CHALLENGES AND REWARDS 2

Challenges and Rewards for the Reflective Practitioner

Beliefs, values, attitudes, and experiences have a significant influence on my personal
philosophy of education. My day-to-day practices and encounters affect and inform my approach
to teaching. My teachers, apart from Mr. Podkrash, gave up on me, and this made me to almost
give up on myself. This experience shapes my beliefs on how teachers, specifically me, should
interact with students. My values entail inclusivity, fairness, and integrity. As such, I will
develop inclusive classrooms where all learners, in spite of their individual differences, will be
incorporated, learn together, and have a sense of belonging. I support an inclusive education
system that integrates technology to ensure that learners get the best in an ever-evolving world. I
believe in maintaining a good rapport with my students, as this ensures that it is easy to influence
them positively. Also, students find such teachers approachable in case they have issues, either
academic or personal. My beliefs, values, attitudes, and experiences will influence my views on
teaching and learning as I hold that a class should cater for the needs of all learners and that I
should have a good relationship with my learners thus enhancing learning.
It is not easy to explain the role of a teacher, especially to a person outside the teaching
profession. Thus, I have a personal metaphor that explains the role of a teacher by drawing
parallels with another career. A teacher is a physical trainer. Someone can get in shape by
training alone; however, it becomes easier when there is an expert who is knowledgeable enough
to help in this journey. A physical trainer assesses his or her client’s abilities and uses the
necessary techniques to have him, or her achieve their goals. The best thing about physical
trainers is that they push individuals further that they would do on their own. Teachers are like
physical trainers. They know how to determine the position of their students and how to engage
them throughout the lesson and year as well. As teachers, our role is to train, to push, encourage,

CHALLENGES AND REWARDS 3
yell, and then embrace our students and congratulate them for jobs well done. Thus, a teacher is a
physical trainer.
The personal metaphor will influence the way I will educate young learners. Just like a
physical trainer, I will identify their abilities and potentials, and then push them out of their
comfort zones into ensuring that they achieve their goals. After a period of hard work and
persistence, I will put my arms around them during their graduation and congratulate them for a
job well done.
My philosophy as a teacher will be exhibited in different ways. First, I will have an all-
inclusive classroom that will cater to all students, including those with learning disabilities. I will
integrate technology and diverse instructional models to ensure that the learning needs of
students in a class are well taken care of. Another way will be through creating interactive
lessons where students will engage in discussions with each other. I will facilitate such
discussions to ensure that students enjoy a good relationship with each other and with their
teacher as well. Overall, I will focus on inclusivity, establishing, and maintaining good healthy
relationships and integration. Students should be in an inclusive general classroom unless it is
determined that their needs are so intense, and they cannot be well catered for in a general
classroom set-up.