Professional Philosophy

Why Do I Teach?

There are many reasons as to why I teach, it started with an inspiration teacher that engaged me in a topic I had deemed boring and unworthy of my time, as I grew up my reasons for wanting to teach grew too. That impact you can have on a student life and that rewarding sense you get when you've engaged a student that previously had been uninterested. However, these reasons are unparalleled with the one that has driven me the most throughout my education career, the 'AH-HA!' moment that students get. When their faces twist from puzzlement and confusion to realisation and understanding.

What Does Good Teaching Mean to Me?

Good teaching to me means creating meaningful and positive relationships with students, colleagues and the community in order to understand your students and be able to teach successfully. Relationships combined with an arsenal of pedagogies enables a teacher to become adaptable in most situations. As reinforced through my three vastly different classes on my practicums, students are each unique and no class will respond to material the same as another and therefore require different styles if the teacher is going to be effective.

What Does Effective Learning Mean to Me?

Differentiation is the practice that encourages effective learning the most to me, as it engages students on a variety of levels; readiness, interest and learning profile. Effective learning is most often achieved when the students are captivated by the task and the topic. Through knowledge of students and effective planning, students can participate in effective learning.

Do I Have a Particular Teaching Style or Approach?

My teaching style tends to adapt to the classroom I am in, whether they are Foundation aged or in Year 7. The one consistent aspect I have maintained throughout my classroom experiences is building positive relationships with the students and educating myself about their different learning styles and needs as a student and person. Therefore, my teaching approach is very much relationship orientated.

 How Do I Continue to Improve?

Self and peer assessment is a factor that is prevalent in my teaching career, I aim to seek out advice from peers in order to improve on any area that I can. Professional Development is also a focus of my ongoing career from assessment and recording skills, time and behaviour management to technology workshops and courses. Some of the most valuable feedback I seek out is that of my students; they are the ones who are most affected by my teaching and therefore will be the people who drive change and improvement the most.