Teaching Philosophy
“I teach because I search, because I question, and because I submit myself to questioning.”
Paulo Freire, Pedagogy of Freedom.
If you teach at the Justice Institute of BC, then you can call yourself a public safety educator. But what kind of educator do you see yourself as? How do you know what you’re doing is grounded in good practice and based on workable principles? One way to resolve these questions is to articulate a teaching philosophy for yourself.
Teaching philosophies are now recognized as useful statements to share with clients, students, employers, etc. to help others understand how you think about your teaching practice. Crafting a teaching philosophy that you can make part of a portfolio or resume is a useful professional development activity recommended for anyone who teaches. But putting one together can be a bit daunting.
Guideline on Teaching Philosophy
Jerrold Apps (1991) has written a very helpful guideline for thinking about a teaching philosophy. His work was inspired by his students who came to him seeking to inquire about “more basic questions” about teaching and learning. As a result, Apps came up with a framework on which you can use to hang your thoughts on teaching and learning. In order to develop a philosophy along these lines, it is important to consider not only what you believe in all these areas but also what alternative beliefs are out there that you have chosen to bypass or reject.
Apps recommends journal writing in order to develop your teaching philosophy and asking yourself a series of questions, taking notes on these, and reflecting on how such beliefs inform your practice. For example:
Beliefs about adults as learners
- Why do you believe adults want to learn?
- Describe them as well as you can.
Beliefs about aims
- What do you hope to accomplish when you teach? Don’t worry about what others expect of you; think of yourself here.
- Do you do what your learners want you to do or what you want to do for them?
- Are you focused on collective issues for the group or helping individuals to solve problems?
Beliefs about subject matter
- How important is your expertise to your learners?
- How can you share what you know while tapping the knowledge of others?
Beliefs about teaching and learning
- Write out the phrase “When I teach…” and finish the sentence in as many ways as possible.
- What do you believe about learning? How does this affect your teaching?
- How do you learn best? Is it the same way as your learners?
The Teaching Perspectives Inventory (TPI)
Apps writes about “Master teachers,” suggesting that a master is someone who has developed a solid basis for their practice based on reflection and critical thinking. For educators, that basis can be the teaching philosophy statement. He concludes: “That task is never completed, but continues through their careers.”
If you are teaching at JIBC, you owe it to yourself to think about what kind of teacher you are and/or want to be. Teaching is not just a thing you do when you walk into a room full of strangers every September or on a weekend retreat. Behind your teaching is a lot of intentionality about what you want to accomplish for yourself and on behalf of your learners. Understanding that intentionality forms the basis of any good teaching philosophy. That deserves some serious consideration.
References
Apps, J.W. (1991). "Developing a Basis for Teaching." In Mastering the teaching of adults (pp.27-35). Malabar: Florida: Krieger Publishing Company.
Yet all of us who teach know that magic moment when teaching turns into learning depends on the human setting and the quality and example of the teacher—on factors that relate to a general environment of growth rather than on any design factors set down externally. If there ever was a growth process, if there ever was a holistic process, a process that cannot be divided into rigid predetermined steps, it’s education.
Ursula Franklin, The Real World of Technology.