“My Personal Philosophy as a Teacher”

In seeking to articulate my personal philosophy as a teacher I have reflected at

length on my own education, life experiences, and learnings; along with the freedom
I enjoy due to my not pursuing teaching as a career, but rather as an opportunity to
“make a difference” to the lives of my students. My Meyer’s Brigg’s profile, based on
multiple assessments over 40 years, assesses me as being an INFJ (Introvert,
Intuitive, Feeling, Judgemental). These inherent traits, and life-long learnings inform
my philosophy, and result in my overall disposition being: -
 Empathetic.
 Strategic.
 Intuitive.
 Committed to social justice and diversity.
 Emotionally intelligent.
 Strong belief in empowerment and giving agency.

When I reflect on my own educational experience 4 teachers exemplify what I aim to bring
to my teaching. They all showed respect for every pupil, were unfailingly polite and
approachable, showing a genuine interest in every student. Their instruction in all their
areas was inspirational, and they varied the speed and content of learning to individual
capability. These individuals all set very clear standards of expected behaviour, without
resorting to explicit disciplinary measures. They all possessed “presence” and were always
“with it”. As role models they were exemplary.

Relationship with my students

I believe that the single most important aspect of my teaching will be having strong and
meaningful relationships with all my students. This requires good communication between
myself and all student. It is impossible to establish caring and respectful relationships
without clear unambiguous communication at a ‘one to one’ level. It is my experience over
many decades that one should always endeavour to speak to others as one would wish to
be spoken to. Active listening is a fundamental pre-requisite for effective communication as
is self-control and calmness when provoked by such things as swearing and abuse. It is
essential to check with the other person that you have understood what they said. It is
essential to maintain an awareness of the possible impact of interference on
communication. Did the student /I hear what was said accurately. Was the communication
really understood? I believe that I should be prepared to tell students what they may expect
of me, and if necessary hold me to account. Those expectations will include, but not be
limited to, respect for every student, a belief that they all have the potential to learn and
grow and be the best they can, no one will be unheard or silenced, zero tolerance for
vilification or bullying, seek wherever possible to give students agency over their learning
and behaviour, ensuring access to differentiated learning, and that the classroom will be a
safe place. I will maintain a continual awareness of the need to demonstrate these
behaviours with all students.

Classroom Management and Ecology

I believe a positive learning environment is about creating a classroom management plan

that allows each student to thrive and enjoy a sense of wellbeing and safety. The principal
elements of such a plan include classroom climate, and classroom culture, and as far as
practicable the physical environment. Reflection and patience are essential since matters
such a climate and culture do not happen immediately and require consistency over time for
establishment. I will aim for a culture based on mutual respect and engagement.

Pedagogical Approach

I believe that students learn best through ensuring that the teaching they experience is
“Real, Relevant and Relational”(P. Maidens 2018). For it to be real and relevant means
ensuring that it is based on realities that they know and experience. For teaching to be
relational demands that teacher establish a relationship with every student.

My study and readings(Sweller, 2004) (Klahr & Nigam, 2004) (Kirschner, Sweller, & Clark,
2006) on cognitive theory and instructional approaches, along with conversations with
Pardo and Maidens, lead me to conclude that a range of instructional approaches are
required. I believe that directed instruction provides students with the intellectual
foundations and frameworks (scaffolds), upon which one can then deploy constructivist
educational approaches to provide students with the opportunity to explore the subject
matter further. Differentiated learning will be a part of my pedagogical approach in all my
lesson plans. After each lesson I will seek to quickly capture the learnings, for me as the
teacher, as to how things went and decide what adjustments to make to the teaching
plan/style/ approaches/pedagogy that I will follow. (PIR in practice). (Gore, Griffiths, &
Ladwig, 2004)

Behavioural Management

It is self-evident to me that “The teacher and the students are all equal actors in the drama
of the classroom”. I have a core belief that students are not ‘evil’, and that all misbehaviour
has a cause. The majority of the research papers(Sullivan, Johnson, Owens, & Conway, 2014)
(McGrath & Van Bergen, 2015) I have read identify good Teacher Student Relationships and
engagement as being crucial to managing behaviour, regardless of which theoretical
approach is deployed. De Jong’s paper (De Jong, 2005) in which he reports on best practice
in behaviour management establishes 7 themes of best practice, all of which resonated
with me, and inform my beliefs in this crucial area of teaching. The unit Pedagogies for
Positive Learning provided insights and explanations into the major theories for managing
problematic behaviour in the classroom. In doing so it has provided me with a portfolio of
theories and approaches that I will select from, according to the circumstances I encounter
during my career. My inherent disposition leads me to favour SEL, Cognitive and Rational
Behaviour therapy and Psychoeducational approaches and theories, such as Goal Theory,
and Choice Theory, as opposed to more strict disciplinarian approaches. In my view FBA
(Killu, 2008) is a very useful tool for seeking to understand and develop strategies and
interventions for the 5% of seriously disturbed and disruptive students.

Reflection and Reflexivity

The practice of Reflection and Reflexivity as part of one’s routine repertoire, will allow me to
learn from the daily experience of school and classroom, and enable my understanding of
theory to be brought to bear and deployed in my teaching. The intent being to exercise
agency through reflexivity in seeking improvements and finding solutions to the wide range
of issues that arise, rather than being merely reactive. I want to “Navigate the storm of the
classroom, rather than being tossed around”.
School Policies

Whilst overall compliance with established policies and procedures in the school is a
requirement, however within that framework I will seek space, and if necessary push the
boundaries to bring my own values to bear. My commitment will be to my students not rigid
compliance with the “system”.

Acknowledgements
1. Bill and Margery Grove-White (my parents), who instilled in me a love of learning
and filled our house with people from all over the world. They taught me something
new every day.
2. Richard Jones, Headmaster of Llanfechell Primary School, who will always be my
role model for inspirational teaching, and care for every student. He brought the
world and it’s wonders to our tiny country village primary school.
3. Chris Greene, Latin teacher at St Georges School, Harpenden, who made Latin fun
and gave so much else to every student.
4. Mr Phillip Handley, Physics Teacher at St Georges School Harpenden, who
encouraged me, at aged 15, to measure the speed of light in the school physics club
and so much more.
5. Henry S Taylor, English Teacher at St Georges School Harpenden who gently guided
my reading when I was 13, and introduced me to Thomas Hardy, George Elliot and
books on Philosophy.
6. Patricia Maidens who shared her 3 R’s Real Relevant and Relational and gave so
much to all the students.
7. Jaqui Ullman’s quote that “All Teaching is political”, and by sharing her passion for
social justice, confirmed my decision to enter the teaching profession.
8. Dr Roberto Prada, the University of Western Sydney’s resident polymath, who
taught more than just the syllabus.
9. Susan Nicolson who taught me, over 10 years, the power of SEL in business / all
organisations.
10. Melanie Manton who taught me the power of cognitive behaviour therapy for
individuals.

References
De Jong, T. (2005). A Framework of Principles and Best Practice for Managing Student Behaviour in
the Australian Education Context. School Psychology International, 26(3), 353-370.
doi:10.1177/0143034305055979
Gore, J. M., Griffiths, T., & Ladwig, J. G. (2004). Towards better teaching: productive pedagogy as a
framework for teacher education. Teaching and Teacher Education, 20(4), 375-387.
doi:10.1016/j.tate.2004.02.010
Killu, K. (2008). Developing Effective Behavior Intervention Plans: Suggestions for School Personnel.
Intervention in School and Clinic, 43(3), 140-149. doi:10.1177/1053451207311610
Kirschner, P. A., Sweller, J., & Clark, R. E. (2006). Why Minimal Guidance During Instruction Does Not
Work: An Analysis of the Failure of Constructivist, Discovery, Problem-Based, Experiential,
and Inquiry-Based Teaching. Educational Psychologist, 41(2), 75-86.
doi:10.1207/s15326985ep4102_1
Klahr, D., & Nigam, M. (2004). The Equivalence of Learning Paths in Early Science Instruction.
Psychological Science, 15(10), 661-667. doi:10.1111/j.0956-7976.2004.00737.x
McGrath, K. F., & Van Bergen, P. (2015). Who, when, why and to what end? Students at risk of
negative student-teacher relationships and their outcomes. Educational Research Review,
14, 1-17. doi:10.1016/j.edurev.2014.12.001
Sullivan, A. M., Johnson, B., Owens, L., & Conway, R. (2014). Punish them or engage them?
Teachers' views of unproductive student behaviours in the classroom. Australian
Journal of Teacher Education, 39(6), 43-56. doi:10.14221/ajte.2014v39n6.6
Sweller, J. (2004). Instructional Design Consequences of an Analogy between Evolution by Natural
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