Educational Philosophy and Rationale for Professional Learning

My educational philosophy is to reflect and improve my classroom interaction with the

learners and overall effectiveness through the use of different teaching strategies that helps
the students to develop knowledge, problem-solving skills, critical, as well as, creative
thinking. Through my philosophy, I have identified various key aspects that are paramount to
the success of classroom.
Firstly, an educator should ensure conducive learning environment. As a teacher, I am
responsible for developing and establishing successful students learning environment, the one
that values and enables learning for all learners with diverse needs. Before applying particular
teaching strategy, I believe in taking the responsibility for determining what students need to
learn and what is individually beneficial to each and every learner. Moreover, the students
learn best from both experience and feedback from the teacher. Therefore, as required by
graduate Standard 5, that is assess, provide feedback and report on student learning, a
learning environment should be the one that provides feedback to the students to provide the
knowledge of how they are doing and provide a sense of achievement that motivates them to
learn. Similarly, feedback is also important to let the students know whenever they have made
a mistake, and therefore, they will learn from that mistake and then take corrective measures.
The teachers should be able to encourage positive social interaction with the learners while
maintaining active engagement in learning. I must, therefore, facilitate effective integration of
student experiences into class discussions as one of the teaching strategies to meet the
specific learning needs of learners across the full range of abilities. Furthermore, my personal
strategies to sustaining the learning environment include repetition through multiple emphasis
of the relevant points and reinforcement through realistic, practical exercises for each group
of learners with special needs.

Flexibility is another aspect of my philosophy which will enable me to know the content and
how to teach it, plan for and implement effective teaching and learning strategies by adopting
multiple roles in the classroom. I am prepared to work seamlessly in transition as a teacher,
coach, mentor and counselor to effectively contribute to the student learning process.
In line with the learning environment as the professional learning needs, a teacher should be
able to understand individual and group motivation by creating a supportive, safe, as well as,
respectful learning environment. There are various sources can be used to improve learning
environment that incorporate literacy and numeracy strategies. My suggestion is that teachers
should join association such as the Mathematical Association of NSW (MANSW). By joining
MANSW, a teacher will be able to his/her professional learning needs of improving
numeracy teaching strategies because the association provides many opportunities for the
professional learning and networking through the conferences offered. Mathematical
Association of NSW also offers high quality and research-based teaching ideas.
The source for improving professional learning needs of numeracy is by joining Australian
Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT). The association has a free and high-quality
teaching resource that all teachers can access to improve their numeracy skills and apply the
same during classroom teaching. As an educator, joining Association of Mathematics will
help me increase my skills and become an expert in teaching mathematics and thus will
hopefully result in improved student academic achievement.
The other professional learning needs I have identified that require appropriate
sources of professional development is based on understanding diverse learners. The graduate
standard three requires that the teacher should be able to plan for and implement effective
teaching, as well as, learning that uses various teaching strategies depending on the needs of
the learners. The suggested resource for improving professional understanding of diverse

learners is reading the website of Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority
(ACARA). ACARA is an independent statutory authority that enhances the learning of all
Australians through assessment and reporting of the needs of diverse learners. In this way, I
will be able to recognize the entitlement of each student and understanding the foundation for
successful integration of various teaching strategies based on different leaner's needs.
Overall, I am competent with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers based on
different past and recent practicum experiences I have undertaken during the program of
study. The university assignments have also played a critical role in improving my teaching
experience as required by the Australian Professional Standards for the graduate teachers.