Behind everything we do, everything we say, every choice we make, there is a why. We all have beliefs and values that guide us through life and influence the way we do things. This is no different in teaching and often as teachers, we are asked to share that why.
This past week in AEE 413, we were asked to write a personal mission, vision, and philosophy centered around teaching. What are our beliefs as educators that guide our decisions in the classroom? What is important to us? What do we value?
Mr. Hughes wrote, "My teaching philosophy is to guide students through the learning process. This provides them with the tools for success by facilitating access to what they feel is obtainable. Integrating hands-on skills is an equalizer that helps student learning. Hands-on teaching gets students away from the ordinary learning into a more meaningful way to absorb education."
He also noted that his core values as an educator are honesty, integrity, and determination.
Mr. Bittner shared his philosophy as well, writing,
"As a professional agricultural educator, I value experiential learning as a theoretical foundation for all three facets of the Three-Circle Model for Agricultural Education that includes classroom/laboratory instruction, SAE, and FFA.
As a professional agricultural educator, I value science-based academic standards and competency tasks based on data from workforce, industry, and community needs assessments.
As a professional agricultural educator, I value a student-centered, technology-enhanced, hybrid learning environment where students feel safe, comfortable, and encouraged to learn.
As a professional agricultural educator, I value the development of global competencies and 21st-century skills to foster career and college readiness for student success.
As a professional agricultural educator, I value authentic formative assessments that guide pacing and lesson planning as well as data from summative assessments that drives differentiation, grouping, and hybrid learning in my classroom."
It was interesting for me to compare these two philosophy statements, as well as my own, to see where there was overlap and where they strayed. At the end of the day, I know that the one thing we all have in common is our dedication to students and our passion for agricultural education.
P.S. If you're wondering what that video is, Phil Dunphy is my hero and whenever I think of philosophy I think of that episode. Enjoy!
Victoria, thanks for taking the time to engage with your team and share their teaching philosophies? What were the takeaways and connections that you gained from these discussions? For future virtual mentor assignment posts, aim to get all of your team members to participate. We are here to help you find ways to get in touch will them and facilitate productive discussion!
ReplyDeletePhilosophy is so important in education. For the simple reason that philosophy shines through in how you lead learning, how you interact with students, how you design learning, how you present yourself in and out of the classroom, and quite frankly how many hours you're willing to devote to your profession. p.s. You know Ty Burrell is a PSU alum right?
ReplyDelete