The document outlines Gregory Bennett's teaching philosophy. He discusses wanting to be an effective teacher rather than just a good teacher. He believes in engaging students through communication and discussion, addressing individual student needs, and ensuring students have a deep understanding of concepts through active learning rather than just knowledge. His goals are to reduce times students feel they have failed and increase times they feel accomplished by carefully planning flexible lessons tailored to individual needs.

1. Running Head: ELEMENTARY SCHOOL TEACHING PHILOSOHPY 1
Teaching Philosophy
University of Windsor
October 5th, 2016
Gregory Bennett

2. Elementary School Teaching Philosophy 2
The question of what kind of teacher I want to be can be found through the analysis of
what encompasses an excellent teacher. An immediate observation that has been made is that I
will not be a mediocre teacher. Understanding what defines a good teacher becomes ever more
important. The answer will not only help shape my teaching philosophy, but will also shape the
opinions of those interviewing me for a teaching job. Upon listening to Dr. Finney Cherian, I
have recently learned that being a good teacher is not the goal, rather being an effective teacher
is. He went on further to say that the difference between the two is that an effective teacher is
someone that has attributes that are measurable; and has behaviours that are visible to the
students, faculty, and parents which are desired upon over others. Moreover, the way in which
the classroom environment is presented should be reflective of this desire to be an effective
teacher, and can be expressed through the ideologies, structures, and practices that take place.
My teaching ideology is the teacher I want to be combined with what the curriculum
expects of me. While the expectations of the curriculum are not going to be changed by my
personal views, the teacher I want to be can be. First and foremost, I am aiming to become a
teacher who allows the children to develop through communication. If I simply stand up at the
front of the classroom lecture, I will quickly lose the attention and therefore the respect of the
students in my class. I believe that the children should be involved with class discussions as a
whole, or in groups of various sizes. Furthermore, I believe that it is through this communication
that the children will be actively learning the materials, and will be more willing to participate in
the lessons.
Secondly, the teacher I am to become comprehends that each child has individual needs.
An analogy of burying versus planting given by Dr. Cherian can be made here to help with this
understanding. Something that is buried is put to rest, while something that is planted is

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encouraged to grow. My goal is to plant the materials and resources for the children, and watch
the knowledge grow from it. This will be completed through a series of steps that identify how to
lay out learning objectives, which are similar to the ideas that Dr. Cherian presented in class. The
primary task will be to give a description of what they will be doing for each activity, because
comprehension is an essential element for learning. This means that the children will know if
they are required to do individual seat work, work in groups, or have an activity done as a class.
The working conditions also explains what materials will be used in the activities which could
include but are not limited to things such as gym equipment, books, writing materials, or
electronic devices. The last part of attending to each child’s individual needs is explaining to
them how they will be evaluated. While each child may be required to comprehend the same
material, the presentation of it along with the assessment of it does not have to be the same. As
the teacher, I can ensure that material is presented to the students using multiple methods such as
PowerPoint presentations, or one-on-one communication. Evaluations can then be given through
multiple techniques such as verbally, through a written test, or any other methods that may be
beneficial to ensure the success of the students.
Adding onto the topic of meeting the needs of students through multiple resources, it is
important to note the reality of specialized teachers that may be in the school. An article by
Griffin and Motgomery mentioned that although the number of specialized teachers has dropped
by over a third since the 1997-1998 school year, they are still critical to students today (Griffin &
Motgomery, 2007). Furthermore, if a school does not have a specialized teacher for subjects such
as music or French, I shall be responsible for providing them with the appropriate lessons
through a combination of my beliefs and the curriculums.

4. Elementary School Teaching Philosophy 4
Continuing on with the topic of comprehension, it is important as a teacher that there is
an understanding of the difference between a child having the correct knowledge of the material,
and of the child knowing the material. Dr. Cherian taught us that the main difference between
being knowledgeable about something, and knowing something, is the practice of actively doing
the topic that is being discussed. The difference was taught to me this year, and it demonstrates
this concept through the example of pregnancy. Both a man and a woman can go to counselling
for pregnancy and how the process of giving birth is going to occur, in fact, the man may
actually be able to grasp some of the concepts better than the woman, or even score better than
her on any testing that might happen. This would suggest that the man is more knowledgeable
than the woman about giving birth. However, everyone knows that once it comes time, it is
exclusively the women are involved with the practical aspect of giving birth. Through physically
going through the processes of giving birth, a woman is able to know what giving birth is all
about.
This same idea applies for students in a classroom. As a teacher, my goal is to be able to
reach out to each child and meet their learning needs, regardless of the nature that it has to occur
in. By doing this, it will help each child reach their fullest potential in my classroom which will
be rewarding. As explained in Ayers’ article regarding beginning teachers, teachers should not
treat each student the same because they have individual differences (Ayers). Reflecting back on
growing up, I felt extremely accomplished whenever I was able to complete something that the
teacher asked of me effectively, however there were also times where I was disappointed with
myself for failing tasks too. As a teacher, one of my goals is going to be to reduce the amount of
times that my students feel they have failed, and increase the amount of times they feel
accomplished or successful.

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When looking further into the idea of making sure that my teaching methods are
effective, I believe that a few teaching morals have to be followed. First of all, understanding the
difference between participation and engagement is imperative. Having students go through the
motions of various activities is not enough. I believe that a personal investment must be made by
the children for real learning to take place. This personal investment is where the real
engagement in a classroom takes place. The same rule goes for teachers too however, for a
teacher that is too robotic in nature and is simply there to present material and go home will not
be as effective as one who has an personal connection with the students and can bring the
curriculum to life. In the Ontario College of Teachers Foundations of Professional Practice
article, it explained how professional learning should always be taking place by the teachers and
that it can improve their practice and make student experiences better (Foundations of
Professional Practice, 2012).
Ultimately, my belief is that any student can be successful if presented with the right
opportunity and proper preparation. I cannot expect them to succeed if they are not given an
appropriate chance to do so, and without my guidance, they will likely not be able to excel even
if an opportunity were to present itself. This means that I will need to carefully plan out my
lessons and allow them to be flexible for when some children need special circumstances. It does
not seem right that a student who struggles with a multiple choice style of questioning should
have to suffer, when in reality they may have a clear understanding of the content. As a teacher I
will be comparing different examination methods in the early parts of the school year to see
which methods certain students thrive off of the most. After, I would apply the most effective
method to each individual student ultimately creating an individual learning plan, so that they
can have the greatest chance to be successful.

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References
Ayers, W. (n.d.). To Teach: The Journey of a Teacher.
Griffin, S. M. & Montgomery, A. P. (2007). Specialist vs. non-specialist music teachers:
Creating a space for conversation.” In K. Veblen & C. Beynon (Eds. with S. Horsley, U.
DeAlwiss, & A. Heywood), From sea to sea: Perspectives on music education in Canada.
Retrieved from http://ir.lib.uwo.ca/musiceducationEbooks/1/
Ontario College of Teachers Foundations of Professional Practice. (2012). The Professional
Learning Framework for the Teaching Profession, 24-29. Retrieved from
https://www.oct.ca/-/media/PDF/Foundations of Professional Practice/Foundation_e.pdf.