A Teaching Philosophy for Effective Teaching and Learning in Schools

Abstract

This is a theoretical paper that attempts to highlight the importance of an educator's "personal teaching philosophy”. Whereas there are myriad reasons for an educator's teaching philosophy, the need to explore this paper is informed by the complex nature our educational institutions are getting into in terms of diversity, students' awareness of their rights, ethnicity and negative ethnicity, information technology, moral decadence, capitalism and commodification of the educational enterprise, international competitiveness in both teaching and learning among others. Additionally, an initial library and internet search by the author on scholarly literature and journal articles on the topic revealed nothing on the topic, other than online definitions.

The author argues that much as educators are busy carrying out their duties, sometimes with much diligence, hardly do they stop to reflect on what it is that informs or what should inform their practice. Hence, a personal teaching philosophy will guide an educator in making implications for both theory and practice. To foreground the need for a teaching philosophy, this paper is guided by the following research questions: What is a teaching philosophy? What is the purpose of a teaching philosophy? What should inform an educator's teaching philosophy? In which ways can an educator implement his/her teaching philosophy? What characterizes a clear teaching philosophy? And finally, what are the recommendations this study foregrounds that can inform: theory, policy and practice?

Initial findings from this theoretical paper serve to inform and challenge educators that any effective teaching must be informed by a self-reflective statement about one's beliefs, values and about what you belief about your learners. The study has also laid a foundation for a field research to investigate what informs educators in their practice – a search for a teaching philosophy among educators and peers.