My philosophy of teaching and learning evolves as I learn from books, my peers, my professional learning network, my students and from personal reflection. As a teacher, I must be a learner. Be willing to try new things and extend in the same ways I ask my students to extend.
Not everyone is cut out for institutionalized learning (Bransford et. al., 2000, p.5). The idea that one-size-fits-all and teachers should say the same words at the same time isn’t cut out for all learners. I’m hesitant to say that it isn’t cut out for any learner because there are those who learn in situations where there is constant repetition. But each student deserves an equal opportunity to take advantage of the educational system. If that means that material needs to be presented in more than one way so that everyone has a chance, then the material should be presented more than one way. Students should be taught the way they learn. Use Gardner’s multiple intelligences (Smith, 2008) or updated versions of the multiple intelligences that include learning technologies (McKensie, 2005).
Building relationships with students, relationships where they will openly allow me to guide them and allow themselves to guide each other, is of the utmost importance. As a teacher, I do not want to download to my students. There isn’t a flash drive full of information that I can plug into a USB port in the backs of their heads. Learning is an interactive experience. Friere (2005, p. 115) said, “And it is in the school that the teachers who talk to and with learners, who hear learners, no matter of what tender age they may be, are thus heard by them. It is through hearing the learners, a task unacceptable to authoritarian educators, that democratic teacher increasingly prepare themselves to be heard by learners. But by listening to and so learning to talk with learners, democratic teachers teach the learners to listen to them as well.” We talk about creating a positive classroom environment. Hearing, then being heard is the foundation of creating that environment.
Take students where they are and push them farther than they thought they could go. If material starts way above their heads, and teachers don’t hear them say, “I don’t get it, can you back up and help me,” then some students become discouraged and give up. I have to appreciate and take into consideration all the baggage that they come to class with, the history they’ve had in school. I know that I cannot change the mind of every student so they appreciate the gift that is public education, but I can challenge each of them to at least examine what they believe to be true and consider other views. A teacher told me once, when students complained that I required too much of them, that I should lower my expectations. I don’t except that. My expectation is that my students will do the best they possibly can on any given day. I do not believe that to be unreasonable, nor do I accept any less. Because of the dialogue necessary for the learning process as I see it to be successful, students know what my expectations of them are, and receive the necessary feedback on their process.
Have a purpose for each activity, and share that purpose with the students. For some students the choice between do and not do comes down to understanding why they are asked to complete a task. Show how to make connections between one content area and another, between a content area and the world. Guide them to be able to make those connections for themselves.
Bransford, J., Brown, A., and Cocking, R. (2000). How people learn: Brain, mind, experience,
and school. Washington, D.C.: National Academy Press.
Freire, P. (2005). Teachers as cultural workers: Letters to those who dare teach. Boulder:
Westview Press.
McKenzie, W. (Annual 2005). Chapter 1: a new theory of learning. Multiple Intelligences
and Instructional Technology, 2nd ed., p.3(7). Retrieved July 28, 2008, from General OneFile via Gale: http://find.galegroup.com/ips/start.do?prodId=IPS
Smith, M. K. (2002, 2008). Howard Gardner and multiple intelligences. The encyclopedia of
