Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
By: James D. Brauer, Ed.S.
One might assume that after dedicating an academic and professional career to the field of education, the task of writing a “philosophy of teaching” would be easy to craft. And yet, despite being an experienced and credentialed school administrator, instructional leader, and classroom teacher, coupled with my studies toward four graduate education degrees, I feel challenged.
I feel it is a challenge, to describe my teaching philosophy so that it is received as being authentic, and not sounding as though it is merely manufactured, technical jargon. Furthermore, how do I best capture the true essence of my teaching approach, free from feeling compelled to reference “best practice” and “research-based” methods? After all, an educator seeking academic positions in the field of education had better be versed in the language of educational scholars, right? And considering for the last three years, I have served in a supervisory role to empower, develop, and build the capacity of teachers, the expectation of constructing a philosophy of teaching that is sound and flawless, it quite intimidating.
But, perhaps to the chagrin of many educational researchers, my personal teaching style is more rooted in the “art” of teaching and learning, rather than the “science.” Because of this, I can candidly share my approach to teaching and learning free of judgment.
I believe that all students can, and deserve to, learn at their own respective levels. But extending on this idea, I also believe that all students deserve to demonstrate their mastery of knowledge at their respective level. Assessments should be authentic, yielding a variety of modes to share one’s understanding and mastery of a topic.
Furthermore, I believe it is the primary duty of all educators to facilitate, coach, guide, mentor, grow, and develop capacity-building skills in every learner. An educator is a “facilitator of knowledge,” not the “bestower of knowledge.” A learning environment should be one full of synergy and collaborative-learning amongst everybody. Students should learn from teachers, students should learn from other students, and teachers should learn from students. That is a true learning environment.
Additionally, I believe an educator must provide students with a meaningful, strategic learning experience. Educators should teach content aligned with course objectives, create authentic formative and summative assessments to check-for-understanding, measure progress, provide feedback, and reteach or revisit areas of need, when necessary. Brent Peterson and Gaylan Nielson, authors of “Fake Work,” refer to “work that is critical and aligned to key goals and strategies” as “real work” and “work that is not targeted or aligned with goals” as “fake work.” I believe that work that is not closely aligned with the course objectives should be avoided.
Lastly, I believe that educators must become transformational leaders that commit themselves to improving educational outcomes for all. As educators, we must continuously reflect on our practices so we may constantly improve our teaching and learning. We must instill our passion in our work and challenge our students to apply their knowledge into real-world transformational practices.
While I could likely expound on my own teaching philosophy for pages, chapters, or even volumes…this summarizes my overall philosophy of teaching.
And at the heart of that philosophy is a pure love for teaching.
But even more importantly, a true love for learning.
