MY PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING

Mrs. Jeemol Abraham, Natural Science

In my opinion teaching is not merely a knowledge giving Process. In the traditional way teaching gives only the subject knowledge to the students. Beyond that the students do not get any extra knowledge of the concerned subject. A Teacher should know about the current status of our society and changes that happen in the world, especially in the concerned subject.

A good teacher has a powerful faith in the future. Like the gardener planting a Teak seedling knowing he or she will never see the tree in all its glory, I know I may never see the fruits of my labours as teacher. My calling is to plant and nurture the seeds that will grow and shape tomorrow. A good teacher knows and understands students, how they develop and learn. Students actively construct and transform their own knowledge based on past experiences and prior learning. All students do not learn in the same way or at the same rate. It is my responsibility as a teacher to be an effective diagnostician of students’ interests, abilities, and prior knowledge. A good teacher must also understand the effects of motivation and peer interactions on learning. To achieve high levels the teacher must avoid sorting students in to different groups and setting them to compete with each other.

Memorization is not always learning because learning requires thinking. The teacher’s greatest gift to the learner is helping the learner be motivated to think, and then to want to learn more. I believe in the power of questions and questioning strategies to cause thinking.

A good teacher must know her subjects and how to help students learn these subjects. A teacher must have a deep appreciation of how knowledge is created in the discipline, how is it organized and how is it linked to other disciplines. Use knowledge of the discipline to expose my students to modes of critical thinking, encouraging them to analyze, apply, synthesize, and evaluate all they read and hear. Love the subject, teach, and know how to make them come alive for students.

A good teacher cannot begin or continue to inspire learning without being a learner. A teacher must constantly learn what is new in the discipline. A teacher often helps to create new knowledge.

A teacher is the most powerful of the role models. Ever aware of the awesome obligation I have to “walk my talk” with my students. If I ask them to live their values and beliefs, I must do the same. Try to treat all people with dignity and respect, and expect students to do the same.

A teacher lives to serve. A teacher is dedicated to learning, to his or her discipline, to his or her students, and to making the future the best possible place for all of us to live.