Philosophy of Education

My Reflective Practice
Tracy K Lynds
I believe the foundational component for education is learning; teaching provides an opportunity for
continual learning and growth. My hope is to instill this love of learning with my students and show
them that learning may take place in many ways and in many different environments. Everyone is able
to learn, but a students passion to learn is a necessary component in gaining proficiency with new
concepts and skills. The difficulty is to make these concepts accessible to all of my students and to be
responsive to my students that are being challenged with a new concept without leaving the rest of the
class at a stand still. This is the beauty of teaching a class with a multitude of intelligences; essentially
we are working in a cooperative learning environment. Learning should be fun and interactive, it
should be a hands on experience with peer and guided teaching in mind. (Domains 1b, 2c, 3c, 4a)
I believe that teaching and learning must co-exist, this is essential for without active learning then
teaching is a dead element. Students need to be able to claim ownership of their personal learning for
them to be truly engaged and teachers need to be invested in their students and their classrooms as well.
If students are truly engaged their learning is not left to the rate of which the concepts and content is
delivered, but it is left to the framework of how the material is delivered. A blending of teaching
strategies, flexibility in our lesson plans and varying forms of assessment will set our students up for
success. Teaching and learning can be reciprocated; it takes a combination of open discussion,
questioning, guided learning and peer teaching to make active education happen in a class room.
(Domains 3c, 3e)
I believe all students are entitled to a safe environment in which to learn; an environment that
encourages them to be who they want to be, invites them to share ideas, supports risk-taking and allows
a child's elemental curiosity to be their guide. Fostering these elements in any classroom will promote
equality, respect and fairness for all people and all things. Equally important to this self-discovery is
being able to study concepts and content that is meaningful and relevant to one's life and interests.
Using the provincial curriculum to form lesson plans and strategies around my students interests will
foster intrinsic motivation and ignite their passion to learn. The most important concept I hope to
communicate to my students is that learning is an everlasting process. (Domains 1a, 2d, 2e, 3a)

Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve

me and I learn ~ Benjamin Franklin