Philosophy comes from two Greek words, Philo, which suggests the means 'love,' and sophy, which implies 'wisdom.' Therefore, philosophy means 'love of wisdom' (Mark, 2016). Every individual features a different outlook on life, values, learning, and past experiences that reinforce their beliefs and enlighten them. Some argue that beliefs don't directly influence teaching. I strongly disagree. I believe that one's beliefs and values influence the way we live, work, and interact with others. I believe our teaching and learning methods reflect this.
My philosophy is more student-oriented, as I use reconstructionism and progressivism mainly. However, I do return to the teaching philosophy of essentialism. Especially at the beginning of the year when I have a brand-new class, one could say I 'go back to basics', and as they grow so does my student-oriented teaching style. I feel that children are individuals and bring a distinct value to the group. It's a matter of finding and unlocking each child's potential and learning style. The curriculum that I teach considers different learning styles and focuses on engaging students and supplying content that is relevant to their lives and the real world, as much as possible. (El-Sabagh, 2021) I like to incorporate hands-on learning, cooperative learning, projects, games, and individual work that engages and activates students' learning.
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My values, belief systems, and principles undoubtedly have a big hand in my personal educators' philosophies. Some of the values and beliefs that I feel influence my role as an educator are:
Building trust with my colleagues and students, to cultivate a community and sense of Ubuntu through respect and tolerance. I consider myself a 'mother bear' Creating a bond of trust is key as it not only creates a safe and nurturing environment but also allows the learners to understand that you do as you say.
Honesty Try and answer all questions or get someone to answer them even if it's slightly out of their curriculum level. To encourage honesty from students through effective listening skills, and referrals if needed.
Engaging - to get the learners involved, action learning to get the learners actively involved in learning. With the use of projects, games, the use of technology in the classroom and outside of the classroom.
Empower - Not only to get the learners to empower themselves academically in class as well as at home, but also to empower themselves personally as well. Supplying access to an online library and online learning tools, such as the hangman game, to learn their spelling words. The aim is to get them to help themselves.
Active aims to get all children to become active learners by engaging them in games, quizzes, and challenges. Positive reinforcement using different themes for each term. By focusing on teaching the learner, not the content.
Create a learning environment that encourages the learner to be creative, by being a creative teacher. Using technology, mind maps, content-related acronyms, and songs are some ways to engage learners in the learning process instead of just reading a textbook.
My approach is to assess learners and content as I teach and share information with others. However, I always find myself moving back to creative-based learning (reconstructionism and progressivism). I find it a helpful way to recap and recall information while engaging learners and having fun. However, I am hampered by what resources as a teacher are available to me. For example, access to Wi-Fi and computers.
I strongly feel that to become the most effective educators, we must understand how philosophy and education are interconnected. To realize this, one must understand their own beliefs as well as have compassion for others. To grow as a teacher, you should develop your educational philosophy. One should focus on teaching the learner, not just the content. Therefore, you should continually adapt your teaching style.
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