1-2-3 PHILOSOPHY: Opportunity, Choice, & Activity
I believe in providing doors for people to walk through. Using real-world examples and mentoring students in a collaborative way, we build a learning environment, capitalizing on projects that are meaningful and hands-on. A typical learner's style in my classroom would be no stranger to going outside to learn in an engaging, active manner that is also efficient and effective. Students often work as one cohesive plenary, in small groups, as well as have the opportunities to explore concepts by themselves as an introspective approach. Combination and/or rotation from this large to small assures that all styles of learning are complemented.
Just as there are over 120 definitions of curriculum, so there are many ways to describe my philosophy in teaching. Education ebbs and flows as a student's 21-century needs mature. Simply repeating information does not guarantee retention.
I love to teach with materials from novel, physical objects, to utilizing multi-sensory approaches. Cross-curricular tethering of concepts is a good way to stretch the value of my courses. We may relate acting and camera position to a character from a novel or movie they are studying from English class, or measure degrees kelvin concerning color temperature settings in cinematography, as the student have studied comparatively in science class. We must also embrace societal change within the macro and micro aspects of our learner's environment. Small classrooms with dirt floors from a third-world country to large high schools brimming with the latest in technology, I can teach with little materials or the latest in collaborative technology. The concepts are still the same. It is the delivery methods and models that are just as important as the content. What I offer is a unique ability to train and support others in ways that enable meaningful and relevant connections for the learner themselves. This creates a deep learning opportunity that really sticks with the learner and provides an oppotunity to create intrinsic buy-in.
My goal is to teach students to be active problem-solvers. Students should not be afraid to fail. They need to learn from each experience and grow. Education is not just a means to a job. John Dewey's Pedagogic creed states "The school must represent present life-life as real and vital to the child as that which he carries on in the home, in the neighborhood, or on the playground" (Dewey, 2013/1929, p.35).
I love to teach in an active manner to engage the students as "The emotions are the reflex of actions" (Dewey, 1929, p.39). The three basic focal points of individual, society, and subject matter are at the heart of my curriculum planning and development along with democratic applications and advocacy of humanity.
Just as there are over 120 definitions of curriculum, so there are many ways to describe my philosophy in teaching. Education ebbs and flows as a student's 21-century needs mature. Simply repeating information does not guarantee retention.
I love to teach with materials from novel, physical objects, to utilizing multi-sensory approaches. Cross-curricular tethering of concepts is a good way to stretch the value of my courses. We may relate acting and camera position to a character from a novel or movie they are studying from English class, or measure degrees kelvin concerning color temperature settings in cinematography, as the student have studied comparatively in science class. We must also embrace societal change within the macro and micro aspects of our learner's environment. Small classrooms with dirt floors from a third-world country to large high schools brimming with the latest in technology, I can teach with little materials or the latest in collaborative technology. The concepts are still the same. It is the delivery methods and models that are just as important as the content. What I offer is a unique ability to train and support others in ways that enable meaningful and relevant connections for the learner themselves. This creates a deep learning opportunity that really sticks with the learner and provides an oppotunity to create intrinsic buy-in.
My goal is to teach students to be active problem-solvers. Students should not be afraid to fail. They need to learn from each experience and grow. Education is not just a means to a job. John Dewey's Pedagogic creed states "The school must represent present life-life as real and vital to the child as that which he carries on in the home, in the neighborhood, or on the playground" (Dewey, 2013/1929, p.35).
I love to teach in an active manner to engage the students as "The emotions are the reflex of actions" (Dewey, 1929, p.39). The three basic focal points of individual, society, and subject matter are at the heart of my curriculum planning and development along with democratic applications and advocacy of humanity.
References
Dewey, J. (2013). My Pedagogic Creed. In D. Flinders & S. Thornton (Eds.). The curriculum studies reader (4th ed., pp. 33-40). New York:
Routledge. (Reprinted from the Journal of the National Education Association, Vol. 18, No. 9, pp. 291-295.)
Flinders, D.J., & Thornton, S.J. (Eds.) (2013). The curriculum studies reader (4th ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415520751
Marsh, C.J., & Willis, G. (2007). Curriculum: Alternative approaches, ongoing issues (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN
0131715100
Dewey, J. (2013). My Pedagogic Creed. In D. Flinders & S. Thornton (Eds.). The curriculum studies reader (4th ed., pp. 33-40). New York:
Routledge. (Reprinted from the Journal of the National Education Association, Vol. 18, No. 9, pp. 291-295.)
Flinders, D.J., & Thornton, S.J. (Eds.) (2013). The curriculum studies reader (4th ed.). New York: Routledge. ISBN 9780415520751
Marsh, C.J., & Willis, G. (2007). Curriculum: Alternative approaches, ongoing issues (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN
0131715100
"Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself."
- John Dewey
- John Dewey
