Concepts Central to my Teaching Philosophy

The main concepts central to my teaching philosophy are linked in with being holistic and providing a forum for students to look outside of a learners own experiences to gain understanding of how others live, think and experience. Due to having worked in the health domain and now I teach occupational therapy students I believe it is important to be holistic and open minded.

In learning theory the concepts that identify my philosophy are the humanistic approach theorised by Maslow and Rogers. I also identify with the Social and Situational theory which deals with the concept that "learning is in relationship between people and environment". My role within this concept is to bring the students into the practice domain and involvement and participation with communities. My work within the fieldwork practice for students emulates this philosophy. Elements of Cognitivist orientation and the requirement that students expand their knowledge and skills is also evident within my philosophy and teaching (Smith, 1999).

The main concept I feel encapsulates my philosophy is the humanist approach. Part of my teaching is in the humanities field. I assist with the psychology paper and with a paper entitled "Participation in Occupation". The drivers behind this approach were Carl Rogers and Abraham Maslow. Rogers discussed the relevance of "healthy development in terms of how the individual perceived their own being" and Maslow was influential in developing his "hierarchy of needs". Maslow also discussed the concept of "Peak Experiences" which relates to experiences and moments in life which "take us beyond our ordinary perceptions, thoughts and feelings"


The relevance of this concept to my teaching practice as I have alluded to earlier is the importance that the students have a sense of themselves and also an awareness of the need to look outside of themselves in order to be able to communicate and understand others. This will aid them to develop more realistic plans that are specific and achievable out in practice. The importance of being self actualised and autonomous is a great skill to have within the occupational therapy field. However to critically evaluate this approach it is difficult one to sometimes gauge whether the students have become self actualised or indeed have captured an understanding of the meaning of others journeys through life that may be different from their own.http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm

However although I have picked out the humanistic approach as being central due to its underlying philosophy being similar to my own I believe the way I am lecturing does not fully encapsulate or identify the methodology nor holistic approach required to engage learners in learner centred learning. What I mean by this is first my query about methodology. The way I present the material is not solely from a andragogy method and the students have a minimum of self directed learning in how the material is presented to them. This is partly due to the fact that I am new to teaching and find that a more structured pedagogy methodology feels more comfortable and achievable at present. I have started to in some ways explore alternative ways of presenting and allowing more of a learner centred learning approach since starting this course and with the flexible learning course have now observed and analysed different ways of allowing students to become more autonomous by changing how I deliver the paper.
http://www-distance.syr.edu/andraggy.html

However how I have applied this approach to my teaching practice is to try and ensure that the students are comfortable to relate their own personal experiences to myself and the group. This is mainly achieved by my own style of delivering the material and bringing in practical and realistic examples from my own experiences in life both in my work and personal life. This needs to be monitored especially discussing my personal details to ensure professionalism is maintained. In my teaching practice I encourage discussions as an open forum and within small groups to allow those that might not be as comfortable talking in larger groups to express themselves. I also bring in other peoples ideas such as using "The Bob Currie Story" the documentary of a man who has suffered a stroke and his recovery journey. These experiences are discussed and questions are asked that allow for open and frank discussion. Examples also include the lecture on grief and loss where I bring in my personal experiences to allow others to feel they can discuss their own experiences. Bringing in case studies of real life examples and in small groups getting the students to brainstorm ideas of what these people may be experiencing.

References:

Maslow, A (1968) Towards a psychology of Being: New York

MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS
from Psychology - The Search for Understanding
by Janet A. Simons, Donald B. Irwin and Beverly A. Drinnien
West Publishing Company, New York, 1987


Mezirow, J (1991) Transformative Dimensions of learning, San Francisco. Josse

Rogers, C & Freiberg H.J. (1993) Freedom to Learn (3rd. Ed) New York. Merrill

Smith, M.K (1999). Learning theory. The encyclopedia of informal education.

Tennant, M (1988, 1997) Psychology & Adult Learning, London Routledge.