Running Head : TEACHING PHILOSOPHY Azevedo 1

Teaching Philosophy

Tania Azevedo

University of San Diego

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Teaching Philosophy

Introduction

As a teacher, I consider myself as someone that believes in teaching by doing. I believe in

the student to lead the classroom and see myself as more of a facilitator of knowledge than the

source of it. I plan to establish good rapport with my students as a mentor in and out of class, a

community resource and someone that is there to encourage their successes.

I. Future Teaching Context/s

I plan on teaching adults in a language academy or small school. I still would like to

pursue the idea of working at a local nonprofit or traveling to other countries as long as my

teaching assignment is flexible and allows room for personal and professional growth. In the

long term, I would consider working independently as a private tutor or I would like to establish

my own school or academy that specializes in working with ELLs with disabilities. I would like

for this more inclusive classroom I would like for collaboration with ESOL instructors, general

educators and above all students, collaborating and learning from one another. I would like to

implement curriculum that not only accommodates students but truly integrates them into the

classroom culture and prepares them for the real world.

II. Linguistic Considerations

When working with ELLs and ELLs with disabilities things to consider are error

correction, fluency building, and vocabulary. If the ELL is disabled, other factors to consider are

when and how to intervene and what kind of learning and reading materials are adequate for the

ELL with a disability (Heng, Heward, & Tam, 2006). As an instructor, I would like to

investigate their needs and learn what I can do as an instructor to engage in good teaching

practices. I consider that teaching ELLs and ELLs with disabilities to be a holistic experience.
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I would address linguistic considerations not only by incorporating learning strategies and

feedback, I would consider visible and invisible disabilities when designing the curriculum and

planning activities to foster an inclusive environment. A crucial tenant of L2 acquisition that has

been ignored in scholarly research is the physical disability does affect the way that we learn and

the way that we learn language.

Rather than focusing on what students cannot learn such as vocabulary or verb tense I

would first like to asses how learning styles or needs are influenced by disabilities such as an

auditory impairment or autism for example. I would like to understand the “why” students with

disabilities do not learn scholarly literature on the subject tends to focus on the “what” as well as

the outcomes of not learning. I would like to understand the “how” by doing my best to

eliminate physical, social and attitudinal barriers in my classroom. My experience has taught me

that the main quality that a teacher must possess in order to teach ELLs with disabilities is

patience. One must also be creative when teaching students with disabilities because the

sometimes conventional and tried methods may not work.

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III. Cognitive Considerations

When working with ELLs it is important to scaffold lessons appropriately. As an

instructor, I need to work on modeling, which means giving them clear instructions on what to

do. I need to work on Bridging which means working on previous knowledge. I also need to

provide verbal contextualization as well as manipulatives and pictures. In order to build

schemata I need to allow students to make connections to information I am presenting and make

it meaningful. If I choose to work with ELLs with disabilities I can use my skills to engage with

manipulatives, activities, and pictures to make the class and classroom not only accommodating

but accessible and at the same time interesting and stimulating (WIDA, 2016). For students with

learning and physical disabilities it is important to consider how their different abilities allow

them to cognate and process information.

That is why it is important to create a better learning environment for my students I also

would like to incorporate Universal Design into the classroom to make it accessible not only for

disabled students but for all. For Katzel & Richards, (2013) Universal Design “Is not about doing

more, it is about doing things differently so that students reach their potential academically and

ultimately professionally.” For the authors, UD benefits the learning disabled but also the ELLs,

the physically disabled, and students with ADHD. What makes UD so innovative is that it

focuses on individual learning styles. Its main components are interaction, expression,

engagement, assessment, accommodation, and constant feedback. What I would like to

incorporate into my classroom is that it not only would make learning English more accessible

for disabled ELLs it would eliminate possible learning barriers for non disabled ELLs. I would

encourage students to think creatively and would I would work on providing clear learning

objectives for my students. As I stated earlier I have a gift for teaching, but in learning to craft
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that gift. I would like to work on providing clear learning objectives to my students. When I do

this I would do it taking their special needs and abilities into consideration. For me as an

instructor teaching and meaningful learning is what UD will look like in my classroom.

IV. Affective Considerations

For Ni(2012) affective considerations are the most important factors in SLA and English

language teaching. For the author Krashen’s ideas on the Affective Filter Hypothesis are crucial

to help students with motivation and self confidence. In my classroom I want to create a

welcoming environment that is student centered and that is inclusive. In this environment, I

would like students to feel confident, motivated, and willing to learn. Motivation for me is a

key component in an inclusive classroom, because as the literature tells us, lack of motivation

leads to low self esteem and students not learning. What makes it more crucial is that when the

student is an ELL his or her needs may not be met because the student may be misdiagnosed as

disabled and if the student is disabled many times the student’s needs are not met (Ortiz and

Yates 2001).

As an ESOL instructor and practitioner, my area of concern would be how to understand

the linguistic and cultural considerations when I work with ELLs with disabilities. . I would like

to go beyond the more common narrative of scholarly literature on ELLs with disabilities that

looks at assessment and accommodation of predominantly learning disabilities. This plethora of

studies state that instructors and paraprofessionals must take their students’ cultures into account

when thinking about curriculum design (McCardle, 2005 Et al). To meet my students affective

needs I would like to take culture a step further by thinking about classroom culture and

disability culture in the classroom as a source of motivation and inclusion to prevent my students

from feeling ostracized in the classroom or falling behind. (Park & Thomas, 2012). Many things
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I will learn from experience, and in the classroom. Many of my ideas are mostly based on ideals

or hypothetical notions, however I think that real classroom experience will give me the basis to

understand how to teach disabled ELLs and how to meet their needs. What I would like to work

on is how to take my ideas and theories to practice. I do not know if traditional teaching

scenarios and environments will allow me to do that or if I will have to create my own niche to

teach ELLs with disabilities

V. Socio-Cultural Considerations

Vygotsky's theory of the zone of proximal development was developed by him to help

students with various disabilities. What this theory teaches us is that as instructors it is important

for us to scaffold and guide students through new information, but also collaborate with other

peers and professionals that are more knowledgeable in helping them (Walqui, 2015). I think that

it is important to collaborate with learning professionals and not segregate students or

compartmentalize them in order to help them reach their maximum potential To understand how

to maximize my students’ potential I have considering expanding my education ELLs and

disabilities . I will also consider utilizing the funds of knowledge that the students have already

acquired from life experiences (Lindahl, 2015). In an asset based classroom where I will work on

building my teaching skills in order to do this (Scalan, 2007).

IV. Conclusion

What I learned about myself from my practicum as I transition is that I do have a gift for

teaching and connecting emotionally with students. I am also creative. What I need to work on

are things like timing, bridging, and classroom management. What I also need to consider when
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deciding what teaching context is adequate I need to consider my own special needs. I need to

reflect on what I can and cannot do and what works best for me. I will also be prepared to be

flexible when an unexpected situation arises in the classroom. Much happens from the

hypothetical classroom or ideas to reality. I have decided that as I stated before, I would like to

work with ELLs with disabilities. I will continue to seek volunteer teaching opportunities and

search for courses to improve my skills. My transition from being a student to a teacher

perhaps will not be as immediate as my colleagues. Nonetheless, I will get to where I need to be

with a much firmer grasp of what I need to do to be a better guide to help them.
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References

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http://blog.tesol.org/tap-into-funds-of-knowledge/

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