1/20/2026 - Week 2 / Meeting 3: Philosophy of Education / Teaching Phislosophy Statement

 

 


 

I

 

Unit: Philosophy of Education

Theme: Teaching Philosophy Statement


Introduction


Effective Social & Emotional Learning (SEL) approaches often incorporate four elements represented by the acronym SAFE: sequenced, active, focused, explicit. These elements correlate with the ideas that make  a classroom safe and creative. Today we will take those ideas into consideration when articulating your teaching philosophy statement.


II

Learning Objectives

 

  •  Understand what makes a learning process task oriented or relationship oriented
  • Explain the meaning of the teaching philosophy statement
  • Gain an awareness of the role the teaching philosophy statement has in education
  • Experience how the Teaching philosophy works in a real classroom environment

 

III

Main Lesson


1


  • Task Oriented vs. Relationship Oriented
  • The Sweet Spot
  • Finding the Balance

 

Task-relationship model in organizational psychology distinguishes leader behavior as either work oriented and achievement focused (task) or person oriented and relationship focused (relationship; Northouse, 2018).

Read in Groups

Teaching and Learning in Higher Education:

By  Jian-Hong Ye, ‎Mei Yen Chen, ‎Yung-Wei Hao

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Teaching_and_learning_in_higher_educatio/9efMEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Task+oriented+vs+relationship+oriented&pg=PA310&printsec=frontcover


1.2 Student Evaluation of Teaching (Page 310)

1.3 Student academic morivation (Page 310)

Question 1

Why is knowing the difference between task oriented and relationship oriented leader behavior important in the classroom?

Question 2

One could say that what makes a learning process task oriented or relationship oriented is the intention of  the teacher. Explain.



2


Social & Emotional Learning

SEL in the Classroom

Effective SEL approaches often incorporate four elements represented by the acronym SAFE:

  • SEQUENCED: Connected and coordinated activities to foster skills development
  • ACTIVE: Employing active forms of learning to help students strengthen new skills
  • FOCUSED: Dedicated time and attention to developing personal and social skills
  • EXPLICIT: Targeting specific social and emotional skills

Question 3

How does the leader behavior (addressed above) and  Social and Emotional Earning relate to each-other conceptually?

 

3

Activity 1
 
 Group Work

Using the SEL approaches (above) as a reference, match the elements represented by the acronym SAFE with the safe tips (we covered last class) that apply.


LINK: 20 Tips for Creating a Safe Learning Environment

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/20-tips-create-safe-learning-environment-rebecca-alber


 4

Teaching Philosophy

 

Notes

- finding the balance between prioritizing yourself and prioritizing the class you are a part of. 

- discovering who you are as a teacher and what your internal values are vs. your external values 

- make sure to be honest with what your identity is as a teacher

- how much time and thought you put into your meaning as a teacher 

- needs to be very personal 

- be aware of who your audience is and what you are trying to portray 

- delving into all of your reasonings that you want to teach and who you want to teach to 

- what specific subjects align with my teaching interests and how to I want to demonstrate to my class 

 

5

Question 4

 
After watching this video, discuss the meaning of the teaching philosophy when the focus is a process oriented approach to learning through the arts.
 


Activity 2

Write your own teaching philosophy statement. Post your teaching philosophy statement on Discussion Board.

 

 6

Read

 The Teaching Portfolio

 By Peter Seldin, J. Elizabeth Miller & Clement A. Seldin

https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Teaching_Portfolio/CFvJurPMqTgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Teaching+philosophy+statement&printsec=frontcover 

Chapter 1: An Introduction to the Teaching Portfolio

Activity 3 

Create your own blog to start creating your teaching- portfolio.




 IV

A Note to Remember


The teaching philosophy is a written statement of the educator's general personal views on teaching. The philosophy statement often attempts to express what methods of teaching the teacher practices. 

 

V

Case Study

Frank Avella, the narrator in the video below, is a Google Certified Trainer, and a Master Teacher in K-12 Mathematics, Biology, Chemistry, and various Test Prep Courses. Avella has lots of experience in the field of education as both a teacher and an instructional trainer. He conducts professional development training all throughout the United States. Some of Avellas's training includes G-Suite, classroom management, the flipped classroom, and more.

Teachings in Education, the platform hosting Avella's videos, offers training, professional development, and researched-based strategies for educators.

 



VI


Activity 4


a) Define in your own words your own teaching philosophy.
 
b) Get in your groups and design a poster with your teaching philosophy as a group following the example below from Marc Berger's teaching portfolio.






VII

Glossary

 

VAKT Learning Styles Model: Developed by psychologists in the 1920s to classify the most common ways that people learn, the VAKT model, invites teachers to design instruction for the visual, auditory, kinethetic and tactual learner. 

task-oriented: In task-oriented cultures, such as Australia, Germany, the Netherlands, and the U.S., the primary means of achieving one's goals is through skillfully managing tasks and time. A "good" or successful person is one who "gets the job done" efficiently. Decision-making is often the responsibility of an individual, depending on the person's rank, track record, level of specialization, etc. 

relationship-oriented:  Relationship-oriented cultures organize goal achievement somewhat differently. These include most of Latin America, eastern and southern Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and nearly all of Asia. In this type of system, the group to which a person belongs is a crucial part of that person's identity and goals are accomplished via relationships. Decisions tend to be made either top-down or only after broad consensus is reached. I

proxemics: As just one aspect of nonverbal communication, this term refers to how far apart do we stand. It can be defined as how personal space is maintained as a function of one’s culture. 

teaching philosophy:  The teaching philosophy is a written statement of the educator's general personal views on teaching. The philosophy statement often attempts to express what methods of teaching the teacher practices.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) approaches: SEL approaches often incorporate four elements represented by the acronym SAFE: SEQUENCED ( Connected and coordinated activities to foster skills development), ACTIVE( Employing active forms of learning to help students strengthen new skills), FOCUSED (Dedicated time and attention to developing personal and social skills), and EXPLICIT (Targeting specific social and emotional skills).

 

 

VIII

Journaling 


IX

Sources


Fran Avella.  https://www.udemy.com/user/frank-avella/

Teaching Philosophy Examples.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TZHPl2SaFGA

Marc Berger. https://marcbergerportfolio.wordpress.com/teaching-philosophy/

Task Orientation vs. Relationship Orientation https://www.watershedassociates.com/learning-center-item/task-orientation-vs-relationship-orientation.html

VAK Learning Styles.  https://www.mindtools.com/ak6cyjn/vak-learning-styles

Proxemics 101: Understanding Personal Space Across Cultureshttps://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/understanding-personal-space-proxemics/

Leamnson, R. (1999).  Thinking about teaching and learning: Developing habits of learning with college and unniversity students. Sterling, VA: Stylus (Cited in the video)

Seldin, P. et al. (1997). The Teaching Portfolio: A practical guide to improved performance and promotion/tenure decisions. Jossey-Bass (Cited in the video)

 ================

X

  Students' Work

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

1/15/2026 - Week 1 / Meeting 2: Conceptual Art

Image
       REVIEW Creating a safe and creative space Harvesting a community of learners Changing the spatial design Integrated pedagogy of creativity (Gallagher 2015) & (Tan 2009) Suppressors of Creativity       ============================  I   Unit: Art Theme: Conceptual Art   Introduction    Most educational systems all over the world favor or sponsor academic subjects over the arts. This makes practically impossible for teachers to create a creative learning environment in which the arts could be used to teach reading, writing, math and science. However, conceptual art is a genre that allows teachers to expose children to a creative environment with no budget at all. The conceptual nature of conceptual art makes it also a great medium to expand an art lesson into an academic one. ------------------- II   Learning Objectives   Understand the importance of creativity in the learning process  Explain the m...
Read more

1/12/2026 - Syllabus / The Creative Classroom

Image
  Unit : The Creative Classroom Theme : Creating a safe learning environment. I    Introduction   Creating a safe environment in the classroom is key in providing students with higher levels of instruction. An important part of making students feel safe to learn and be creative is knowing their names. However, that is just one of the many aspects needed to actually show students that they are safe to be. Today's class provides students with important tips that help teachers to create a safe creative environment.   II   Learning Objectives Know  each other's names Understand different creativity tips that make the classroom a safer learning environment   Explain the importance of creating a safe learning space Gain an awareness of the safe classroom tips  Experience working in groups to choose 3 important tips Reflect on the work done in class   III   Main Lesson 1   Introductions to the group.   Question 1 Writ...
Read more

1/27/2026 - Week 3 / Meeting 5: Art / Vision & Mission Statements / Wabi-Sabi Aesthetics

Image
  I    Unit: Art Theme: Vision & Mission Statements / Wabi-Sabi Aesthetics   Introduction Statements of a school’s vision and mission are important for keeping a school focused on its core purpose. The statements can act as a guiding north star for school administrators who aim to make decisions that live up to the statements. They are also important because they are documents that parents use to see whether the school meets their family’s values.     II Learning Objectives   Understand the meaning of a school's vision statement Explain the importance of a school's mission statement Gain awareness of the role they play in a teacher's decision making  Experience the Wadb-Sabi aesthetics and its application withing the context of a school's vision and mission III Main Lesson 1 Concepts Mission Statement It is a formal summary of the aims and values of a school, company, organization, or individual. Vision Statement  A  vision stat...
Read more