The International Schools Review Forum

Are there any points, buzzwords, style, etc. recommendations to put in one's teaching philosophy these days? There must be some 'musts'.

It's been a few years since I've had to write/update my teaching philosophy and I do my best try to tune out trending educational buzzwords so I don't know how helpful this will be.

My advice/opinion (others' will vary I'm sure) is that you mainly focus and draw upon your own beliefs/opinions/experiences/strengths to craft your statement of teaching philosophy. Once you have reflected on your own unique philosophy, then you might start using some of the language favored by the types of schools you will be applying to. Visit their websites, consider their curriculum/philosophy/mission statements to hone the language that you use to express your own existing core teaching values and beliefs.

Ideally, your written teaching philosophy will be consistent with your potential interview answers and communication. In order for this to come across as authentic and meaningful, it all needs to be based on your own experiences, successes and failures as a learner and a teacher.

Just my two cents. Maybe someone else can help with buzzwords and current trends.

TeacherGal - if you don't know your teaching philosophy, what do you ground your approach to teaching on?

Teaching philosophy shapes how you approach your teaching, structure your curriculum, practice your classroom management, assess your students' work, interrelate with colleagues and administrators and so much more.

My advice would be forget about buzzwords, just be honest. I don't use buzzwords, but I put my teaching philosophy in simple terms and am quite direct in what it means in terms of my structure and teaching practice.

Define learning.
Discuss how your values and beliefs have evolved and helped shape learning.
Use examples from your classroom to highlight your impact on the learning community.
Finally, communicate your professional goals in a realistic manner.

Don't compare teaching children to training animals.
Even if one believes there are commonalities, this is not the place to explore them.
Ahh... memories of past CVs....

LOL @sid!

Damn, there goes my herding cats a.nalogy.

I disagree with the prior contributors. There just isnt time cover letters get read only before an interview or once the selection pool is broken down, reading an extra two pages of blah is mostly useless. You want your teaching philosophy to show you understand the current trends in meds/peds/asst including: 21C learning, student centered, inquiry driven, diversity of stake holders, Professional Learning Committees, life long learners, empowered growth, Learning Diversity and Technology Integration.