Page 89 - ENGLISH PORTFOLIO

Teaching philosophy, reflection and professional development

Over the past three years of my study I have grown to become a better teacher and every day I get in
class I learn a new thing. In my first year in a classroom I could not establish myself clearly, such as in

terms of confidence and proper planning. One thing that I have discovered very early was that I am a
caring person and that is one thing that always encourages me to do better. I consider myself a teacher

as a care giver and that is how I a building my philosophy. One of the most important aspect of my teaching

philosophy and pedagogy is inclusivity. In my lesson preparations I always ensure that I put learners at
the center of learning.

The teaching and learning process of my philosophy relies highly on the needs of the learners firstly. As
a teacher I ensure that the lessons that I prepare puts the learners in the center of learning and teaching.

I research the learner’s prior knowledge and see what is it that the learners know or do not know, and I

will base my lesson around that. In the learning process I always ensure that I set activities that will allow
learners to learn at their own pace and take charge of their own learning with guidance from the teacher.

I minimize the talk and chalk and encourage learners to take charge of their own learning by using
activities.

In preparing for my lessons I ensure that I do a thorough research on my learners. I conduct a situation

analysis research to study my learners first and build my lesson based on what they may need to learn.
Most of the learners that I have taught are not first language speakers and when you plan a lesson you

must ensure that you are not going to expect a lot from them. At the beginning of the lesson I always
ensure that I assess and research the learner’s prior knowledge about the topic that I want to teach on

that day. Even the activities that I set for my lessons I always make sure that they will allow learners to go
and seek knowledge as a sort of a research.

In my teaching I always ensure that I build a great relationship with my learners so that I can get to know

a lot about them and see how I can make learning better for them. I find it is most important to build a
relationship with my learners as a teacher because our role as teachers do not end in the classroom. Most

learners come from disadvantaged backgrounds and they need mentoring and parental guidance from
someone closer to them. Despite that teachers also need to be able to set boundaries with their learners’

relationships and they should be able to have limits so that the teacher-learner relationship is not

compromised.

As a novice teacher I intend to learn more so that I can do more for the education sector. I intend to study

further so that I can become a life long learner. Personally, I want to become a better man for myself and
for the people around me so that I can set a better example. In my professional development I want to

teach, mentor and coach young men and women to make the most out of their academics. I want to

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become a researcher so that I can share my skills in building a better schools for South Africa in the 21
century and ensuring the integration of the technology in the education sector.