My original teaching philosophy focused solely on business education. One of my primary revisions is to have a philosophy that is broadly focused. One that is applicable to physical education, math, and any other course that I will find myself teaching.
I strongly believe in lifelong learning and education. By continuing to be aware of what is going on in current media, events, and news I can apply these current issues and events in my lessons to create involvement, relevance, and meaning for my students. This learning also involves me improving my own subject knowledge, and in improving how I can relate to my student interests and motivations. I hope to set an example for my students, to show them that I am learning and growing along with them rather than solely guiding them.
Through this learning and growing I look forward to sharing my own experiences and life events with my students. I also look forward to creating assignments and a classroom environment that relates to and embraces what is going on in the real world. This involves critical thinking and analysis in relation to current events. Business education involves real life learning, and the inclusion of financial education will be a prominent feature of all classes I teach, even if it is math.
In staying relevant, using real world applications, is just part of my teaching philosophy. Another part that is also important is who I am as a coach and what I have learned through being a competitive athlete, mentor, and coach. I want to stress teamwork in my classrooms. And the idea of “positive aggression”, and “positive competition” which are terms that I have used and have adjusted from what may be popularly understood. “Positive aggression” refers to a student’s ability to channel their energy (aggression) in a way that produces quality work. Aggression does not have to be angry, or violent, rather it is the directed and focused application of energy to solve a problem and come to a desired conclusion. “Positive competition” refers to teamwork where people work with each other to build each other through successes. The idea behind this is that whoever understands a concept or has a highly developed skill set works with those who do not understand the concept, or do not have a well-developed skill set to assist in building them up. While individual ability is recognized, the team concept of everyone achieving is the primary focus. The competition comes in challenging those who do well to help build up those other members of the team (classroom) to do as well as is possible for them and to celebrate their growth. Everyone is celebrated for their successes within the classroom, and the class as a whole is celebrated. These are not easy concepts, but through my own belief in them I believe I can assist in the development of some amazing young Canadians who look beyond their own achievement and towards a collective achievement of a team. We live in a society based on community, and on teamwork. The more exposure our students can have with positive teamwork and building exercises the better prepared they will be for wherever their lives take them outside of high school.
Student motivation is an important part of my teaching philosophy. In order to motivate students I need to know my students. I have to put in the time and effort to not only know their interests but also to be aware of how they learn, what styles suit them best, how they present information, and how they best present information. To do this I choose to be available to students before school, during lunch, and after school. Also, by being a member in extra-curricular activities, such as coaching and leading student groups will allow me to get to know my students and be a part of the community outside of the classroom. I look forward to having this genuine interest and care in my students and the school community translate into positive mentor relationships with my students.
To summarize briefly my teaching philosophy involves life-long learning, personal passion and interest, real world application and presentation, and the use of positive aggression, and positive competition. Further to this I should include that my lifelong learning and teaching has to include methods, exercises and testing methods that incorporate multiple intelligences, and multiple learning styles to maximize the potential success of all my students. I have to be open and willing to engage and discuss the learning methods and styles and be adaptable to the needs of each student, and each class I am a part of. This will take time and effort but the rewards of seeing my students succeed will be worth it.