challenges students to

identify information outside of just the text (Arroyo, 2018).

In conclusion, my philosophy is centered around group work and forming bonds between

students and teachers. Group activities will help students grow and ensure that everyone

understands the lesson, while educators can collaborate and improve lesson plans for their

students together. This will be helpful in passing on an important life lesson because throughout

college and whatever career field students choose to go in to, group work and activities will be

common. The sooner they realize the importance of creating and maintaining bonds, the better

prepared they will be for the future. Similarly, I can learn a lot by seeing their interactions among

each other to better connect to them and make my lessons even more engaging to them.
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Works Cited

Arroyo, R. (2018). The Fundamental 5 [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from

https://blackboardlearn.utep.edu/bbcswebdav/pid-2303581-dt-content-rid-

49579031_1/courses/11498.201910/The%20Fundamental%205_2nd%20Half%20Fall.18.

pdf

Cain, S., & Laird, M. (2014). Introduction. In The Fundamental 5: the Formula for Quality

Instruction (pp. 1-13). Charleston, SC: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform.

Goldie, J. G. S. (2016). Connectivism: A knowledge learning theory for the digital age? Medical

Teacher, 38(10), 1064–1069. Retrieved from

https://doi.org/10.3109/0142159X.2016.1173661

Hoaglund, A. E., Birkenfeld, K., & Box, J. A. (2014). Professional Learning Communities:

Creating a Foundation for Collaboration Skills in Pre-Service

Teachers. Education, 134(4), 521–528. Retrieved from http://0-

search.ebscohost.com.lib.utep.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=97061258&site

=ehost-live&scope=site

Mair, J. (2016). Empowering and Transforming a Community of Learners via a Student-Centered

Approach to Campus Dialogue and Deliberation. New Directions for Community

Colleges, 2016(173), 111–119. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.1002/cc.20196