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TEACHING PHILOSOPHY

Teaching Philosophy:

A Developed Philosophy Based on Social Constructivism

Michael Westcamp

California State University Chico

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Teaching Philosophy Part 1: An introspective look into Cognitive and Social Constructivism

When being introduced to the theoretical lenses of teaching, I originally found myself gravitating

toward the theory of cognitive constructivism. This theory resonated with me because of its view that

the various reconstructions an individuals thinking undergoes in the development of logical reasoning

help in the learners manipulation of objects and the recognition of conflict between perceptions and

the data (Green, Gredler, 2002, p. 54-56). This is the idea that the learner has previous knowledge, but

when introduced to new knowledge they must manipulate and use their old knowledge to come to a

new understanding. I identified with cognitive constructionism in relationship with my personal learning

style because it was, for the most part, all that I knew. For example, I had learned early on in my college

career that lecturing wasnt exactly the best way to learn. I knew I wasnt an empty vessel, but I also

knew I did not have all the answers. Most of my collegial work had been done either individually, or in

very reluctant groups. To learn was to edit my previous ideas to fit new relevant information. That

information was coming from the professor. Rarely in our class did discussions create a group narrative

that enhanced the whole class' learning. Occasionally, one would hear a peer say something in a

discussion that would add to my collective knowledge, but it was only there to be confirmed by the

professor, and not an item on which the class could build upon. So, with all of this in mind, I felt heavily

drawn to cognitive constructivism. Though I still find parts of this theory relevant, my return to college,

and entering a different school or learning, has greatly shifted my view.

Simply put, I had never been in a classroom that was designed around social constructivism.

Though there may have been a professor in a previous class that attempted this model, they were

unsuccessful in the execution. Fall semester of 2017 has already been extremely eye opening. All of my
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classes seem to be designed around a social constructivist philosophy. Simply put, these classes are

creating a level of peer to peer knowledge transfer that I have never experience. The idea that "all

cognitive functions originate in, and must therefore be explained as products of social interactions"

(Vygotsky, 1978, p. 57) is one that these professors seem confident in. The social aspect of my classes

this semester has been both challenging and rewarding. Though it is a strange thing to me, and has

definitely taken me out of my comfort zone, these types of classes clearly have an advantage when it

comes to thoroughly teaching ideas in a relatively short time frame. The social constructivist lens relies

on a powerful motivator: social acceptance. Kohn (1996) elaborates on this:

How we relate to our peers, our value and self-worth are all very important in this model.

Students are motivated to help each other find the knowledge. Virtually any meaningful

longterm goal we might have for students requires us to attend to the climate of the school and,

specifically, the extent to which children feel related, as opposed to isolated. (p. 102)

Students are reinforced to participate in discussions by the encouragement of others. One of the most

intriguing aspects of social constructivism I found is that teachers are able to show that they arent all

knowing experts. When a teacher needs to check up on an answer they are providing models of

thinking in which pat answers are not always available, and speed of response is not at a premium

(Watson, 2001, p.141). This makes the instructor much more relatable, encourages the students when

they dont have the answers, and overall can foster a feeling of peer and student-teacher trust. A

personal observation Ive made, is that by having many group discussions and becoming more

comfortable with sharing thoughts and ideas, the act of sharing knowledge is easier.

Teaching Philosophy Part 2: Creating a Classroom Culture and Space Based on Social Constructivism
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Rules are important: they guide us, keep us from falling behind, and most importantly they help

to keep social situations running smoothly. When I first went to design the rules of my classroom, I

wasnt sure if I should be strict or lenient. Ive decided to combine the two in hopes that I can find a

balance with my personality. Marzano (2003) in analyzing a series of studies shows that the research

supports the notion that designing and implementing rules and procedures in class and even at home

has a profound impact on student behavior and on learning (p. 16). With this in mind, I made my flyer

with a decently strong worded set of rules, but I intentionally left a few of them open to some

interpretations to allow the class to build a socially shared trust. My goal is to have a discussion about

the flyer during the first day of class. By doing this, I will both be setting the tone for the class as a space

where open discourse is encouraged, and I will be letting the students validate and have influence on

the rules. Again, Marzano (2003) demonstrates that the intuitive notion that well-articulated rules and

procedures that are negotiated with students are a critical aspect of classroom management, affecting

not only behavior of students but also their academic achievement (p. 17). Thankfully, though my

personality is somewhat relaxed, my writing style can be quite clear and occasionally stern. I feel like

this system will be the perfect way for me to allow the class to foster a culture where students have

influence, while still maintaining control.

During this discussion, I will also go over the procedures that I have laid out for the class. My

point here is not to have as much influence by the students as with the rules, but instead to get them to

have a discussion about why procedures are needed. By doing this I hope to have a conversation about

motivation. The procedures are designed to keep the class running smoothly, and for many, the intrinsic

motivation to learn as much as possible and keep everything effortless will be enough. But for some, I

will use both the guilt and the hope of keeping a classroom organized as a form of external motivation.

This will hopefully develop a culture where, social contextual conditions that support ones feelings of

competence, autonomy, and relatedness are the basis for one maintaining intrinsic motivation and
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becoming more self-determined with respect to extrinsic motivation (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p.65). By

fulfilling the conditions that allow satisfaction of these three basic human needsthat is that support

the innate needs to feel connected, effective, and agentic as one is exposed to new ideas and exercises

new skills (Ryan & Deci, 2000, p.65) my classroom will increasingly become a place where learning is

done comfortably together.

When planning my classroom, I wanted the students to feel warmly welcomed and comfortable.

To do this, I relied heavily on Emmer et al. (2006) and their work on the Five Keys to Good Room

Arrangement (p. 2-3). My instructional philosophy is rife with social and group conversations and

assignments. In order to facilitate this best, I have organized my room into groups of four students, with

the capability of combining to groups of eight students if need be for larger projects. They are facing

each other, so that no student is facing away from me or the Smartboard. The group desk arrangement

is compact enough to let both the students and I the ability to walk around, and most importantly my

room will have shelves filled with not just the text book, but other books relating to history and the

people of the world so that my students can find information for projects more easily. I want my walls

covered in maps both old and new. Not just to help combat Americas lack of geographic knowledge, but

also to provide warm, familiar views that help open discussion, or at least dont subtract from it.

I am confident that these plans I have laid down are going to help foster a community of

learning in my classroom. As Kohn (1996) stated:

A real or authentic community doesnt feel empty. It is constructed over time by people with a

common purpose who come to know and trust each other. Of course, it is precisely the

commitment to make a community that helps these things happen. But a bunch of strangers

cannot be tossed into a room and expect to emerge in a matter of hours as anything more than

a bunch of acquaintances. (p. 109)

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I know building a community within my classroom will be a long process, but I believe it is the most

effective way to learn. My classroom and my plans will help my students and I achieve this community,

and I know it is essential for my students to gain the deeper understandings of history that I want them

to embrace. I think the hardest part about creating these communities will be when I have to let them

go at the end of the year. Thankfully, there will always be another year, another class to build this

trusting foundation on.

Teaching Philosophy Part 3: Teaching in a Classroom Culture and Space Based on Social Constructivism

When teaching world history, I want to get away from the stigma that is often associated with

the learning of history. To keep things lively, and to engage my students, I want to integrate teaching

practices like Socratic seminars and Cooperative Learning. That being said, it will be impractical to do

this every day with history, but I will take any and every opportunity I can not to lecture. Both of these

learning structures use a social aspect to help create the learning.

I particularly like Socratic seminars for its use of the whole class. It is a formula which can help

get the class engaged in a discussion that often poses critical, deep thinking questions.

"Discussions support student growth toward sophisticated cognitive, social, and emotional

objectives. Socratic seminars boost students' content learning, develop students' cooperative

social skills, and help students discover their competence as members of a productive learning

community. In addition, the Socratic seminar provides a safe place for the discussion of values

associated with the problems under deliberation."

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With a Socratic seminar, there really are not any right answers if the questions are posed correctly. I

want to use this as a means to encourage students that don't often speak up in class to voice their

opinion. Though not used as often in the past, this type of lesson would be perfect for analyzing

historical texts like The Diary of Anne Frank. It is a perfect way to teach the higher-tier learning that is so

often missing from history, and can be used to make the class more involved in an overall discussion of

history. If successful, I could easily use this space of learning to unite the class further, and help build the

comfort of discussion I desperately want my classes to feel.

Though Socratic seminars are a great social learning tool, they can't be used too frequently.

Unfortunately, they don't provide much if any ground knowledge, and with history that can be very

problematic. Fortunately, there is a way to solve this issue on a more daily basis that still falls into a

social constructivist lens. Cooperative learning techniques are a series of activities and lessons that

involve social earning that can be used for more basic, foundation level learning. Activities like jig-saw

and think-pair-share are particularly useful in speeding up the process as well. Jig-sawing is perfect for

helping students digest large amounts of material quickly. By splitting up the analysis of material and

then allowing the students to teach each other what they learned, large lessons can be boiled down

more rapidly, and students get to practice their social learning skills at the same time. Indeed, this can

help to target students with particular learning styles or disabilities if the material is split up in such a

way to take advantage of these strengths and weaknesses. With history in mind, this is particularly good

for analyzing battles in a setting of war. Splitting up the detailed coverage of the battles for different

groups and then having them converge to fill out an overview of them all would be an excellent way to

disseminate the knowledge while still keeping it fun. Other techniques like think-pair-share are perfect

for filling in the gaps between the base level knowledge and the more critical knowledge. By allowing

students a short time to think and discuss a topic with their partner, they are able to take base

information and start building perspective on top of it.

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With these two sets of learning techniques I know it is possible to teach history in a manner that

involves all of the students' learning styles, helps to build everyone's trust with one another, and will

successfully teach the knowledge that they need to know. By doing this, I can avoid lecture as much as

possible, and truly get into the spirit of cooperative, social learning with my young people. I hope to use

all these resources to scaffold an education in a way that involves everyone.

Teaching Philosophy Part 4: A Glance Back at a Semester of Social Constructivism

We can see by now that a classroom designed around social learning has very unique

advantages when it comes to many aspects of learning. As Kohn (1996) would tell us it takes time to

create this classroom community. It is not something which develops right away, and to effectively

teach in a social setting we must put in an effort to build a comfortable environment in which the whole

class can learn and interact. Marzano (2003) has also made it abundantly clear that rules are important

for young people to feel a sense of structure in their lives. Thus, and effect social constructivist

classroom will be seen as a space in which rules are enforced fairly and socially. These rules, much like

societal norms, are there to keep the class on the same page, and to keep everyone as respectful as

possible while we exchange ideas. This idea of a socially constructed learning isnt new, though we

rarely practice it in modern schools. I hope to use this practice as effectively as possible to help create a

history class that is not viewed as boring like so many others are.

This paper, as well as many of my classes this semester, have been very eye opening. I have

learned so much on how to build a classroom, learn with others, and Ive conquered many fears that I

carried while coming back to school. I have learned through personal experience on how not to be a
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teacher, and my experience with this situation is helping me develop my own grading policy and

philosophy.

In one of my classes this semester, the first assignment was to write an essay on our own

families culture. This essay was worth 15% of our grade, though our professor was very unclear about

what she wanted the papers to be like. When asked in class, she would simply say that the rubric was on

the syllabus and left it at that. This kind of blowing off of our questions has been a common theme the

entire semester, and it is clear to me now that this professor has no grasp of what the class is about.

When writing this essay, I was under pressure from many other classes, as well as my job. I ended up

turning in the essay 2 days late. This essay was very well written, and I put as much thought as I could

into it despite the lack of clear instruction. To my dismay, the essay was not graded, and I could now at

most get an 85% in the class. After seeing this, I talked with many of my classmates, and I wondered

about everyone elses scores. Many classmates reflected on the fact that they put little to no effort in

the essay, and yet they all got 100%. This infuriated me, because as teachers we are not supposed to be

creating busy work, but instead creating curriculum that stimulates learning and actually teaches us

something other than turn it in on time. Had my paper been accepted, and even been given a 50% due

to it being late, I could have still maintained an A and learned from the experience.

If nothing else, this professor has confirmed my personal grading philosophy. I will always take

late work for no less than 50% if the assignment is well done. The point of learning is not to punish, but

to explore new ideas and develop our own interpretations. When my future students come to me in

times of stress, I do not want to further that stress and take away from their experience with my class,

and other classes. Though grading is not a subject that we have touched on much this semester, I whole

heartedly believe that this kind of grading would support a social constructivist classroom. At the very

least, it would prevent the buildup of animosity in a classroom. To be completely clear, I do not want to
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be an easy grader. I will grade my students with high expectations, however, the students will be clear

on those expectations, and the point of the assignments will be emphasized.

After one semester, I now have a fairly clear idea of the kind of teacher I want to be. From

fostering a space in which everyone feels free to learn together and transfer knowledge, and how my

policies regarding rules and grading can support this. I have learning teaching methods which use the

entire classroom, groups and individuals to build a collect understanding of any subject. Most

importantly, I have gained the confidence that I can be a successful teacher. I know that the journey will

be rough, but with a positive outlook and these foundations of what it means to learn solidly set in my

mind, I know I can create a class in which my students learn to the best of their abilities.
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References

Estes, T., Mintz, S., & Gunter, M., (2016). Instruction: A Models Approach. London U.K.: Pearson

Education, Inc.

Green, S. & Gredler, M. (2002). A Review and Analysis of Constructivism for School-Based Practice.

School Psychology Review, 31(1), 53-70

Kohn, A. (1996). Beyond discipline: From compliance to community. Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 102

Marzano, R.J. (2003). Classroom Management That Works: Research-Based Strategies for Every Teacher

Alexandria, VA: ASCD, 16-17

Ryan, R. & Deci, E. (2000) Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations: Classic Definitions and New Directions.

Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25, 65

Vygotsky, L. S. (1980). Mind in society: The development of higher psychological processes. Harvard

university press, 57

Watson, J. (2001). Social constructivism in the classroom. Support for Learning, 16(3), 140-147