2nd Draft Philosophy statement

Social Care was my profession for twenty years until I discovered I also had a passion for teaching HE learners. The latter four years involved wor ing part time as a Social Care Practitioner and part time as HE lecturer. !ast year I was delighted to accept a full time lecturing post in another HE institution. Social Care has recently e"perienced a significant e"plosion in learner num#ers and class si$es% together with a sharp rise in the num#er of international students taught in my wor place. These facts alone #ring challenges to all who teach on Social Care programmes or indeed any programme. &y teaching responsi#ilities include facilitating Personal Development across all years% Sociology tutorials year ' and supervising% mar ing and 2nd reading 2' dissertations. I am also year tutor to second year learners% currently there are '() learners in second year. Preparing for Programmatic review and course design is also included in my responsi#ilities. I perceive my responsi#ilities as dissertation supervisor to #e e*ually as important as teaching in the classroom and employ the same techni*ues when interacting with supervisees as discussed #elow. The timeta#le allows twenty minutes per wee per student. +le"i#ility is ey here% not alone with time allocation #ut also #eing availa#le in person or via email when necessary. Supervision sometimes means discussing other issues in order to get the dissertation #ac on trac . +or me% supervision is a critical component of my teaching duties. Determining whether my approach is achieving its o#,ectives resides mostly in what learners say during class discussions and written wor . In future% I will devise more rigorous techni*ues to assess if I am achieving my o#,ectives. -ecently% I have used the muddiest point and the ' minute paper. &y goals in teaching are not ,ust to promote learning of the su#,ect matter. I also see to facilitate the learners to thin logically% learn pro#lem.solving methods and techni*ues% and improve writing s ills /writing clearly and concisely% e"plaining step. #y.step processes% providing valid reasons for logical arguments0. In addition% I endeavour to assist learners see the course material in a holistic conte"t #y re*uesting that they synthesi$e the different concepts from the material and discovering lin s to other concepts. 1hen reflecting on my teaching it prevents me from #ecoming complacent a#out my a#ilities as a HE teacher and continuously propels me to strive to understand why I teach% how I teach% what teaching methods I could adopt and the #enefits these will have for my learners. In other words% incessantly reflecting on content and delivery2 what wor s and what does not and under what circumstances. I une*uivocally #elieve valid deeper learning transpires through relationship% relationship with each other and with me% and #y ac nowledging the individuality of each learner. &y role% as I see it% is connecting these learners and their e"periences not only to the course material #ut to each other in order to allow each learner to e"perience a richer authentic learning e"perience #y valuing diversity and learning

from each other3s e"periences within the learner group. I #elieve #y #ringing activities that focus on practical and professional approaches to learner centred learning% I create a safe environment where#y this connection and learning is facilitated. To many my teaching style is unfamiliar% may#e even scary at times. &y reward is seeing the results once the learner has em#raced% at their own pace% my fle"i#le and accommodating teaching style. This style of teaching underpins all the other styles utilised in my teaching. 4ther teaching styles I find useful address the particulars associated with teaching across cognitive% s ills #ased /psychomotor0 and affective learning domains and help learners achieve the higher levels of learning e"pected in HE. I view my teaching as the process which supports this assimilation and construction and reconstruction of new nowledge in addition to the communication of nowledge. +le"i#ility in my theoretical position allows me to use a num#er of methods in my teaching in order to cater to the diversity of learners and the ind of information and s ills they need. 5s I gain more e"perience% I #ecome more aware of my learners rather than solely delivering content and increasingly incorporate more self.reflection around my own teaching practices and of course their effectiveness. 1hat I value most is honesty% endeavour and service to others. The service to others emanates from my previous wor in Social Care practice. I cannot e"pect any of these values to emerge from learners3 unless I demonstrate and emanate these in my teaching and learner interactions. -ather than simply incorporating ideas communicated to them #oth ver#ally and non ver#ally% learners ta e those ideas and assimilate them with their prior e"periences to augment their nowledge and understanding in a more involved and relevant manner. The a#ove idea stems from 1ard6s 7&atching Principle8. Technological advances relevant to HE learning and teaching practice% in particular those relating to the use of computer assisted teaching and online communication with learners have altered the landscape of HE teaching. 4ver the ne"t five years% my hope is to further assimilate these advances into my HE teaching practice. In my present course of study I3ve #een fortunate to gain #oth additional understanding and practice in this area. Hopefully this Teaching Philosophy Statement demonstrates my commitment to and e"pertise in HE teaching as well as #eing #roadly accounta#le for the learning outcomes of my learners. &y philosophy of teaching is most definitely learner. centred and accentuates the importance of the learner6s active participation in their construction of meaning.

9ransford% :. D.% 9rown% 5. !. and Coc ing% -.-.% et al /2;;;0 How People !earn< 9rain% &ind% E"perience% and School< E"panded Edition. 1alvoord%9.% and 5nderson% =.%/'>>?0 Effective grading 1ard% 5 / 0 Intuition is not enough