PPLE - Assessment 2

Self-reflection/Personal Philosophy
Christopher Tierney - 18593424

I believe good teaching is about engaging students through helpful, caring and
passionate teaching staff whilst implementing positive learning environments, classroom
management that is positive and proactive and management practices that develop and
change through a teachers career. Evolving as a part of teaching practice is important.
Therefore, I believe having a static perspective and point of view does not provide the
necessary flexibility for the variety of students and contexts that teachers practice with.

My personal experience with classrooms has been limited thus far. I have not been able
to put my personal philosophy into practice as yet and as a result this personal
philosophy is based on my own research and experience as a student.

I believe classrooms should be places where students are encouraged to learn and
develop through supportive teachers and positive learning environments. There is no
one correct classroom management theory but a combined approach is better than a
single viewpoint.

I believe that good communication between teacher and student is vital to a positive
classroom climate because it is fundamental in building healthy relationships and
promoting positive behaviours in classrooms and schools. It is necessary to have
multiple perspectives from both teachers and students to become a better teacher and
to accurately support a students needs. Therefore, I will undertake a variety of
communication strategies that I am aware of, including active listening and presenting
open questions, and attempt to increase my aptitude in other areas of communication,
such as I-messaging and asserting.

The values I hold most important to establish an orderly, productive and positive
classroom are mutual respect for student and teacher, safety in and out of the
classroom and clear communication about rules and expectations from both teacher
and student.

Understandably, all schools will be different in their availability of resources. Ideally

there will three different classrooms. As a music teacher having all resources available
in a single room is not always the most logical or best option. The first room will be for
the teaching of musical theory; it will either contain rows of desks with chairs or a U-
shape desk arrangement. The teacher will be in the centre and it may also contain a
piano. The second room will be for compositional and aural purposes. It will contain
desks that have a computer and/or a digital keyboard on them. This will most likely be
arranged in rows. The final room will be a performance space and be mostly empty of
desks but may contain chairs; it will have amplifiers and other instruments necessary for
performance purposes.

Planning and teaching students will require consideration of the following; content,
assessment, pedagogy, engagement and self-reflection. Assessment is important as it
demonstrates an individuals understanding and knowledge of a topic. Formative
assessments will play a large role in my teaching practice, as I believe it is best to learn
and demonstrate learnt knowledge quickly after learning. Repetition and practice is a
large part of Music learning and as such the constant assessment and repetition of
class content is essential. Revision of learnt knowledge is also integral to retaining
knowledge. As such I aim to place a large emphasis on revision of prior content at the
beginning of each class.

I believe that students best learn through engaging, motivated teachers and quality
teaching. A supportive and safe learning environment is also crucial to aiding a
students social, emotional and academic learning abilities. Therefore I will use a range
of strategies so that students will be engaged, students will be involved in quality
teaching and learning and as a teacher I will remain motivated to continue teaching the
subject content. I will also create a safe and supportive learning environment through
social emotional learning strategies such as positive behaviour for learning.
If intervention for behaviour management is needed, I believe that a Cognitive
Behavioural approach is one of the more considerate approaches for student
interventions. Cognitive behavioural theories have characteristics, qualities and
methods drawn from both psychoeducational and behavioural theories. Cognitive
behavioural theories are a combination of both cognitive theories and behavioural
theories. It allows a student to confront their problem areas, both behaviourally and
academically. This theory also provides students with methods for overcoming current
problems. It enhances a sense of control and equips students with a method of tackling
future problems. I think a combined approach is better than a singular approach. In line
with this thinking, I will implement antecedent control, reinforcement and measurement
of behaviour change, alongside the development of a students use of strategies such
as self-instruction, cognitive problem solving and self-regulation.

I believe implementing a cognitive behavioural approach to classroom management

creates a mutual respect for teachers and students. It allows students to self-regulate
and teachers to let go of control as the students are able to work without requiring
constant monitoring. Students are able to use their inner dialogue to make more positive
behavioural choices.

Social and emotional learning is an intrinsic element of success in the classroom. This
is especially the case for the subject of Music, which involves revealing a persons own
emotions and applying them to a song whilst also considering the emotions of others
and empathising with those emotions. Music also involves considerable social
interaction as performing and creating with others is an important part of musical
development.

I believe professional reflexivity is important to my teaching because being a reflective

practitioner empowers you to look inward and examine your beliefs and values about
behaviours. As a consequence of this belief, I will participate in a variety of reflective
practices through active and passive processes in the form of action research, self-
reflection and peer monitoring.

My aim as a teacher is to be as compassionate and varied in my approach as possible.

I believe this approach will produce the best results for more students. My approach
through Cognitive Behavioural theory will also allow students to be self-empowered and
self-reliant which relieves the strain of potential misbehaviour and acts as a preventative
measure to disobedience.
References/Influences

Algozzine, B., Daunic, A. P., & Smith, S. W. (2010). Preventing problem behaviors:
Schoolwide programs and classroom practices. Corwin Press.

Cohen, J. (2006). Social, emotional, ethical, and academic education: Creating a

climate for learning, participation in democracy, and well-being. Harvard Educational
Review, 76(2), 201-237, 285

Kendall, P. C. (Ed.). (2011). Child and adolescent therapy: Cognitive-behavioral

procedures. Guilford Press.

Lyons, G., Ford, M., & Slee, J. (Eds.). (2014). Classroom management: Creating
positive learning environments (4th ed.). South Melbourne, Australia: Cengage
Learning.

McDonald, T. (2010). Developing safe and accountable classrooms. In Classroom

management: Engaging students in learning (pp. 144-180). South Melbourne, Australia:
Oxford University Press.

Schunk, D. H. (1989). Social cognitive theory and self-regulated learning. In Self-

regulated learning and academic achievement (pp. 83-110). Springer New York.

Savaya, R., & Waysman, M. (2005). The logic model: A tool for incorporating theory in
development and evaluation of programs. Administration in Social Work, 29(2), 85-103.

Slavin, R. E., & Davis, N. (2006). Educational psychology: Theory and practice.

Smith, S. W., & Daunic, A. P. (2006). Managing difficult behaviors through problem-
solving instruction: Strategies for the elementary classroom. Pearson/Allyn and Bacon.
Smith, S. W., & Yell, M. L. (2013). A Teacher's Guide to Preventing Behavior Problems
in the Elementary Classroom. Pearson Higher Ed.

Zins, J. E., Bloodworth, M. R., Weissberg, R. P., & Walberg, H. J. (2007). The scientific
base linking social and emotional learning to school success. Journal of Educational
and Psychological Consultation, 17(2-3), 191-210.

Zirpoli, T. J. (2012). Positive behavioral supports. In Behavior management: Positive

applications for teachers (6th ed., pp. 257-287). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.