My Teaching Philosophy
Throughout my experiences as a student and as a teacher, I have long held the belief that learning is a life-long pursuit which is vital to a person’s continual growth process. Education should reflect this idea that we are preparing our students to deal with complex and diverse issues in their lives, and be able to apply and adapt different knowledge techniques in new situations. Life-long learning is about developing the skills and habits to help students to stimulate a growth mindset, and be able to approach problems with a willingness to rise to the challenge. With this attitude towards learning, students should have the ability to transfer knowledge from what they have already learned, and create “new” knowledge to solve problems they have not previously encountered.
In addition to education being about life-long learning, I also strongly believe that learning should be fun and engaging. Educating students to have a high degree of motivation and willingness to learn is an indispensable attribute that will further propel students to develop and adapt long after their schooling is over. By teaching in a way that is engaging and relatable, I believe that students will come to love the learning process and incorporate education into their lives long term. This type of education will lead to students becoming modern citizens that can think critically and solve problems independently throughout their lives.
As a teacher, I believe that students learn best through activities that allow them to explore and understand concepts on their own. When considering “How do students learn mathematics?” - I believe that students need to learn actively, independently and collaboratively. Learning should be student-centred, so that students can construct their own understanding of concepts, rather than copy knowledge from the teacher. Utilising collaboration and reasoning, students can develop understanding which they can apply through activities and practice. I believe that differentiation, variety, support and discourse can help explain and engage students with new ideas that they can fashion to their own liking, thus making the learning process specific and student centred.
Finally, I would like to finish with some quotes about math that I particularly enjoy, the first being from Albert Einstein: “Pure mathematics is, in its way, the poetry of logical ideas.” And another quote that takes on a more social skills approach: “Life is a math equation. In order to gain the most, you have to know how to convert negatives into positives.”
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