My teaching philosophy

According to my philosophy of education, children develop and learn by playing, exploring and discovering new ideas from the ones they already own. Four principles on which learning should be built are inquiry, outdoor play, creativity and cooperation. Children should develop their curiosity by being engaged in activities which promote inquiry and let them think of creative solutions to different problems as well as creative representations of their own emotions and ideas. Moreover, I consider that children should be frequently exposed to free and structured play outside, being in touch with the nature and their daily environment in their neighborhoods. On the top of it, children need to learn through cooperation with their peers since only through collaboration with others can we be exposed to new points of view.

As a consequence of the previous learning characteristics, I would affirm that teaching should be child-centered, engaging and authentic. The role of teachers is helping students become self-actualized, providing them a wide variety of environments and activities where all of them are able to show their potential. Teachers also have to help student apply curriculum to their own experiences. Therefore, it is important that students are taught in first place contents related to their daily lives at home and in their community and later, contents that help them understand the complexity of nowadays world.

Teachers need to be real and authentic in the classroom. Being teacher is not like playing a role but about being yourself. In addition, teachers have to be critical with their own practice and they have to keep on being trained in new approaches and resources constantly. Teachers should have a great understanding of content and be a model for children in their social relationships at the same time.