This weblog submit is considered one of a three-part collection about how you can write a values-based instructing philosophy. On this weblog submit, we (April Love and Laurel Hitchcock) cowl ideas for writing and presenting a values-based instructing philosophy. The primary submit affords a course of for figuring out your instructing values and within the third submit, we share our personal values-based instructing philosophies. This submit is cross-published on April’s Weblog – Genuine Curiosity: Navigating Nursing Education Now.
In case you are studying this weblog submit, then you will have already executed some work to determine your instructing values – see our first weblog submit – How to define your Teaching Values. We all know you’ve labored onerous and put within the time to really determine instructing values that talk to the center and follow of your skilled identification. You’ve reviewed, in contrast, and mirrored on varied instructing values and now really feel assured that these you’ve chosen symbolize you properly and that you just’re able to share them with others.
Along with figuring out your instructing values, you’ve additionally spent a while amassing “proof” as to how these values are exhibiting up in your work. Possibly you will have a particular course of that encourages college students to talk freely in your classroom, which is a superb instance of the way you’re residing the worth of “security” or “inclusion.” Possibly it’s a brand new expertise that you just’ve launched to your division that has you main the cost for “innovation” or “creativity.” No matter these examples are that showcase the way you’re strolling the stroll and speaking the speak, you’ll need to show them in your instructing philosophy. Actions typically converse louder than phrases.
Now could be the time to rework your values and proof right into a two-page written assertion of instructing philosophy which you can share with others in quite a lot of methods relying in your viewers and different environmental concerns.
Align your “Why” together with your “How”
Now that you’ve got your instructing values (why) and your proof for the way these values present up in your instructing, the next move is to align your values with proof. The purpose is to discover a construction or define in your instructing philosophy the place you’ll be able to inform the story of your instructing that’s formed by your values.
The primary means to consider aligning your values to your proof is to start out with frequent instructing practices or theories of learning that help your values and preferrred instructing. For instance, you may think about Chickering & Gamson’s seven practices for undergraduate education, which focuses on actions resembling giving immediate suggestions and setting excessive expectations, or the approach of trauma-informed teaching and learning, which inspires such practices as constructing pupil selection right into a course or creating class routines to help trustworthiness. Here’s a partial listing of instructing rules and practices to get you began:
- tutorial integrity
- innovation within the classroom
- contact with school
- collaboration amongst college students
- evaluation
- efficient suggestions
- time on job
- communication of expectations
- supply of instruction
- equity
- accessibility
- group and preparation of teacher
- engagement of learners
- respect for numerous methods of studying
Most probably, you’ll want to point out a couple of practices inside your instructing philosophy assertion to offer it construction, offering “proof” as to how your most well-liked instructing practices may be generalized to the classroom for pupil success. When you determine the instructing practices which can be most necessary to you, align these practices to your values and fill within the concrete examples from your personal instructing methods. Listed below are some examples:
| Worth | Educating Practices | Instance |
| Innovation | Educating with Multimedia | College students create a podcast on a subject as an alternative of writing a paper |
| Security | Courageous Areas for sophistication discussions | Incorporates Opps/Ouch Protocol as group norms for sophistication discussions |
One other means to consider aligning your instructing values to the way you educate is to think about the context of your self-discipline or subject of experience, and how one can present your ardour for it inside your instructing philosophy. For instance, April is a nurse educator and Laurel is a social work educator. Integrity is a core worth for each professions, however social work makes use of totally different phrases and actions to explain integrity as in comparison with nursing. For instance, whereas each April and Love may promote tutorial honesty of their programs as a means to assist college students switch moral decision-making to skilled settings, Laurel may exhibit one other side of integrity by incorporating social and emotional studying (SEL) principle to show her college students about self-care. In distinction, April may infuse her programs with team-based studying to advertise open communication abilities as a type of integrity. Examine to see in case your subject or self-discipline has any outlined competencies or skilled values.
| Definitions of Integrity | Pattern Educating Practices |
| Social Work: Social staff are regularly conscious of the occupation’s mission, values, moral rules, and moral requirements and follow in a fashion in step with them. Social staff ought to take measures to take care of themselves professionally and personally. Social staff act truthfully and responsibly and promote moral practices on the a part of the organizations with which they’re affiliated. | Promotes tutorial honesty by values-based studying actions Applies principle of social and emotional studying by instructing college students to self-regulate with grounding workouts |
| Nursing: A tradition of integrity is obvious when organizational rules of open communication, moral decision-making, and humility are inspired, anticipated, and demonstrated constantly. Not solely is doing the precise factor merely how we do enterprise, however our actions reveal our dedication to truth-telling and to how we all the time see ourselves from the angle of others in a bigger neighborhood. | Promotes tutorial honesty by values-based studying actions Applies team-based studying to enhance college students’ communication abilities with different healthcare professions |
After getting accomplished this step (i.e. aligning your instructing values together with your instructing follow/proof), it’s now time to start out writing your instructing philosophy. Your values and aligned instructing practices can function a top level view or bullet factors to construction your written assertion. Try for the 1-2 web page, formally written doc that may look and skim loads like a authorized briefing. It’s skilled and efficient and affords a basis that may be tailored for various conditions and audiences. Within the subsequent part, we provide contemporary methods to current your instructing philosophy.
Get inventive together with your Educating Philosophy
You’ll need to have the ability to share your instructing philosophy in varied methods with totally different audiences. In the event you worth creativity or innovation, and even humor, let that shine in your illustration. It needs to be a residing, usable doc, not simply one thing you dig out when it’s time for a profession makeover.
Problem your self to make it give you the results you want and your wants, and search for alternatives to get essentially the most out of the work you’ve executed by avoiding limiting your self to any particular format. Our college students, our colleagues, and our audiences are numerous teams with numerous wants. So, when you’ve recognized the important thing elements of your instructing philosophy, be ready to mould it, morph it, and stretch it into totally different packages that meet the wants (and the eye span) of your viewers.
Because the outdated adage suggests, an image can paint a thousand phrases. Take into account creating an infographic to breathe life into your ideas and concepts for others to see. Listed below are some superior examples that use artwork, well-known quotes, and popular culture references to introduce themselves and their method to training.
May you sum up your instructing philosophy in 30 seconds or much less? A great elevator pitch concisely describes the what, or the target, and the how, or the actions taken to perform the purpose, in 20-30 seconds. Anybody who’s listened to a 4-hour lecture for 4 minutes of content material is aware of that educators can take the scenic path to current their level. The elevator pitch forces you to drill right down to the promoting level of your values and instructing philosophy, producing a snapshot of the data that’s important to instructing. For instance, create a pitch which you can share with college students on the primary day of sophistication to introduce your imaginative and prescient for his or her expertise. For fast recommendations on Crafting an Elevator Pitch, take a look at this Thoughts Instruments article.
The multipurpose nature of a instructing philosophy means it could possibly converse to you, serving to you to prioritize and align your method to training, AND to your viewers, serving to them perceive your imaginative and prescient and motivation for his or her expertise. It’s a unbelievable communication instrument. Whatever the format you select – essentially the most tech-savvy innovation or the stone pill, think about posting your instructing philosophy in your course syllabus. Use this platform to share your precedence values together with your college students, and encourage them to discover their very own values as learners, figuring out how they could align and how one can collaborate for achievement.
Plan for revisions
Now that you’ve got your values-based instructing philosophy executed, share it with others – your colleagues, division chair, and even your college students. Ask for suggestions, and even ask others to share their instructing philosophies with you. Having different samples to overview will provide you with new concepts.
It’s a good reflective follow to reassess your instructing philosophy yearly. With expertise, it’s simple so as to add layer upon layer of edits to an digital doc and by no means look again. Whether or not you retain onerous copies or just create separate dated paperwork, resist the temptation to simply replace and delete. Having the ability to look again, examine, and determine your personal skilled development will likely be one of the vital informative points of the instructing philosophy journey.
How one can cite:
Love, A.J. & Hitchcock, L.I. (2021, August 5). Writing your values-based instructing philosophy. Educating and Studying in Social Work. https://laureliversonhitchcock.org/2021/08/05/writing-your-values-based-teaching-philosophy/
