Personal Teaching Philosophy

James S Diekmann

Chico State University

EDTE-265

Professor Teja

February 26 2023
 Personal Teaching Philosophy

Each educator must form a personal teaching philosophy. This philosophy is what

separates one teacher from another. While many teachers will have similar philosophies, each

one will be unique in some way, as no two teachers are exactly the same. I will be discussing

what I think makes an effective classroom environment, my ideal curriculum, and my methods of

assessment. My teaching philosophy is based on experiences I have had as a student and what I

imagine would work well in the future. If I had to boil down my philosophy to one phrase, it

would be a simple, “Don’t be boring.”

I have a distinct memory of a lesson I learned long ago in my third-grade science class.

My teacher wanted to show us how molecules in different states of matter behaved. To help us

understand she split the classroom into groups of three. One group was solid matter, they had to

group up together, physically touching one another, and weren’t allowed to move around, only

vibrate. The second group was the liquids, they could slide around one another and had to move

to fill the space of the classroom they were provided with. Finally, the last group was the air

molecules, they could bounce around the classroom freely and were not bound together at all.

This was a simple exercise, but the students loved it. We were able to stand up and move around

while also learning about molecules. I never forgot that lesson and today I find it impressive that

my teacher was able to pull it off so flawlessly. The lesson was easy to remember because she

associated each state of matter with a physical movement that we performed. The action also

engaged the students physically and allowed them to get out of their seats and have a little fun

during the lesson. When I look back on the lessons that stuck out to me most from school, they

are all lessons that dared to be different. When my teachers took risks and tried something new

and interesting I remembered the lesson much better. I have likely forgotten many lessons that
 Personal Teaching Philosophy

were simply lectured to me because my brain was not presented the information in an interesting

way. I will not be teaching science, but I hope to use similar tactics to engage students when

teaching history.

When I think back on my favorite classes from school, I understand that the classes that I

enjoyed the most were ones where the teacher had a good relationship with their students. I

believe that the ability to build up a relationship with students goes a long way to creating a

successful classroom atmosphere. Building up a relationship with students creates a mutual

atmosphere of respect, which allows for a more engaged audience and a more engaged teacher as

well. As a student, this factor determined whether or not I was excited to attend a class.

Since learning about the different philosophies of teaching and learning,

Constructivism has stood out to me the most as the one I personally relate to.  Constructivism

acknowledges that students are not just empty shells but are people who have individual lives

and different experiences.  If there is one thing I believe, it is that learning should not be boring. 

It is a shame that many students associate learning with being bored by an excess of information

that they deem useless.  Truly I believe that there is a way to make learning about anything fun,

and using Constructivist principles is a great way to keep education fun and interesting to

students.  Constructivism states that students do not learn in a void but apply the new

information they learn to the rest of their life experiences and construct a unique worldview

based on that combination of knowledge. Constructivism also emphasizes human interaction and

sharing opinions as the best way to exchange information and I couldn’t agree more. I think that

the classroom as a community is extremely important. Students must learn to form their own

opinions even when they are all presented with the same information. My job as a teacher is not
 Personal Teaching Philosophy

to tell students how to think, but rather to give them the tools and information they need and let

them put the rest together on their own.

As a future history teacher, the learning outcomes for my curriculum are different from

other subjects. My students will not need to solve problems in the way a student in a math class

would. I would relate History class as being closer to an English class, which often stresses the

interpretation of events and what they mean in a larger picture. I would like my students to

remember important dates and historical figures, but this is less important to me than

understanding major concepts in history. I will ask my students more often about why

something happened rather than how it happened or when it happened. There is much greater

depth in answering why something happened and how it changed history in the long run. For

example, it is easy for a student to tell me that World War Two began in 1939 and ended in

1945, but it is more important that a student understands why World War Two happened and the

effect it had on the Great Depression in America.

I would like to assess my students in a variety of ways both traditional and nontraditional.

I do believe that quizzes and tests are a good method of assessment, but tests cause stress for

students and too many tests will be counterproductive to learning. I think presentations are a

good way for students to show what they have learned while simultaneously teaching other

students. I do not think I will assign essays more than once a year, but a simple three-page essay

on a topic chosen from a bank of options can also be a good way for students to show what they

have learned. I find that it is good to give students assessment options to choose from whenever

possible. It allows the student to choose an option they are most comfortable with and would

like to do. It also creates a more varied learning experience for students.
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At the end of the day, I want to provide my students with a friendly supportive learning

environment that allows them to choose what they feel is the best option for their education. I

would also like to teach in a way that engages students and does not present information in a

boring way. I want to shape how students view the world and interact with History as well as

each other.