Statement of Beliefs about Teaching and Learning
Due Date: ongoing
Your task is to develop a statement of your beliefs about teaching and learning that will guide you in your B. Ed year and beyond. Your thinking will evolve, always centring on what you care most about as a teacher and learner. The categories listed are areas of focus for your teaching and learning that may guide your thinking as you create your statement.
Areas of Focus
- Student — In what ways do you care about your students — what they think, what they know, what they can do, what they have experienced?
- Teacher — In what ways do you want to be an example for your students?
- Subject — What is it about your favourite subject that you want your students to learn? Why?
- Learning — To what extent are you focussed on the process of learning, and cultivating a love of learning for yourself and your students?
- Community — What emphasis do you place on learning in community, on cooperating and collaborating?
- Society — In what ways are you concerned with students understanding their place in society and in becoming good citizens?
- Environment — In what ways do you want to focus on having your students think and act in ways that reflect understanding and respect for the environmental consequences of what they do?
An Evolving Statement
The idea behind this activity is to begin to articulate a philosophy of teaching and learning based on an ethic of caring (Noddings, 1992). As the year unfolds, recognize that in any particular teaching situation, the central focus of your belief statement may change. As you examine your experience, consider whether the central focus is where you want it to be.
Revisit your belief statement at various times during your B.Ed./Dip.Ed. year. Here are some purposes for this kind of thinking:
- to enhance your curriculum planning
- to enhance your teaching practice;
- to guide your action research project;
- to guide the development and implementation of your Professional Development Plan
- to provide you with help in creating materials for interviews.
You are encouraged to share what you develop for this assignment with an Associate Teacher, and to include it in your Professional Portfolio.
Assessment