Personal Philosophy of Education

To be a good teacher I believe one needs to have a number of qualities. In my opinion a teacher should firstly have a huge desire to help, nurture and encourage young students to achieve the best of their ability and potential. It is extremely important for a teacher to be strict and be able to control a classroom full of students and deal with disruptive students by following the schools code of conduct. A teacher should be approachable and understanding towards students and willing to help with any problem their student may have, whether it be in the classroom or in the playground. Also I believe a teacher that has their students respect will definitely get more from their students. As adapted from (learning-styles-online, 2012) learning is the way in which we process new information. In order for learning to be successful i.e. that the new information be assimilated correctly, the relevant learning style must be used effectively, whether it be visual, social, logical, verbal, solitary, physical or aural. From a teachers perspective it is vital that he/she be open to using all of the different types of teaching styles which cater to all of the different types of learning styles. If a teacher were to only use certain teaching styles, only a certain percentage of the class would actually learn anything properly. For example, if ten students out of a class of thirty have a visual learning style and the other twenty students have a social learning style, the teacher must ensure to use a combination of visual aids, concrete materials and group work within a lesson in order for all of the students to learn from the lesson. As teachers, we must bear in mind at all times that we may have a tendency to cater to the learning styles which we have ourselves. It is vital that this does not happen and that we bear all of the different learning styles in mind when planning lessons. It is also important that a teacher be discerning enough to have an idea of the different types of learning styles of the students in order to plan effective lessons and ensure that each student is achieving and working to his/her full potential. As stated in (Bentham, 2002, p. 29) it is very important that as teachers, we realise that learning is not only associated with academic development and potential, it is also associated with social and all round development. It is essential that the balance be found and that the learning is holistic in nature. If a student were to be academically brilliant but had no social skills, would he/she have learned effectively? As Susan Bentham discusses

(Bentham, 2002, p. 29) it is important that a child develops all round as the goal of every human is self-actualisation and cant be reached without all round development. I believe that learning never ends. In fact, the more one learns, the more one should realise that he/she actually does not know. Learning should give us a thirst to learn even more. This thirst can continue into adulthood as many people go back to the education system in order to further themselves. According to the White Paper on Adult Education, 2000 (Learning for Life: White Paper on Adult Education, 2000), adult education is defined as, systematic learning undertaken by adults who return to learning having concluded initial education or training. As teachers, it is vital that we instil this thirst in our pupils and it is also vi tal that we realise as teachers that we ourselves can continue to learn. Teachers must keep themselves up to date with new teaching techniques, fresh lesson ideas etc. in order to be successful. We must never forget that there is always room for more learning and that we use every learning style in our lessons in order for effective learning of the students to take place. For example the way students were taught twenty, thirty years ago differs greatly from the way they are taught today. Studies from theorists such as Kolb (Bentham, 2002, pp. 110-111) highlight the different type of learners there are, making it possible to improve lesson plans to suit different types of learners. Kolb talks about four different types of learners. Concrete experience which is a student who assimilates information by sensing and feeling, these students will reflect on their experience. Reflective observation is where theories are developed from processing information obtained through watching and thinking. Abstract conceptualisation is where a student will form their own theories but will also need to know if the work in practice or not. Active experimentation is where the student will use the information learned through feeling and touching and experiment so they can use this information. In my opinion I think most people benefit from all of these learning styles and it should not just be assumed that they will learn best if taught through methods emphasising their strongest learning style. I believe lesson plans should have a mixture of learning styles even if all students where to be of the same style.