Statements on Teaching Philosophy
Here are the statements of my personal philosophy of each aspect of language teaching I have established through my experience in the education field both as a student, and a (prospective) teacher.
My Philosophy of Teaching
I believe in the cycle of teaching and learning. You have to learn to be able to teach, and when you teach, you learn even more. One may learn through being taught passively, but he or she learns more effectively when they are to teach what they learn. This principle is essential in any field of teaching but it is vital or unavoidable in language teaching. The students should have plenty of opportunities to teach what they learn through using what they have been taught in the classroom. Because of this nature of teaching and learning, in my classroom, the students are required to participate in sharing their knowledge and being actively learning. Classroom instructions should give the students opportunities to learn through teaching themselves and teaching one another.
My Philosophy of an Effective Teacher
The idea of the cycle of teaching and learning helps me define the effective teacher. An effective teacher is an individual who is willing to learn. She is willing to learn from her students, her mistakes, her accomplishments, and more. She puts herself in a situation where she can learn. She avoids things which stop her from growing. She is humble enough to realize that her students have many things to offer and is willing to listen to them. She takes an advantage of the situation by understanding her students and constantly thinking of ways to make their learning experience glorious for them.
My Philosophy of Teaching Listening and Speaking
I believe that listening and speaking skills are improved through practice. The students should be given an opportunity to practice listening to and speaking English. The students should be encouraged to speak only English in the classroom and refrain from speaking their first language. The students should not be corrected on their accent unless it interferes their intelligibility or they wish very strongly to receive corrections. Although pre-recorded audio sample or material is helpful in a classroom, my personal belief is that the students learn the most, as far as listening and speaking skills go, when they have an oral conversation.
My Philosophy of Teaching Writing
When learning writing, a student should be instructed to use a “written language”. Different kinds of registers can be taught more effectively with a classroom instruction than other sources of input. Writing is a foreign language for anybody. Even a native speaker of English could easily make mistakes in English writing because written language is not used as often as spoken language. Teaching the students numbers of rules which exist in the written English such as the use of punctuation, capitalizing a letter, and complicated spelling system while helping the students not to get caught up in the question, “why things happen in writing?” is my role as a teacher.
My Philosophy of Teaching Reading
Reading requires patience and persistence. Unlike the other receptive skill, listening, students may struggle with one word in a sentence that they are not familiar with. Although many students find extensive reading very enjoyable and even effective, I believe that the instructor should use intensive reading in a language learning classroom. The interest and ability to enjoy extensive reading are things the students can pursue on their own outside the class. Timed reading should be used if level and object appropriate.
My Philosophy of Teaching Vocabulary
Constant effort should be made by the students to grow their vocabulary. Grammar translation method is the most effective way to learn vocabulary for most of the words in English. Some of the words in English should be acquired through the interactions with the fluent English speakers because not every word can be translated into their first language. Though knowing many words is a vital part of the process of learning English especially for the beginning level students, it does not have to be the focus of a class. Testing is an effective way to encourage students to learn vocabulary.
My Philosophy of Teaching Grammar
Grammar rules should be thoroughly explained to students. A teacher should be fully aware of the different rules of English grammar and be ready to give answers to general questions from the students. While it is an important element of teaching, a teacher should not be too strict on the grammar rules to build the students’ confidence. Explaining simple rules at first and not overfeeding the students is an important principle to remember in general, but especially, in teaching grammar.
My Philosophy of Teaching Young learners
Total physical response is the most effective way to teach children. They have a very short span of concentration and they have to be physically active. Instead of giving them a worksheet to work on, games, songs, and dances should be implemented in a children’s classroom. Having objects in the classroom such as toys and big books is helpful as well. The teacher needs to be more aware of the students’ personality when teaching children than when they teach adults because knowing the students helps the teacher create a better connection with them.