TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

TEACHING PHILOSOPHY STATEMENT

Victoria AYANSOLA (Msc)

Dominion University Ibadan, Ibadan, Nigeria

+2347033982979

vkorede54@gmail

The progress of any society is driven by a variety of factors. It is my sincere belief that a critical factor in achieving this progress is through education and more importantly teaching. My conviction in this direction is strongly supported by the words of Patricia Cross that the ‘’task of an excellent teacher is to stimulate ‘apparently ordinary’ people to unusual effort. The problem is not in identifying winners; it is making winners out of ordinary people’’.

A clear reflection upon my academic career revealed a pedagogical narrative highly influenced by my mentors, who secured my intellectual skills to assess, create and articulate ideas through their excellent teaching or training in the classroom and outside the classroom. These mentors are remembered not only for their devotion to teaching and the professional way in which they impacted knowledge, but their ability to develop excellent curricula and their respect for intellectual diversity within and outside the classroom.

One of the lesson I learnt from my teaching experiences is the priceless skill of critical reasoning, a requirement to succeed in a broad spectrum of scholarly activities. It is my honest opinion that all students that graduate from universities should be equipped with the requisite skills to reason through received opinions. This has become the foundation of my teaching philosophy, motivating me to assist students develop their critical thinking skills.

My teaching philosophy is grounded in three but related principles: creating positive learning environment, reflective teaching and constant self-improvement.

 

  • Creating positive learning environment.

In teaching my students, I create a positive learning environment that respects and promotes intellectual diversity, allowing students to share ideas freely with one another with the teacher. In this intellectual space, students are enjoined to employ their philosophic spirit to develop positions and counter positions that will lead to a clear elucidation of the basic concepts in the course under study and consequently build upon the concepts to reach the targeted learning objective. Therefore, in order to promote the development of critical skills in the classroom, I always take into consideration these various forms of intellectual diversity. In doing this, I promote the intellectual diversity of students by presenting information in a variety of formats, and measure students’ aptitude in a variety of context. It is true to say that students possess different learning strategies and abilities. Thus, I make extra effort to present class materials in a variety of ways, using lectures, articles, textbooks and originased notes to present course materials.

When measuring students’ aptitude, I also employ a variety of formats. For each of my courses, I assess students’ abilities, using: tests on what have been done so far in the course, short assignments or essays alongside participation in class discussions. Each method reveals the strengths and weaknesses of students in the class and consequently exposes those that need extra attention in the class.

  • Reflective teaching

At any time I had a lecture with my students whether in the classroom or interacting with them individually, I would start by taking them through memory lane about our previous lectures to provide a clear background for the day’s discussion. The next step would normally be to prepare an outline of the topic in an orderly manner for the students to clearly articulate the issues and be able to assimilate same in a sequential order. This would then be supported with relevant text to provide different perspectives in understanding. Sometimes, at the end of each study session, I would introduce a quiz or a take home assignment to the students to test their level of understanding of the issues in the course.

  • Constant self-improvement

It is my honest opinion that any good teacher remains a good student throughout life. As a University teacher, I constantly review my performances in the classroom from time to time. This includes; assessing how well I presented the course materials, how well the students received the materials and coming up with the ideas on how to improve upon my presentations to command students’ interest in the course. I believe that taking time to rewrite lecture notes, add new materials and revise lecture plans is something that all teachers must do on a regular basis.

In addition, it is important to note that self-reflection has its limitations. I also align with the view that one way to improve one’s skill as a University teacher is to acknowledge the fact that knowledge is not a finished product. It is constantly changing according to changing circumstances or with age. On this note, a good teacher must be open to advice from experienced colleagues by keeping up on current academic concerns.

In conclusion, I believe that any University teacher has a duty to his profession, to his students and to himself. Fulfilling this duty requires that a teacher never stops learning, just as he continues to evaluate his performance among colleagues and students both within and outside the classroom.

 

 

AYANSOLA VICTORIA IRETOLUWANI IS CURRENTLY AN ASSISTANT LECTURER IN THE DEPARTMENT OF BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES (BIOTECHNOLOGY), SHE HOLDS A MASTERS DEGREE IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT FROM UNIVERSITY OF IBADAN. SHE'S PASSIONATE ABOUT THE WELFARE AND CONSERVATION OF BOTH DOMESTICATED AND WILD ANIMALS, THIS HAS RESULTED INTO HER PURSUIT IN UNDERSTANDING MORE ABOUT THEIR ECOLOGY, HEALTH STATUS, GENETIC DIVERSITY, MECHANISM OF SURVIVAL AND ADAPTATION TO THE CHANGES IN THE ENVIRONMENT. SHE IS AN ACTIVE MEMBER OF BIRD MONITORING AND MOLECULAR RESEARCH GROUP.

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