My Educational Philosophy

Education is the foundation for a child’s future. As a special education teacher, I take pride in my profession as someone who shepherds the future generations. Central to my pedagogy is a focus on the needs of students. I work hard to differentiate learning so that each student’s unique skills are emphasized. My teaching philosophy is strongly influenced by Abraham Maslow’s humanistic approach, and in particular his Hierarchy of Needs. I aim to ensure students’ basic needs are met in the classroom so that they feel happy, comfortable, safe, and welcomed into the classroom. Paying attention to students’ social, physical, emotional, and cognitive development equally helps raise balanced children for the 21st Century. When students’ basic needs are met, they can focus on learning and personal development.

I aspire to create student-centered and co-created learning environments in which the student is in the driving seat of their own learning. I embrace Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development as a key pedagogical tool to ensure all students are taught content that is achievable yet challenging. I love hands-on, partner/group work to facilitate social growth and inquiry skills. I believe that all children, regardless of ability level, have something to give, so I try to provide an environment where all children feel comfortable expressing themselves. I set high standards and high expectations by promoting growth mindsets among my students. All my students know that I expect them to try their hardest and strive for improvement every day.

I also include play in every aspect of our learning day as I can. When students learn by doing rather than listening, they tend to store information in their minds more effectively. This is why I use a play-based learning approach. I create play-based learning situations where students can play in parallel, learn from staff personnel and one another, and make new discoveries through the use of all their senses.

Assessment and progress monitoring are important to me as a teacher as it helps me to measure my own teaching efficacy. I often use students’ assessment results and progress monitoring data to reflect upon how I taught the content, what areas of weakness appeared across a cohort, and how to teach those areas of weakness more effectively.

​​Students need to become clear and confident communicators of their knowledge. I often create assessments that require students to express themselves in visual and verbal formats to help them develop their communication capacities. I often employ the guided practice of the “I do, we do, you do” method. This approach starts with teacher modeling a practice, but involves the gradual release of responsibility to the student until the student can undertake tasks on their own.

Overall, my goal as a special education teacher is to prepare students to make the transition from grade to grade while developing their academic and social skills, basic life skills, behavioral management, and emotional regulation so that each student can join and contribute as an active and functional member of society.