Teaching Philosophy

I believe that teachers are extremely important members of society and that the way teachers interact with and teach their students has a lasting impact on our youth. In order to be a positive, effective, and supportive teacher to my students, I will teach them the importance of a growth mindset and encourage student collaboration in the classroom.

Two of the most powerful lessons I have learned from my time in the UTeach program are that intelligence is not fixed and that student discussion is key to effective learning. When students are told or believe that their intelligence is not fixed or innate, but instead is a malleable attribute that can be strengthened through effort, they are inspired to learn. Students that feel their level of intelligence is fixed, or students that have a fixed mindset, often feel that there is no use in even trying to learn something if they are not already good at it. They shy away from challenges because they feel they are incapable of rising to the occasion. In contrast, students with a growth mindset are much more likely to take on challenges and are less susceptible to giving up when learning gets tough. I want to impart the growth mindset onto students to build their confidence and resilience, so that they know they are fully capable of learning if they just try.

The other important lesson concerns how we learn. Students, like everyone else, learn by using their prior knowledge as the foundation for any new information they are presented with. The danger here is that students may form misconceptions, but even those are rooted in useful information that students have learned before. Therefore, it is important to investigate students’ thought processes in order to understand where any confusion is stemming from. A great way to do this is by letting students discuss new concepts and ideas amongst themselves. I believe that my role as a teacher is to facilitate student conversation, being careful not to give answers away because this prevents them from making their own discoveries. The students should be doing most of the talking with each other in order to create a learning environment in which they feel validated and comfortable sharing their ideas.

It is my hope that by letting these ideas guide my teaching, I can be a more effective teacher and make students more eager to learn. I believe that teaching students a growth mindset will rekindle the love for learning and curiosity that we all have as young children. With this newfound motivation and the chance to explore and discuss different concepts with their peers in the classroom, students will have the proper environment to flourish academically.