I
would like to express my own vision about the teaching philosophy in this
current article. While I introduce my points of view, I want the reader
to pay attention to the
quotations given below. The authors of these brilliant words are different
from each other with their nationalities, religions, epochs,
professions and not only. They used to be legendary
people and all of
them had got
their own ideas about
education.
Here
they are – my favorite quotations ever:
‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ (Nelson Mandela, Politician, XX-XXI);
‘Education is not preparation for life; Education is life itself’ (John Dewey , Philosopher, psychologist, educational reformer, XIX – XX);
‘Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school’ (Albert Einstein,Theoretical physicist, XIX – XX);
‘Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well’; ‘The Educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead’ (Aristotle, Greek philosopher / Scientist, IV B.C.)
‘Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in’ (Leonardo da Vinci, Artist, XV-XVI)
‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’ (Nelson Mandela, Politician, XX-XXI);
‘Education is not preparation for life; Education is life itself’ (John Dewey , Philosopher, psychologist, educational reformer, XIX – XX);
‘Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school’ (Albert Einstein,Theoretical physicist, XIX – XX);
‘Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well’; ‘The Educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living differ from the dead’ (Aristotle, Greek philosopher / Scientist, IV B.C.)
‘Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in’ (Leonardo da Vinci, Artist, XV-XVI)
I
have written these five quotations above just because I totally hold the same
point.
Well,
what about my philosophy? Simply, the
main aim of teaching should
be oriented on the pupils’
learning motivation. We should endeavor
to fit learning process with their desires, ideas, interests and so
on. We don’t have to teach just for ‘teaching’, but giving them the most appropriate,
competent forms of learning in much more
engaging , entertaining and effective
ways.
In
my opinion, increasing the pupils’
motivation is not as hard as we think it
really is. Every teacher should encourage pupils’ individualism, ensuring that
each of them
has got the enough ability to be successful in the future, if she/he gets the adequate education.
According to the
popular ‘Multiple intelligences theory’ by
Howard Gardner, he lists seven
intelligences which work together – linguistic, logical-mathematical,
musical, bodily-kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal and intrapersonal and then adds the eighth one – naturalist
intelligence, saying there may be a few more.
It
is also
widely known, that pupils differ
from each other with their skills and aspirations; Therefore, it sounds impossible if all
of them
show the same interests in Maths, Physics, Biology or even History.
Anyway, we should attempt to develop
as many skills as it is possible
to. As mentioned above, we don’t need
to decide what each student has to learn, but only
they have to decide on their own
what to learn.
Another question
is how to teach and what are the most efficient methods during the teaching process. Due to my past experience, I can say
that I have always been
trying to use various methods in order
to create much more interesting,
pleasant and diverting
lessons than my teachers used to do
in the past. The book is not the one and
only educational resources nowadays as I am striving for improvement and
as I am always open to changes. The
modern educational countries
of the entire world, seek and struggle
to replace it with computer
studies. Project-based
learning becomes more popular
as well. We should
ask ourselves, what is the
difference between the
pupils who learn
new words from
the book and the pupils
who find it easier
to learn them from
their favorite song
lyrics? Basically , the second
one is better, because she/he
does the same
work in her/his
profitable and favorable
ways.
We should
mention testing component
- one of the most widespread form
of students’ evaluation , that is
not fair
enough. It would be better
if there were any other
alternative forms of
assessment. The last
one is focused
on the different
needs, abilities and learning skills.
Another important
thing is a
communication factor - how does
the teacher communicate with pupils or with his/her colleagues. I think,
that I am not that kind of
person, who finds it difficult
to have communication with both
of them. I always
make an effort to solve the
problem in a diplomatic, peaceful way and keep
the positive relationship up, as we know that
the cooperative environment is
closely connected with pupils’
academic progress.
And at
last, it must be admitted that
teaching needs more practice, as practice makes
perfect. Honestly, I am not satisfied with
my experience, because of a few
years I have spent at school so far . So, if
I work harder on myself,
I will be prouder of my work,
than I am in a current situation.
