Throughout my relatively short teaching career, I have developed my own, personal teaching philosophy. I feel that, in order for a child to be enriched wholly, a teacher must strive to fulfil them spiritually, emotionally, physically and intellectually.

Spiritually.

As a teacher, I feel it is important for a child to develop a close relationship to God. Rather than present God as the omnipotent or as an intimidating figure, I hope to introduce children to God as a caring father figure, with whom they can share a close and intimate relationship and confide in. I also hope to guide children to question their faith and demand to know and learn more as it pushes them to become committed and educated Christians.

Emotionally.

It is important for students to be engaged emotionally through learning. Children should be encouraged to become passionate learners, to be angered by social justice issues, thrilled by new discoveries, and enchanted and enthralled by stories. For this to happen, as a teacher, I must be committed to presenting lessons that are original, creative and thought provoking.

Physically.

In today’s society, there is great emphasis being placed on the obesity epidemic that has taken control of our children. This, in turn, influences one factor of how teachers must cater for children’s physicality. I encourage my students to make the healthiest choices and lead by example. The second factor, I believe, is to allow children the opportunity to learn through trial and error and hand on activities. At times, children feel that only perfect performance in academics and sport lead to success and devalue the important process of trial and error. It is through practice and applying skills learnt in class in real life situations, that the most outstanding learning occurs.

Intellectually.

In my opinion, due to time constraints and restricted resources and funds, so many teachers are forced to revert to the same old tired lessons. I feel that, regardless of such boundaries, I should strive to provide lessons that will challenge my students and that are appropriate for them in such a way that they continue to strengthen and build on their skills as well as develop their weaknesses.

“You can teach a student a lesson for a day; but if you can teach him to learn by creating curiosity, he will continue the learning process as long as he lives.” – Clay P. Bedford