Gurdeep Pandher’s Teaching Philosophy
I will strive to be a teacher who can bring enlightenment and make a constructive difference in the lives of my students. My philosophy is fluid and will always be a work in progress. I will continue to grow and expand as I gain more knowledge and teaching experience.
These are the core 9 factors that influence my teaching philosophy: -
- Teacher-Learner: As a leader, I will strive to be more than just an instructor. I will be a “teacher-learner”. Therefore, I will work to take every opportunity as a learning moment from my students. For me, education is a two-way street.
- Positivity: I personally believe that the educator's attitude and outlook play a key role in building a beneficial student-teacher relationship. Therefore, I will create a positive classroom environment for all students.
- Teacher-Student Relationship: This will be the core of my philosophy. In my opinion, a positive teacher-student relationship is fundamental in reaching the goals which our education system strives to achieve. An uplifting teacher-student relationship is required for superior classroom management and student success.
- Teacher-School Relationship: As a teacher, I will also make efforts to build up a valuable teacher-school relationship. It is very important to me to maintain a positive working relationship with the school principal, administrative staff, Department of Education, fellow teachers, and all those who work towards the school system operating smoothly. Therefore, I will continue to ensure that I am able to support those academic connections which lead to a positive learning environment in my classroom.
- Human Side of Education: As a teacher, my main objective will be to impart the human side of education. My classroom will provide life skills that will promote positivity in our community, country and world. I will teach my students to be respectful to their teachers, parents, community, elders, and every human they meet. Along with, encouraging other fundamental social skills and values including kindness, curiosity, resilience, equality, and patience.
- Gender Neutrality: In my classroom, I refrain from addressing my students as “boys or girls”. I feel that these terms can create a sense of gender divide in participants at an early stage. For me, all students will be my little humans and I will address them with terms like “students”, “learners”, “wonderful people”, etc.
- Inclusivity: I will be an inclusive and welcoming educator. The doors of my classroom will be open to all kinds of students. I will not exclude anyone from participating on the basis of their gender, background, nationality, orientation, ethnicity, skin-colour, first language, pronunciation in the second language, style of dressing, level of family upbringing, immigration status, refugee status, etc. As I teacher, I want to inspire my students to respect and celebrate their “differences”.
- Collaboration over Competition: There will not be favouritism towards some members of the team. It is important to me that students do not feel left out. Alternatively, our class will work towards inspiring those who often feel unheard or under-represented. I will give an equal voice to everyone.
- Success of Everyone: It is important to me that all of my students a sense of accomplishment in the classroom. It is my hope that these students will continue to find success in their lives and inspire those around them. In my class, success is not achieved at the cost of others failing. Rather, to truly succeed, it is important to help others be successful as well. My class will help spark great imagination and ideas in young minds while creating an educational atmosphere that fosters whole-student-development.