Teaching philosophy statement

  

“The best teacher is not the one who knows most but is most capable of reducing knowledge to that simple compound of the obvious and wonderful.”[1] As an ESL practitioner, I value the effort of making the learning process an entertaining task but an obligation, which is a philosophy I learned from the book My Family and Other Animals[2]. In my outlook, the teacher should work in rapport with the learners and understand their interests to cater for the knowledge accordingly.

 

        Learners require an environment where they feel safe to take risks necessary to learn the language. The emotional state will affect their receptiveness to comprehensible input.[3] Thus, where there are enthusiastic learners, there is a classroom buzzing with life. Moreover, my ideal classroom values heterogeneousness. The learners should be undisclosed to multiple social contexts for proper language acquisition.[4]

 

        While teaching, I put my faith in the Socratic method and ZPD[5], which encourage learner autonomy aided by peer interaction rather than teacher-centeredness. With minimum scaffolding, I believe the students get a successful learning outcome in a collaborative environment. Nevertheless, the teacher is responsible for prompting a suitable learning atmosphere with different ecological approaches and practical reinforcements. 

        In conclusion, I realized that a happy classroom is a successful one. Teaching is not about transmitting knowledge but also about instilling curiosity, nurturing imagination, fostering critical thinking, and imparting knowledge and wisdom to our learners.

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[1] Mencken (n.d.)

[2] Durrel (1956)

[3] Affective Filter Hypothesis (Krashen, 1982)

“Krashen claims that learners with high motivation, self-confidence, a good self-image, and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for success in second language acquisition.” (Schutz, 2005, p. 3)

[4] Socio-cultural theory (Vygotsky, 1978)

[5] Zone of Proximal Development (Vygotsky, 1978)