Teaching Philosophy

Statement of Teaching Philosophy

              Business Education focuses on providing background knowledge and developing critical thinking skills involved in addressing various business situations (IRP, 1997). There is a wide range of business courses: Keyboarding 8, Business Education 10, Accounting 11, Accounting 12, Financial Accounting 12, Marketing 11, Marketing 12, Business Computer Applications 11, Business Information Management 12, Data Management 12, Economics 12, Entrepreneurship 12, Management Innovation 12, and other locally developed courses (IRP, 1997).

It was in my Marketing 11 course where I was first taught how to be a leader. Until I took Marketing 11, I was never educated what it means to be a leader and how to become one. During my practicum, I hoped other courses would now emphasize leadership and have observed variety of non-business courses, ranging from Mathematics 12 to Dance 8, but, just as when I was in high school, none of those courses once mentioned the word “leader.”

While I recognize and value the importance of learning academics, I believe that ability to lead oneself and others is the most necessary skill to possess. Whether or not someone is pursuing a career in business, leadership is needed by all in everyday life. Here are two quotes that explain why I believe in business education:

“The most dangerous myth is that leaders are born…in fact, the opposite is true. Leaders are made rather than born.”  – Warren Bennis

“Education is the mother of leadership.” – Wendell Willkie

My goal as an educator is to teach my students how to be a leader. I believe that no one is born a leader, and that anyone can be a leader. To be a leader, one has to effectively communicate with others, work in teams, fulfill all the responsibilities, and be innovative. I not only want to teach my students how to work in teams and communicate effectively with each other, but also teach them how to be innovative. As Steve Jobs says, “Innovation is what distinguishes between a leader and a follower.”

I plan on employing project-based learning to expose my students to real-world business situations and get them use to working in teams. During my practicum, I gave my students multiple real-world business projects, such as making online surveys for Canadian companies and making ads for the school store, and experienced that the students were much more engaged in these real-world projects. I also saw that the project-based learning approach provided students deeper understand of business. As students worked on real-world business challenges, they learned how to work collaboratively with others, and how to effectively deliver their ideas and opinions across to each other. As students practiced different roles within the organization during these projects, they displayed leadership and responsibility. Moreover, I saw that innovation was being developed through sharing ideas.

Last but not least, I noticed how valuable reflection time is for students. I provided students reflection time at the end of each project, where students could reflect on strategies that went well and that didn’t, and how they can improve next time. I saw that students were taking this reflection time seriously and were honest in their reflections. Through reflection, I want students to motivate themselves and be their own leaders.

“Never doubt that a small of thoughtful, concerned citizens can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead _______________________________________________________________

Integrated Resource Package, Business Education 8 to 10, Required Model Content for Business Education 10, 1997 http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/applied_skills/support_materials/be10_sup.pdf