Running Head: Philosophy of Teaching and Learning

So often you find that the students youre trying to inspire are the ones that end up
inspiring you. ( Junkins, S, 2014).
My role as an educator is to encourage children to find their own answers instead
of providing the answers for them. By being a partner, I will learn with the children and
share their experiences. Most importantly, I aim to be a guide as well as a role model who
will walk beside each child on their journey to learn and keep them safe. I will work
together with families and other professionals in the field to maximize all childrens
experience while in my classroom. In order to foster those relationships I will
communicate high standards from the beginning of the year using communication
strategies that work for parents to set clear objective conversations with families about
their children. This will ensure both parties are communicating using methods best
suitable for them. These partnerships influence my role as an early childhood educator
because I will be able to pin point areas of need for each child with the assistance of
parents and make accommodations accordingly and introduce other professionals if need
be in order to simply a students overall classroom experience.
I wish to be remembered as an educator who is fun yet hard working. Equally
important is the determination to always learn and understand that nobody is perfect but
with a positive attitude you can accomplish anything. I believe that teaching is an
important career to have because you need someone in a childs life as a role model
whom they can look up you and learn from on a daily basis. Therefore, a teachers
influence truly reaches beyond the classroom in my opinion.

Running Head: Philosophy of Teaching and Learning

There are a number of theories and curriculum models I look to as inspiration that
relates to my teaching philosophy. Vygotskys sociocultural theory is where I acquire a lot
of my knowledge that I aim to take with me throughout my career as an educator. I
strongly agree with his theory that children obtain their method of thinking and acting
from mutual involvements with adults or more knowledgeable peers. In other words, at a
young age children are highly impressionable therefore as an early childhood educator or
peer I aim to always behave in a way I would want my student to act and become a better
person from. The curriculum model I strongly agree with would be Banduras theory of
modeling. This interconnects with Vygotskys theory because they both speak on the
importance of role modeling and the effect it has on a young child to develop behaviour
later on in life.
Lastly, in regards to the physical environment I believe children learn best when
they get to use their five senses to explore everything around them. With that being said,
children spend majority of their time sitting inside a classroom. The very place where
they will be tested and gain an understanding of the world around them. It should be set
up in a way that stifles creativity and promotes a positive learning environment with a
variety of open-ended materials. This connects to Vygotsky and Banduras theories
because modeling is a key component to the physical environment. It is a educators job to
demonstrate how everything works and how they will control that environment.