ELearning/Foundations/Personal philosophy of teaching and learning
What is the nature of teaching? Learning? Does teaching cause learning? What is the best way to teach? The best way to learn? Questions of this sort may strike you as deep, fanciful, or even silly. Perhaps the answers should be obvious. To be sure, there are many different answers to the questions. Authorities of education have their answers, but beyond a few basics there is little consensus. In the absence of consensus, it appears that we all must come up with our own answers. That, or find one authority and subscribe to it; no freedom allowed.
But how to approach the task? You very likely have a number of thoughts and beliefs about teaching and learning, but can you articulate them as a coherent whole? Few of us can. This article is meant to help you do that. We raise pertinent issues and ask that you consider them and perhaps arrive at some modicum of a belief system that will provide guidance as you design and teach learning experiences. We will expose you to several perspectives and then ask you to pick and choose among them, add your own, and borrow from others to arrive at a set of statements about teaching and learning that you believe in.
Definitions
First, let’s define our primary terms.
Teaching – the interaction between a student and a teacher over a subject within a specific context (Davis, 1997). Others (Halmos, 1994; Hirst, 1971) discuss strategies, methods, and activities while Spector (2000) prefers the use of “instruction” – that which facilitates learning. In other words, teaching facilitates learning, or should.
Learning – a persistent change in knowledge, skills, abilities, attitudes, mental models, beliefs, patterns of interaction, or capabilities. This change is relatively permanent over time and across a variety of distractions (Spector, 2000).
Most people agree that learning can take place without teaching, but learning is necessary for teaching to occur, or that much of what is “taught” is not learned, resulting in wasted effort.
As you read the article, the boxes (□) are reminders to closely consider if you agree, disagree, or have mixed reactions to the varied points of view. Doing so will help tremendously in arriving at your own philosophy of teaching and learning.
Conceptions of teaching
Saroyan, et al. (2009) questioned 88 doctoral students about their conceptions of teaching and learning. Their answers were factor analyzed, resulting in a four-quadrant framework.
□ Transmitting information
Effective teaching in this category is expressed by the ability to convey course content and present ideas clearly. The role of the instructor is to have content knowledge and be able to organize and structure it well and disseminate it to students.
Effective learning from this perspective is to pay attention to content and that which is disseminated by the professor, receive information, and accumulate knowledge and skills. Students should do what is required, try to get the most out of the information given, do the homework and attend class regularly.
□ Preparing the context and managing instruction
Effective teaching extends beyond the delivery of content, though it still underscores the agency of the professor. It is elaborated in terms of advanced preparation and course planning and using various strategies to address the varying needs of students. The role of the professor is to create a safe learning environment that can sustain student interest and motivation.
Effective learning from this perspective is described in terms of coming to class prepared, becoming an active participant in class, asking questions and answering those posed by the professor. Students should participate, collaborate and interact with the professor and peers, follow instructions, and provide feedback to the teacher. This role is best characterized as being responsive to the professor and course demands.
□ Promoting course learning
While the agency of the teacher is still salient, it is the intended outcome of teaching that is prominent. Good teaching is defined in terms of aligning course components (learning outcomes, teaching strategies, and assessment) and ensuring that students grasp the most important course concepts and achieve the pre-determined learning objectives. The role of the professor, correspondingly, is to facilitate the learning process and help students develop specific skills.
Effective learning is described in terms of the ability to make links between new content and personal experience and integrate new information with prior knowledge. The role of the learner is to understand course requirements, focus on course learning objectives, ask questions that are meaningful and promote intended learning, fulfill required tasks and achieve the learning outcomes.
□ Promoting lifelong learning
The goal of effective teaching and learning extends beyond the context and content of a specific course and its requirements and focuses on learning that will be of use in the future. Here effective teaching is defined in terms of the ability to help students not only gain knowledge but to grow and socialize in their profession. Moreover, the goal is to develop self-regulated lifelong learners. The role of the professor is to create opportunities whereby students can experience change in their worldview and develop self-confidence so that they can continue to learn on their own. In short, the role of the professor is to provide the resources for future learning.
Effective learning is defined in terms of conceptual change, the ability to be critical, construct new knowledge, see things differently, and have the desire for further learning. The role of the learner is to become independent and be able to tackle tasks alone. Moreover, it is to be open and to take responsibility for one’s own learning as well as the learning of peers.
Principles of learning
Spector (2000) has articulated a set of principles he believed could serve as a basis for a philosophy of teaching. As you read, pause to decide if you believe these statements to be true, or something else. Can you take them as your own, fully or partially, or not at all?
□ The learning principle
Learning essentially involves persistent change within an individual, as stated in our definition of learning. The fact that changes have occurred should be either directly or indirectly observed. That is, there must be evidence of change before we can say learning has occurred.
□ The experience principle
Understanding begins in and is based upon human experience. Individuals learn through their experiences, and knowledge and understanding are built over time in stages, in bits and pieces. Knowledge does not come fully formed; it must be built up layer by layer or stage by stage through experience – practice, interaction, hypothesis testing, involvement, participation.
□ The context principle
Learning best takes place within integrated and purposeful human activity – within a context. In other words, if students learn specific facts or procedures without understanding the context, they are doomed to learning by rote and without true comprehension.
□ The integration principle
Closely related to the context principle, the integration principle states that human experience does not come neatly compartmentalized, and teaching that fails to recognize this fact is sterile and sub optimal, and can lead to artificial distinctions that exaggerate or distort reality. On the other hand, teaching that acknowledges the context of other areas of knowledge, a variety of goals, various technologies, activities, and cultural, organizational, and societal influences is more easily integrated into the minds and lives of the learner, as well as with other areas of knowledge.
□ The uncertainty principle
We acknowledge and understand that our grasp of learning is incomplete. “We do not have a complete or comprehensive understanding of all the factors and mechanisms involved in learning.” We do know more and more, however, we cannot state unequivocally that a particular strategy will work for every individual in every context.
Serious elearning manifesto
From the manifesto instigators Paul Allen, Julie Dirkson, Clark Quinn, and Will Thalheimer:
- We believe that learning technology offers the possibility for creating uniquely valuable learning experiences.
- We also believe, with a sense of sadness and profound frustration, that most elearning fails to live up to its promise.
- We further believe that current trends evoke a future of only negligible improvement in elearning design—unless something radical is done to bend the curve.
- Finally, we have concluded that in order to elevate elearning to the height of its promise, we need to begin with a personal commitment to a new set of standards.
- Through our work in developing elearning experiences and helping others do the same, we believe that we need to go beyond typical elearning to the values and characteristics of Serious eLearning:
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They also include a set of 22 supporting principles. Visit the website: Serious eLearning Manifesto
Centeredness of teaching
Figure 1 depicts three focal points of teaching: content-centered, student-centered, and teacher-centered. Read through all three lists and copy-and-paste into your document those items that you agree with.
Content-centered teaching
- □ Content is paramount; the curriculum must be covered.
- □ There is only a fixed amount of time that can be spent on any module or lesson.
- □ The teacher’s responsibility is to cover the content.
- □ Teacher and student interests are only peripherally important.
- □ Single subjects dictate the course of study. Any integration is coincidental.
- □ Engagement and practice are centered on understanding the content.
- □ Texts and authorities are the source of knowledge.
- □ Tests and quizzes are for gauging retention.
- □ Teaching causes learning.
Student-centered teaching
- □ Students are responsible for their own learning.
- □ To a large degree, students determine the content to be learned.
- □ Students build their own understanding of the content.
- □ Student goals and interests are central.
- □ Integration with other content areas is dependent on student interest.
- □ Engagement and interaction are central to building personal meaning.
- □ Tests and quizzes are geared toward understanding and application.
- □ The teacher serves as a guide, coach, facilitator, and mentor.
- □ Students approach the learning task individually, according to differing talents and learning styles.
- □ The entire body of knowledge can serve as the source of understanding.
Teacher-centered teaching
- □ Teaching practices are the focus of attention.
- □ The teacher is responsible for learning.
- □ The teacher’s interpretation of what is important and not is central to course content.
- □ The teacher is the source of knowledge.
- □ Engagement and interaction are centered on understanding the teacher’s interpretation.
- □ The teacher interprets texts, authorities, and student interests.
- □ Tests and quizzes are for measuring retention.
- □ Integration with other content areas is dependent on instructor evaluation of relevance.
Chances are that you checked items under each category and formed a personal list with inconsistencies and even contradictions. This is a normal result when we look at teaching from these “polar” perspectives. It’s difficult to be consistent when presented with such dichotomous choices. We have a fourth, possibly more consistent, perspective for your consideration.
Learning-centered teaching
There are two central tenants of this approach to teaching. One, any particular teaching strategy that works well within one constellation of variables may work poorly when the constellation is different. Therefore, the teaching strategy, as well as the learning strategy, must be customized to the particular constellation of variables (Bransford, et. al., 2004). Two, educational research has much to inform our decisions around best practices, and we are best advised to use this evidence in our teaching. When we find contradictory evidence, we will use the “preponderance of evidence.”
- □ Student learning is the focus of attention, not the preferences of publishers, teachers, or students. This focus requires clearly articulated learning goals and objectives.
- □ Teaching practices are evidence-based as much as possible. Evidence tells us that a combination of strategies work better than any one method alone.
- □ Learning goals and objectives drive the content, learning activities, and assessments.
- □ Because experience forms the basis and conduit for learning, teaching methods include a large measure of active learning techniques and sufficient time spent on those activities.
- □ Because reflection serves to consolidate learning, multiple opportunities for reflection are included in the instruction.
- □ Because learning is, in large measure, a socially mediated process it is important for students to express their own and respond to the opinions, perspectives, and contributions of others.
- □ Because the teacher is vitally important to student learning, it is imperative to communicate high expectations, maintain regular and ongoing presence, and provide prompt and helpful feedback.
- □ Because there are important variations in individual talent and ways of learning, learning activities need to be varied and allow learner choice as much as is practical.
Your Philosophy of Teaching and Learning
Your charge, should you accept, is to create a list of statements or, if you prefer, a narrative that together accurately reflect your philosophy of teaching and learning. As this is your personal philosophy, you must truly believe everything you state.Two examples are provided here as food for thought.
Examples
Geology instructor. Our first example is an edited version of an actual statement of teaching philosophy from the teaching portfolio of David M. Singer of Stanford University, a geology instructor and Ph.D. candidate (1,028 words).
“As a student, I have observed that the best teachers were those who cared the most about teaching. This passion is one of the single most important components of effective teaching as it leads to thorough preparation, continuous evolution of teaching skills, and the pleasure of watching students learn. The amount of time that a teacher puts into preparation directly translates to how the students learn. The ultimate goal for the teacher is to communicate new information to students, not just memorizing facts, but also to learn how to think. This process can be made more efficient when both the teacher and the students enjoy what they are covering. In my teaching experience, efficient learning by students consists of the combination of formal lecture, and smaller discussion sections.
“During lectures, students are exposed to a stream of organized information that will teach them the basic blocks of the subject. The impact on the student is enhanced when the lecture is given as a narrative, where the information is clear and organized but presented in a softer story-like manner rather than dry lecturing. This also allows the lecturer not just to present coherent information, but also to keep a captive audience. In physical sciences, and in particular within earth sciences, teachers often ask students to take a leap of faith when learning new material. Concepts that are the fundamental building blocks of subject and sometimes abstract, are often taught in reduced form in order to quickly lead the students to see the big picture, particularly at the introductory level. For example, when teaching an introductory course in earth sciences, the lecturer must explain how atoms are the building blocks of molecules, which link to form minerals, and these minerals combine to form rocks. The audience is not necessarily familiar with the fundamental chemistry in order to understand the subject at every facet; however, the goal for the teacher is get the student to understand the larger driving forces behind how and where these rocks and minerals form, and not advanced chemistry. The students are asked to take a leap of faith; they have to trust the lecturer enough to accept these possibly unfamiliar ideas in order to move on to see the larger framework. Trust in the teacher is also derived from the passion to teach. When students see that their teacher has a passion for teaching and for the subject, they have an easier time accepting the difficult material because they trust the teacher.
“In discussion sections, students working in smaller groups explore subjects at a deeper level than presented during lectures. In this open atmosphere, the discussion can progress on tangents instead of a linear narrative, allowing students to work on a specific subtopic before moving on to the next concept of the general subject. The teacher acts to facilitate the discussion using a Socratic type method to guide the conversation. While students are not always happy to ask a question, and get one in response, this method is ultimately very fulfilling for them. In my experience, if students are simply given an answer, they are not forced to go through any thought processes to figure out the problem. However, when asking them questions in response to theirs, they can be lead along a line of thought where they work through the answer themselves, with some assistance in trajectory. By not spoon-feeding them responses, they develop the tools to work through a general problem, and not simply how to memorize answers.
“At introductory levels, discussion sections are often stagnant because of students’ timidity toward giving responses. In order to stimulate conversations, the discussion leader has to rely on icebreaker skills to motivate students to talk. The simple act of learning a student’s name and a piece of information about them shows the students that the teacher has a vested interest in their class, and is genuinely interested in helping their students. Using students’ names makes for a more intimate relationship between teacher and student. The teacher is then free to ask questions in order to initiate a discussion, without getting one and two-word answers. In more advanced classes, the instructor might simply be able to pose a few questions, and only intermittently add insight to facilitate discussion. This can be one of the more pleasurable teaching experiences, as the teacher can now watch as the students learn and teach with each other based on the knowledge set that they have been given by the teacher.
“Some of my favorite teaching experiences have been when I have been able to integrate both lecturing and discussion components into a single setting. This can frequently occur in the form of live review sessions. I have been a teaching assistant for the course “Earth Materials” several times. For the final exam, I have developed two review sessions in order to help the students assess the large amount covered in this course. For each session, I have developed a question and answer packet that the students work through during the session. My goal for them is to help them organize the information they have been taught, and to make sure they understand the material at a detail level, but also to understand how each part fits into the whole and to see the big picture. During the review sessions, I have the students work together to answer the questions. When new questions arise, I instruct them to ask each other so that everyone is part of the learning process. When they reach a question they can’t answer, it is now my task to do some lecturing, and help them sift through the material. I can review tricky material, or present a clearer picture than what was presented during the initial lecture. It is also in this forum that students can clearly see how I have a passion to teach. When helping students through a tricky problem, I enjoy seeing them work a problem through to completion. My enthusiasm to teach translates to their enthusiasm to learn. This enthusiasm coupled with proper instruction allows the students not only to meet their educational goals, but also enjoy their time during the process.”
Confusion Philosophy. In this next example, Daniel Pratt (2005) discusses the Chinese, or Confucian philosophy of teaching (364 words).
“Chinese faculty and students commonly understand learning in terms of four stages: memorization, understanding, application, and questioning or modifying of what is to be learned. Within these societies, students are expected to move through the four stages in the prescribed order. Each stage is therefore a valid form of learning, because it prepares the learner for the next stage.
“Memorization is the stage most often misinterpreted by Westerners, especially when contrasted with our preferred notions of learning. From a Chinese point of view, however, memorization serves two legitimate functions. First, through drill and repetition (as a means to memorizing), students begin the process of understanding and, hence, initiate the second stage of learning. They may read the same material several times, each time making the content more familiar, while also focusing on different aspects of it. Second, through memorization, students demonstrate respect for the knowledge of their teachers and their texts. As such, memorization is not an end, but a means toward understanding the content as it is authorized.
“Some teachers in North America confuse and frustrate foreign students when they disparage memorization and encourage students to move quickly toward the far end of the chain (questioning and critique). Foreign students often struggle to develop on their own the structure that seemed useful and legitimate for earlier stages of learning in their home country. It is not that they are incapable of learning in the Western way; they are simply unused to starting at this further stage of learning without having been guided through the preparatory stages. In addition, many such learners may see it as disrespectful to challenge or question the text (or teacher), especially when they have little assurance that they understand that which they are to critique.
“In their version of learner-centered teaching, Chinese professors guide students through content, down a well-defined sequence of steps, toward mastery of it, fully confident that they, the teachers, are in control of the knowledge and the stages of learning. Students, in turn, are willing recipients of the teacher's authority. Together, teacher and students enter into a well-defined set of reciprocal roles that give further meaning to learning and offer alternative forms of effective teaching.”
Art History Professor. This opinion piece by Patricia Emison in the Chronicle of Higher Education is written as a teaching compact between the professor and her students rather than a statement of philosophy. Nonetheless, we clearly see the instructor's philosophy. The Teaching Compact.
For an explanation of the use of teaching philosophies in academia, see the paper by O’Neal, Meizlish & Kaplan. Writing a Statement of Teaching Philosophy for the Academic Job Search
Conclusion: Four teaching philosophies
- Content Centered
- Content most important
- Teacher acts as disseminator of information (content)
- Student Centered
- Student goals and interests most important
- Teacher acts as guide, coach, facilitator or mentor
- Teacher Centered
- Teacher is omnipotent
- Teacher is responsible for all aspects of student learning
- Learning Centered
- Student learning is focus of attention
- Teacher integrates all three teaching styles, picking and choosing the best methods of each that help students learn and/or fit a teaching situation.
After considering the four philosophies and the two teaching philosophy examples, consider creating your own preliminary teaching/learning philosophy from the information given in the article. You will be invited to revisit this philosophy from time to time.
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