Philosophy+of+Teaching+and+Learning

Students learn best from “Meaningful learning” which is when they relate new information to something they already know, something that is already stored in their long term memory (Essentials of educational Psychology pg 32). There are other forms of learning like “rote learning” in which learning occurs in an uninterrupted form, and without attaching any meaning to it, one example is memorization or rehearsal (Essentials of educational Psychology pg 31). However, these forms are not as effective as meaningful learning because the students don’t make any connection to the material they are learning thus making it less likely that they will remember the new information. //Thus children should be taught keeping this in mind, so that the teacher places greater emphasis on helping their student’s make the connections between the material they are learning and the new material they are being taught. The best way for the teacher to do this is by first getting to know the students prior knowledge of a topic an then creating their daily lessons around the knowledge they know and the new knowledge they are required to acquire. The reason why this is important to me is because I want to be an effective teacher and to be an effective teacher I need to find the best way to teach my students. I also want to be a reflective practitioner because I feel that reflecting on my own work would help me become a more effective teacher. If I take the time to analyze what I may be doing wrong or what I may be doing right I would be better equipped to either continuing doing what is working or stop what may not working and find an alternative method.//