Teaching Philosophy

My teaching career has carried me in many directions – from the mid west to the south west, as in-house teacher for Steinway pianos, private studio teacher in my home, public elementary school music teacher, church choral director, program director for an educational nonprofit, and finally, to a community college learning center. Some folks may be thinking, “Hum…can’t hold a job…”, but the point here is what I have learned through all this: students are students no matter what age, setting, location or sector; and all have the same needs:

To be loved and respected as individuals.
To be listened to and know they are being heard.
To be treated with patience and concern for their physical, emotional and intellectual well-being.
To be challenged (most of the time), but without actually realizing it (some of the time).
To be coached in setting attainable, yet high, expectations.
To have fun while they are learning.
To be given time to just sit back and enjoy the spoils of learning - the music they’re making, the math problem they’ve solved, the story they’ve written, the experiment they’ve completed………you get my drift.
To be inspired by the teacher, the subject matter and the students around them.
To goof-around sometimes and not have to accomplish anything.

Of course teachers have needs, too; most importantly the need to meet the needs of their students. To do this, teachers need:

To honor and teach to every individual in the setting.
To teach with love, respect and compassion for all.
To stay current in their disciplines and particular subject areas. No coasting allowed!
To stay current in their knowledge of educational research, theory and methods.
To stay open-minded in accepting and applying new concepts and techniques in teaching.
To ALWAYS remember what it feels like to be student by NEVER stopping to attend classes.
To keep a complete arsenal of teaching techniques to teach to all learning styles and intelligences.
To know when it’s time to stop and (let the students and themselves) smell the roses.

So, I haven’t used a label for my teaching philosophy, although there are plenty to go around. My approach is simple – stay current, be flexible, evaluate yourself often, never lose your passion, and respect, like and enjoy your students.