Preamble: The Oxford philosophy professor, Simon Blackburn, once shared this tongue-in-cheek story about teaching:
I was a member of the the then sub-faculty of philosophy some 30 years ago when the chairman received a letter requesting he provide detail about teaching innovations we had recently made. His reply was that the right method of teaching philosophy was discovered by Socrates some 2,500 years ago, and we had no intention of changing it.
Below is my personal philosophy of education, which is a little more open to change than the Oxford Philosophy Department!
Educational Purpose
To use teenager parlance, education is a life hack. The alternatives to education are terrible: premature death or needing to learn first-hand the survival and thriving skills of billions of human ancestors. While these are laughably unrealistic scenarios, education is nevertheless an immeasurable gift humanity confers on future generations; it deserves recognition, respect, and gratitude.
In my view, the purpose of education is to enable students to lead an engaging, healthy, and joyful life. Being healthy refers to making informed choices which promote optimal physical and mental health (unavoidable illness and disability excluded).
School-based (or formal academic) education has the same purpose as above, as well as age-defined content and cognitive mastery goals.
In the above, I ascribe “purpose” to education rather than “goal”. Goal refers to an end; a final product. Purpose is a continuing, meaningful reason for being. I refer to education serving a purpose, a reason-for-being, rather than a means to an end.
Society’s investment in the individual (and vice versa)
I passionately believe everyone has the same potential to lead an engaging, healthy, joyful and academically-fulfilling life. I recognize that the educational resources required to reach this potential varies from person to person. Therefore, it falls on both individuals and society to ensure sufficient resources are supplied equitably. Conversely, I believe the individual and societal costs of allowing even one person to experience lifelong disengagement, preventable ill health, and/or miserable outlook outweigh the cost of such resources. Educational success is a process; while natural talent should be valued, effort must be celebrated.
Goals and outcomes of Business Education
Humans are not born as blank slates (tabula rasa), but possess innate abilities which require nurturing and fine-tuning. I will help students to become confident in their abilities, identities and emotions. I want them to possess generally positive outlooks and be long-term oriented (which enhance resiliency and perseverance). Within Business Education, students’ knowledge will be proficient enough to be able to explain how content is interrelated and how it fits within wider economic and societal contexts. I want my students to become epistimophilic (i.e., always curious), if they aren’t already. Business is relevant across all disciplines and facets of society, which means none of my students should be consistently bored.
Methods
Learning styles: Students learn both formally and informally. Where possible, I want the classroom to be an extension of their informal learning; a funnelling and structuring of their passions (or, should passion be absent, their interests and aptitudes). I will build meaningful relationships with each of my students inside the classroom and in extracurricular events. I strongly believe in the power of social emotional learning, even in senior grades.
While a teacher-in-training, I will take advantage of methods and activities offered by my peers and advisors. As I gain experience, I will experiment with new methods and activities; these will be based on academic research or other substantive evidence justifying their efficacy. I anticipate doing the following activities during my first year as a teacher: field trips and simulations, games/quizzes, group presentations, and mini-research projects.
Assessment: I recognize students learn at different rates but will never unnecessarily label them so as to psychologically limit their potential (stereotype vulnerability). In general, I will allow students to choose their own groups for large projects, since I observed during practicum extreme resistance for assigned groups. In assessment, I will use descriptive and balanced language, and focus on growth, improvement and effort rather than achievement. Assignment grades will be additive rather than subtractive. During practicum, I told students I would deduct marks for lateness, because my advisor said it would best ensure deadline compliance (it did!). However, I also gave some incentive for submitting projects early (which allowed me to start marking earlier). I will not adhere to a mechanistic grading policy; that is, I will use professional judgment and informal assessment to revise marks so as to fully reflect a student’s progress and attainment. For example, I will give ample opportunities for students to improve on a low grade, even if it involves more work for me at the end of the term. During practicum, I regularly assessed students individually through the use of Google Forms. Some of these were marked and others were not; they were very useful for getting to know students and going back on topics that I may not have explained adequately. Regular assessment for and as learning (through the use of self-reflections and assessments) will be at the core of my teaching practice.
Parents / Guardians: I will be available to parents and guardians as much as possible, but cognizant that home is occasionally not a hospitable and safe space for youth. At the beginning of the school year, I aim to make contact with each of my students’ parents and guardians. I want my students to know I have built a relationship with their families and guardians, that news from their classroom will trickle down to the dinner table.
Students’ Personal and Social Responsibility (BC curriculum): I celebrate difference and will design lessons and teaching practices with that in mind. I am cognizant of my relative socioeconomic privilege as well as belonging to historically-marginalized communities (being mixed-race and LGBTQ). I will keep abreast of new research and correspondingly promote fairness and equity within gender, socioeconomic, racial, age, and mental health contexts. I will incorporate first nations perspectives and learning principles into all units.
Business Education
The purpose of this highly applied field of study is to prepare students for the world of work, and to practise soft skills like written, oral and body language. Business Education should provide students with business experience outside the classroom (given that almost all students will have corporate jobs at one time or another and should be prepared for this reality). Regardless of a student’s life path, Business Education should provide transferable, relevant skills to any career. I want to chip away at the walls that many adults and children place between business, academics and wider society; students will leave my courses with a fluid understanding of how all three are connected.
Business Education provides content and context for my teaching practice, but ultimately I am an educator of children. As such, the purpose of my work is to guide students (using Business Education) to lead engaging, healthy, and joyful lives.
Reflection on pre- and post-practicum Philosophies:
I did not fundamentally change this philosophy. It started as a reasonable framework (not too ambitious), and I feel confident it was put into practice. I’ve added more assessment information, as this was an area which I really wasn’t able to plan before practicum. Now that I have experience, I really appreciate the value of assessment for and as learning. Assessment as learning (by getting students to self-assess and reflect) put me their teacher in the learner role, which was refreshing and insightful for me. I like my job the most (and feel most effective) when I am a teacher and learner (of my students’ values, ideas and personalities).
I added a new word to my Philosophy – epistimophilic – which is so obscure that I hope to never forget its importance in my teaching. Curiosity is something which, I believe, can be acquired (rather than being innate). However, each student requires a unique approach to light their curiosity. Which is why assessment techniques are so important (as well as designing fun lessons!).