Teaching Philosophy Statement: - thenewPE



Teaching Philosophy Statement:

Definition: A philosophical framework of your personal approach to teaching and the rationale behind what guides your practice.

Areas to address:

1. What is a teaching philosophy

2. What would I see if I walked into the gymnasium?

a. Engaging activities, activity time, personal development….

b. "What does this look like when I do it in class?"

3. What are some goals of physical education (is this a relevant question)

4. What is the role of the PE teacher

5. What instructional model should be utilized

6. How will you address student diversity

a. Learning styles, skill level, gender, behavior, multicultural

7. What is/are your preferred teaching style(s)

8. How do I know when I have taught successfully?

9. What do you feel makes for great teaching?

10. What are my plans for developing or improving my teaching? (learn new skills, try our new approaches?)

11. What teaching practices do I use and prefer (lecture, lead discussions, guide problem solving, provide demonstrations?)

12. How do I know when I have taught successfully?

13. What is the student-teacher relationship I strive to achieve?

14. What will the learning environment be like?

Does it include planning and assessment or strictly “teaching?”

1. What is a physical educator?

2. What is the definition of a physically educated child?

3. What is a teaching philosophy? What are the key components?

4. What are the five instructional models? What are the key components (characteristics) of each one?

5. At this point in your professional development which model would you choose? Why?

6. What are your main goals for your students and how would you go about accomplishing these goals?

Student samples:



Centered (teacher vs student)

Multiple intelligences

Focused on (skills, lifetime activity, fundamental, enjoyment)

Cycle of instruction (planning, teaching, assessing)

Value orientations (disciplinary mastery, self-actualization, social responsibility and

Teaching styles (constructivist)

Suggestions:

Keep it short.

Search committees read hundreds of applications for most tenure-track positions, so your goal is a concise 1-2 page statement organized around at most 1-2 main ideas. The challenge is to be specific and vivid enough to say something important about your teaching which can be conveyed in that space.

Be concrete.

Sometimes the goal of stating their "philosophy" leads people to adopt an abstract writing style which states only general principles. Some faculty on search committees distrust such abstract statements because they tend to sound somewhat naive. Some will question any ideas which do not seem to be grounded in teaching experience. If you include brief examples of how your approach plays out in your courses, you help readers to visualize your teaching style and see the depth of your convictions.

Make it unique to you.

The statement of teaching philosophy is a rare opportunity to express something about who you are that people will remember. The uniqueness can come from your original perspective on teaching issues, an interesting organizing theme, or simply an engaging or elegant writing style.

Know your audience well enough to avoid big risks.

The statement of teaching philosophy helps faculty members see how you fit into the culture of their educational program. For many teaching-oriented institutions, descriptions of creative or innovative teaching will be viewed most positively. At other schools, the criteria for excellence may have more to do with demonstrating how skillfully you can deal with mainstream teaching tasks in the discipline. Be sure you share your draft with others to make sure you don't inadvertently come across as controversial.

* Rationale - Why have you chosen this philosophy to guide the content,

methodology, and materials you use; the way that you relate with students; how you handle disruptions in the classroom; and the manner in which you evaluate students’ work?

* Implications for Action - According to this philosophy, what role do students play in

the classroom? The teacher? Parents? Administrators?

* Impact - How might this philosophy impact student learning? Your methods of

teaching? How would your classroom probably be different if you were

not using this particular philosophy to guide your actions in the classroom?

How do I structure my statement?

The choice is large. Look at examples of statements to get some ideas. A Statement may just be a well-organised group of paragraphs, or it may follow a structure or theme such as:

■ Descriptive: What you do when you teach, types of activities you use when you are teaching

■ Analytical: Why you teach in the way you do, how your thinking about teaching has changed over time

■ Empirical: Experiences or observations of student learning on which your decisions about teaching are based

■ Title / Thesis (declarative) statement/ Narrative

■ Theoretic framework: goals / design / implementation / assessment / evaluation…

Chism’s five components: (extracted from Ohio State University: ) In her article (Chism, 1998), “Developing a Philosophy of Teaching Statement,” Nancy Chism, former Director of Faculty & TA Development at The Ohio State University, suggests five major components.

1. Conceptualization of learning

Ask yourself such questions as “What do we mean by learning?” and “What happens in a learning situation?” Think of your answers to these questions based on your personal experience. Chism points out that some teachers have tried to express and explain their understanding of learning through the use of metaphor, because drawing comparisons with known entities can stimulate thinking, whether or not the metaphor is actually used in the statement. On the other hand, most instructors tend to take a more direct approach in conceptualizing learning, i.e., to describe what they think occurs during a learning episode, based on their observation and experience or based on current literature on teaching and learning.

2. Conceptualization of teaching

Ask yourself questions such as “What do we mean by teaching?” and “How do I facilitate this process as a teacher?” Chism suggests that personal teaching beliefs on how the instructor facilitates the learning process would be appropriate for this section. Again, the metaphor format can be used, but a common practice is a more direct description of the nature of a teacher with respect to motivating and facilitating learning. Along with the questions above, you may also address such issues as how to challenge students intellectually and support them academically and how the teacher can respond to different learning styles, help students who are frustrated, and accommodate different abilities. Furthermore, you may talk about how you as a teacher have come to these conclusions (e.g., through past experience as a student or teacher, or as a result of literature reading or taking classes).

3. Goals for students

This section should entail the description of what skills the teacher expects her/his students to obtain as the result of learning. You may address such issues as what goals you set for your classes, what the rationale behind them is, what kind of activities you try to implement in class in order to reach these goals, and how the goals have changed over time as you learn more about teaching and learning. For instance, you can describe how you have expected students to learn not only the content, but also skills such as critical thinking, writing, and problem solving, followed by elaboration on how you have designed/planned individual sessions towards accomplishing the goals.

4. Implementation of the philosophy

An important component of the statement of a teaching philosophy should be the illustration of how one’s concepts about teaching and learning and goals for students are transformed into classroom activities. Ask yourself, “How do I operationalize my philosophy of teaching in the classroom?” and “What personal characteristics in myself or my students influence the way in which I approach teaching?” To answer these questions, you may reflect on how you present yourself and course materials, what activities, assignments, and projects you implement in the teaching-learning process, how you interact with students in and outside class, and the consequences.

5. Professional growth plan

It is important for teachers to continue professional growth, and to do so, teachers need to set clear goals and means to accomplish these goals. Think about questions such as “What goals have I set for myself as a teacher?” and “How do I accomplish these goals?” You can elaborate this plan in your statement of teaching philosophy. For instance, you can illustrate how you have professionally grown over the years, what challenges exist at the present, what long-term development goals you have projected, and what you will do to reach these goals. Chism suggests that writing this section can help you think about how your perspectives and actions have changed over time.

In summary, these are the main questions Chism suggests to answer in a statement:

• How do people learn?

• How do I facilitate that learning?

• What goals do I have for my students?

• Why do I teach the way that I do?

• What do I do to implement these ideas about teaching and learning in the classroom?

• Are these things working? Do my student meet the goals?

• How do I know they are working?

• What are my future goals for growth as a teacher?

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