My Educational Philosophy
My Educational Philosophy supports identifying and reflecting on who I am as a teacher and what I see as crucial in my managed learning environment. This contains what and how I intend to create a space for all to be successful. These are works in progress and are being continually developed throughout my teaching journey as my teaching practice evolves, and my beliefs and values strengthen and change.
Teaching & Learning With Mr Walker
MY PURPOSE
Education is a powerful tool that can change the world and shape a young person. As a life skills educator (teacher), specialising in Secondary Food & Textiles Technologies, Child Studies and Religious Studies.
I work with young people from low socio-economic backgrounds to ensure they have a future and opportunities to shine; through empowering them to be the directors and producers of their own lives. I facilitate the skill development that enables them to be successful and transition into their ideal life after school. I see life skills and understanding one’s purpose through knowing personal values as an essential part of development and growth.
MY CLASSROOM (WHAT+HOW)
My classroom is values-based and something that is driven by a deeper purpose and filled with intention.
The young people in my classes have needs relating to identity, relationships, purpose, empowerment, success, rigour/routine and, safety. These are all key factors that relate to my goal and mission as a teacher. This is why my classroom instils a sense of empowerment, provides opportunities for success, enforces academic rigour, makes use of experiential and inquiry-based learning and provides a safe, open judgement-free learning environment (community) and urges students to use personal responsibility positively.
For me, a fully functional classroom looks at and supports three distinct areas. They are:
1. Student Wellbeing (Socially, Emotionally and Physically) and Engagement (How do they learn, and are they learning?).
2. Relationships (how to build these, e.g. student/teacher and student/student).
3. Community (importance of student voice and community involvement of engagement).
As a humanist, I understand that my students need to have their basic needs met to be successful and self-actualise – doing this, they become the best version of themselves. To support this, the basis of my classroom is relationships and rapport building. This directs my classroom to be a safe space where students can move towards self-actualisation and live authentically – teacher-student relationships are the foundation of learning. I feel that being genuine and modelling trust can help establish a successful and collaborative learning environment in the classroom; this is supported by being ‘myself’. Student’s see that I am not perfect; I too make mistakes. They see me walking with them on their journey - smiling often, laughing with them, and being on their level. Being open and honest about who I am, where I come from and what I stand for will aid authenticity; it will show my class that it is okay to be proud of who they are, no matter the circumstances.
I support students to move towards self-actualisation by building reciprocal relationships with each of them. Through setting clear and early expectations, with team-building/ icebreaker games, and using a variety of pre-learning and post-learning checks to ensure students are meeting personal learning goals and are having a positive experience. Furthermore, ensuring the setting up of a safe, supportive and meaningful classroom/subject experience. Exit cards and being available to my students also help me support and monitor student wellbeing.
I practise connective teaching, lively teaching and academic rigour to engage my students in their learning to develop a meaningful depth of understanding. These are strategies that work together collaboratively and complement each other. I connect my students socially and emotionally to their learning, perceive learning as fun and promote academics through passion and high expectations in education and life. It is with these strategies that I will provide a meaningful and relevant curriculum to my students. Moreover, these strategies support the development of the ability to solve problems, generate creative outcomes and analyse and evaluate ideas to become global citizens in the 21st Century.
As a connected constructivist, I acknowledge that every individual experiences life differently based upon a number of physiological and emotional factors. Students need the opportunity to learn for themselves and learn from one another. This is self-directed, experiential learning that allows students to make meaning of their immediate context and the world around them, using nodes or sources (their peers/collaboration) to create deeper understanding and meaning. In my classroom, students are in charge of how they learn but facilitated by the teacher through key content, boundaries and timelines—collaborating with peers and the teacher sare an essential part of their learning.
This leads me to employ differentiated learning and acknowledge the diverse learning needs in my classes. Differentiation is a pedagogical approach I use to meet the diverse needs of all students. To differentiate is to know the student and how they learn (Standard 1) and hence allows access to a meaningful curriculum and its outcomes for all students – this allows for equity (success) in opportunity. I understand that my students all have their own needs and seek to tailor my programs to them. Learning Tasks can be self-paced and or collaborative/group-based and employ 21st Century Pedagogies (using ICTS, focusing on contemporary issues, incorporating core subject knowledge) and build students with important skills transferable to their ideal life. Group work allows learners to help each other facilitate learning and growth, whereas self-paced assessment places young people in charge of their learning. Both strategies make them active participants in their learning and how they learn. The strategies mentioned above support all my students in accessing a meaningful curriculum that meets their needs and challenges them to grow.
Overall, I am facilitating/overseeing the young people in my care to become the best version of themselves; this is completed through learning about themselves, their peers and the world around them. I believe students need access to a meaningful curriculum, rich in content, which comes from a specialised teacher with specialised knowledge. I live out and practise equality, equity, faith, education and life skills every day, emphasising authenticity, competence, and giving back to the community; whilst also maintaining a healthy life-work balance. This enables me to support my students in learning well, being successful, and moving safely towards self-actualisation and their ideal life.
This leads me to employ differentiated learning and acknowledge the diverse learning needs in my classes. Differentiation is a pedagogical approach I use to meet the diverse needs of all students. To differentiate is to know the student and how they learn (Standard 1) and hence allows access to a meaningful curriculum and its outcomes for all students – this allows for equity (success) in opportunity. I understand that my students all have their own needs and seek to tailor my programs to them. Learning Tasks can be self-paced and or collaborative/group-based and employ 21st Century Pedagogies (using ICTS, focusing on contemporary issues, incorporating core subject knowledge) and build students with important skills transferable to their ideal life. Group work allows learners to help each other facilitate learning and growth, whereas self-paced assessment places young people in charge of their learning. Both strategies make them active participants in their learning and how they learn. The strategies mentioned above support all my students in accessing a meaningful curriculum that meets their needs and challenges them to grow.
Overall, I am facilitating/overseeing the young people in my care to become the best version of themselves; this is completed through learning about themselves, their peers and the world around them. I believe students need access to a meaningful curriculum, rich in content, which comes from a specialised teacher with specialised knowledge. I live out and practise equality, equity, faith, education and life skills every day, emphasising authenticity, competence, and giving back to the community; whilst also maintaining a healthy life-work balance. This enables me to support my students in learning well, being successful, and moving safely towards self-actualisation and their ideal life.
My Inspiration
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