Philosophy of Teaching

I never once thought of a philosophy of teaching before taking my graduate program. I

was a paramedic and, I thought, a good paramedic. When I was offered a position at the
academy, it was after a screening process of our best and brightest. I was flattered, honored,
and determined to do a good job. I attached myself to the most dedicated senior instructors
and tried to emulate them. I never gave a single thought to what I thought was important or
what methods I should apply and when. In a profession where you have to be able to think out
of the box, I just climbed right on in and closed the lid when it came to teaching. My mother
has been an educator of children for over thirty years. My sister teaches special education.
They encouraged me to pursue my degree. They knew how much I didnt know. With their
help, and the help of this program and my classmates, Im seeing and thinking about things I
never did before.
Id first like to consider how I see my learners. Since I teach a specific group of people, it
is a highly specialized audience. I teach people what they already know, but may have
forgotten, quite a bit of the time. Other times, I teach people things and concepts they have
never heard of before. Theres no mix in the two groups. I always approached them the same,
but I see now that I shouldnt. At least not in all things. I relied heavily on the PAEI to identify
what I thought. I know that I expect a learner to take an active role in learning. And I think
that holds true in both groups. My students are professionals whom I feel should take an active
interest in the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake. I dont expect to have to spoon feed them
information, and I expect them to come to classes with material covered and questions at the
ready. Of course, this isnt always the case. But if this is what I expect, then maybe I have to
reconsider my approach to classes. The classes that have no background are far more likely to
read ahead and come to class prepared, while experienced providers are not. The format of
information presented should be different in these two groups, but it is not. I also believe that
my students have a responsibility to the public to educate themselves. The job they are doing
is literally a matter of life and death. If a person dies as a direct result of poor education, there
really isnt an excuse. That is placing a large amount of importance and responsibility on my
students to become well educated as it pertains to our profession. And I think that those two
concepts complement each other. I also believe that every student has unlimited potential to
be developed through education (Galbraith, 2004, p. 72). I have always believed that anyone
could do anything they want if they work hard enough at it. I always see potential to learn in
every one of my students. It comes down to the work they are willing to put into it.
Next, Id like to explore my role in the classroom. I see myself as a blend of organizer
and manager (Galbraith, 2004, pp. 72-73). I am given a curriculum to follow that I cannot
deviate from. (As time progresses and I gain more experience, this will change.) I help my
students help themselves. Before classes, I organize the tasks/learning objectives for the day. I
provide them with the necessary tools to complete a task. Maybe I set up skills stations so

students can practice one particular skill. Maybe I write scenarios that students need to
navigate through. Maybe I help run our simulation lab to bring life to the disease processes
presented in the textbooks. Those are all organizational tasks. After the prepatory work is
done, I believe I switch to the role of manager whereas I help guide my students to the final
goal of the session. For example, if I design a scenario to teach a student how to properly
diagnose and manage acute asthma, I purposefully give them the tools they need to arrive at
that conclusion on their own. I only guide them in that direction. I believe that I need to
transfer knowledge, but not simply facts. I also believe that I need to ensure my students have
extensive problem-solving skills. In an unpredictable profession, problem solving is part of our
everyday. Not only do my students need to be prepared for the predictable, but the
unpredictable, too. It would be impossible to provide students with methods or information
that would be applicable for every situation. I need to provide them with the skills for them to
come up with their own answers. I think that is the most important thing I can teach my
students: to be independent thinkers.
Finally, Id like to investigate the methods I use to teach my students. Since I feel that
problem solving is the most important thing I can teach my students, I also feel that it is an
important method and I employ it quite often. I believe that it is more memorable to allow a
student to make a mistake and correct it themselves than it is for me to correct them
immediately. I believe that a lot more retention comes from learning from our own mistakes. I
believe that is how I promote skill development and behavioral change as Galbraith states is a
Behavioral quality. A student learns that a certain process does not yield the results they
wish, they learn to use others. Next time they are presented with a similar situation, they will
skip right over what they found ineffective and try something they know works better. I believe
this trial and error is essential to learning. I believe that my students will master any skill or
subject matter through feedback from me and from recognizing their own missteps and
correcting them. I find this to be the most effective way for me to teach the classes I am
currently involved in.
Content of what I teach should be another area Id explore, however; my programs are
dictated by others, and curriculums have remained unchanged since long before I began
teaching. If I had the liberty to teach what I wanted, Id like to add in some of the practices Ive
learned here. Bringing technology into the classrooms would be a wonderful addition, and Id
like to add in classes on locating and keeping up with relevant journals. Id love to set up a
forum where students could ask questions when they are not currently involved in the
classroom, and get feedback from instructors and fellow practitioners alike. Id like to include
the latest advances in medicine that have come out since our programs have been written.
Machines and devices that werent dreamt of ten years ago need to be added into our classes
today. Advancement in treatments of disease processes and medications changes daily but our
classes dont keep up with it. Id also like to offer classes that our students express interest in
taking. They ask to learn, and I think its a disservice to ignore those requests. Those are some
changes Id like to make in the future.

I do have an idea of what I think teaching should be, but it is an ever changing thing, as
pointed out by Galbraith: Philosophy is rarely static or inflexible; beliefs change to
accommodate new needs and experiences But it does provide a framework by which to live
and act (p40.) So though my philosophy will change a bit in the years to come, I think I finally
have a framework for how I move forward in my career.