My teaching philosophy

George 98427091

Education is an integral part of our lives since it contributes to the development of moral,
character, and cognition. We can acquire knowledge, develop skills of solving problems, and
learn how to behave politely and appropriately during the educational process. The success of
education depends on numerous factors. Nevertheless, there is no doubt that teachers have
taken a crucial role in this lifelong learning journey. Personally speaking, I am not an
experienced teacher, who has only been an English tutor for several years. However, I have
already acknowledged the heavy responsibilities teachers are expected to shoulder. I have
also known that experience is very important, which still needs to be combined with
continuous reflection on our teaching. As to the question of what my teaching philosophy is,
my viewpoints (specific to English teaching) are listed below.

A review of the current situation of English teaching

We need to understand that any teaching philosophy should be applicable to the current
educational system to begin with. A practical philosophy of teaching must derive from a
thorough systematic review of existing education system and training curricula. Thus, to
develop a suitable educational philosophy, we should investigate and analyze the existent
difficulties in English teaching first. Based on some related research on English teaching and
learning in Taiwan, there are some problems we need to address.

First of all, a number of students are too shy to speak English in front of class. They
prefer to stay quiet and listen instead. Only some students are eager to express themselves.
Thus, how to encourage these quiet (or anxious) students to speak English is definitely a big
challenge. Secondly, communication consists of interaction and spontaneous responses.
However, in numerous English classes in Taiwan, students’ responses are mainly limited to
giving correct answers pertaining to their textbooks. They do not have enough opportunities
to totally immerse themselves in a real-life conversation. Hence, it is still difficult for a great
number of them to express themselves freely in English. Lastly, the gap of English abilities
among students with different background is obviously widening. Therefore, it is no doubt a
tough job for instructors (especially in public schools) to think about what kinds of teaching
methods and activities they can employ to bridge and eventually eliminate the gap. Given the
current problems in English language teaching and learning, my teaching philosophy can be
formulated on the basis of the following principles.
Clear and plausible teaching goals
The mainstream of English teaching nowadays is changed, and so are teaching objectives.

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The goals of English classes are not only to memorize grammatical rules any more but also to
cultivate learners’ communicative and intercultural competence. By fulfilling the objectives,
they will know how to communicate and negotiate with others decently and appropriately.
They will also know how to respect people with different cultural knowledge and appreciate
their customs and belief.

Teaching methods and environments

Materials and learning environment should be interactive, and optimally challenging,
which can foster students’ intrinsic motivation. It is essential to encourage and elicit learners
(low-achievers in particular) to practice by trial-and-error in a low-anxiety learning context.
Otherwise, language usage can be by no means internalized and stored in their existing
cognitive network. However, production (i.e., speaking and writing) should be done when
learners are ready and capable of. One thing to note is that multimedia is a good tool to
complement traditional textbook materials.

Teachers’ roles
To build up students’ critical thinking and problem-solving skills, the class should be
carried out in a learner-centered way to a large extent. Teachers simply need to serve as a
resourceful facilitator and monitor. Therefore, after learning some necessary language usages,
students should be given more opportunities to practice them under teachers’ guidance. That
is, during the communicative activities, instructors only need to monitor and help learners get
their messages across. With an aim to foster students’ communicative competence, it is no use
dominating classes by explaining grammatical rules all the time.

In conclusion, to develop the philosophy of teaching, instructors, as Campos (2010)

claimed, should constantly reflect their teaching, methodology, level of professionalism,
teachings beliefs, and values. In other words, educators can acquire a greater understanding
of teaching, gauge their professional growth, develop informed decision-making skills, and
become proactive and confident in their teaching by reflecting their own teaching (Farrell,
2008). The reflecting process, therefore, is a key factor in formulating a practical teaching
philosophy, which in turn will have a profound influence on student learning. As far as I am
concerned, I as a novice in this field have learnt a lot from some excellent teachers (e.g.,
Coco, Michelle and others) and my own teaching experience this semester. These wonderful
experiences have further helped me understand the fact that teachers should establish clear
and achievable teaching goals, create friendly and meaningful environments, and cater to
individual and group learning needs among other things. Only by doing so can learners fully
engage themselves in their learning and seek the joy of learning (HK

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Education Bureau, 2009). Their intrinsic motivation will eventually be
boosted.

Reference:
Campos, M. (2010). The importance of developing our teaching philosophy as EFL
professionals. Retrieved from:
http://www.panamatesol.org/yahoo_site_admin/assets/docs/espinoza-
teachingphilosophy.32383532.pdf
Farrell, T. S. C. (2008). Reflective practice in the professional development of teachers of
adult English language learners. CAELA NETWORK Brief. Retrieved from:
www.cal.org/caelanetwork
HK Education Bureau. (2009). Working group on textbooks and e-learning
resources development. Retrieved from:
http://www.edb.gov.hk/FileManager/EN/Content_689/wg%20final
%20report.pdf