MY LEARNING PHILOSOPHY

My belief about learning is that every student can learn, regardless of any circumstance or accommodation. Given the right tools, and a growth mindset, any learner can excel and become as successful in academics as they want to be. The learner's mindset plays a big role in their trajectory. A growth mindset will inspire the learner to continue to put forth the effort that is needed to grow and progress. I wasn’t the best student, but there were people behind me that encouraged me and went the extra mile. Because of those educators that took extra time with me and continued to give me tools unique to my learning style, I didn’t just do well in school. I excelled in school and, in the end, graduated at the top of my class. I believe that the same is true for every student.With the right accommodations, inspiring presentation of the content, and teachers who truly care about learners, all students can succeed.

Teaching and learning are different things, but they go hand in hand. The most important thing about teaching is to make it all about the learning. To me teaching is finding ways to deliver content in a way that makes learners internalize the content and want to know more. Teachers are responsible for creating significant learning environments and creating authentic learning opportunities for students, regardless of the way that learners receive the information. Learning, on the other hand, is all about how the learner interprets the content delivered, and how they will apply it to the outside world. 

As a learner, I am the kind of person who needs to be inspired by the content and be able to make connections to the content and the world around me. I need to understand the “why”. In the past, my focus hasn’t always been the best when it came to class and school work. Having a choice, being able to use my voice, having ownership, and the opportunity to engage in authentic learning experiences is what I need to hold my attention. Being able to make my own eportfolio and be a part of the ADL program has been just what I’ve needed because it gives me all of those things and I really love that my eportfolio is mine. It is my own unique space to document, blog, and track my progress as a learner throughout this program. Having ownership means a lot to me as a learner. Having a teacher that cares enough about the learning to cultivate authentic learning opportunities means a lot to me. These are all things that I try to bring to my classrooms. I really want to inspire, motivate, and enhance learning for every person that enters my classroom.

There are differences between learning philosophies and teaching philosophies. One way that they are common is that they both express the way a person feels about something. A philosophy, in my opinion, is a personal theory. My teaching philosophy is the way that I view teaching. It involves my personal belief about how I educate,  why I educate, and the importance of education. My learning philosophy involves my plan for learning, understanding my personal learning style, why learning is important to me personally, and how I plan to progress as a learner.Both of these philosophies should be important to educators, because educators should want to be life-long learners in this constantly changing world.

As an educator, I am a constructivist. I identify with this theory because I discovered that I learned best from teachers who were also constructivists.  I facilitate learning in my classroom and create a student centered environment. I made my health class project based so students could submerge themselves in the learning and construct it in their own way. As long as the students had everything that was present on the rubric in their project, they were free to build on their own ideas, which often piqued their interest in the content. They would usually work in groups and so they could have discussions and think through the content together. Through the discussions we would have during the class period, I could tell that the students were engaged and could relate the content to things that occur in the real world. The main theorist of my identified theory is Jean Piaget. Although constructivism is the learning theory used most in my personal classroom, there are other theories in use because some of them go hand in hand. I think that connectivism and cognitivism also help students to be successful.

My learning philosophy will impact my innovation plan because it will help me to continuously motivate every learner that becomes a part of my blended online learning wellness initiative. Having worked as a community health educator for the City of Beaumont in the past, I saw for myself that there are so many people who simply don’t know about the small changes they can make daily to enhance their lives. They would come to the health department when they had developed substantial health issues because they weren’t aware of the lifestyle changes that could have prevented the issue. I hope that this health initiative will teach them these lifestyle changes and make them care about their health. Health is too important to only care about once a problem has developed. Learning about lifestyle changes have changed lives in front of my eyes, and I have seen the benefits of motivation. I believe that every person can learn about the benefits of achieving wellness and that will impact the way that I approach creating and promoting the initiative. I want to give them the tools to help them to become successful on their wellness journey.