Sara Walls

EDTE 530

Adamian

3/19/20

Teaching Philosophy Paper

The theoretical lens that guides my teaching practice is social constructivism. Social

constructivism teaches that learning is a shared experience and is a result of social interaction.

What I believe is one of the most important parts about applying social constructivism in a

classroom is how it changes the student-teacher relationship to be less about “me versus you”

and instead to be “us”. Watson (2001) explained the benefits inside the classroom and how

teachers support their students to learn alongside one another through different techniques. When

teachers encourage their students to engage not only with the teacher themselves, but also other

students, it opens up multiple dialogues for learning, explaining, and understanding. Students

share new ideas and a platform to discuss ideas and new ways of learning (Watson, 2001). 

Social constructivism is formed by culture, both of the society and the community inside

the classroom. As Powell and Kalina (2009) wrote, social constructivism is based “on the social

interactions a student in the classroom along with a personal critical thinking process”. Students

learn and acquire knowledge through artifacts, such as language, tools, etc. in a student-centered

environment. When students are centered and work together, they are able to learn and

accomplish bigger ideas and an open dialogue with one another. They experience the social

needs of being able to work with others and are open to hearing new ideas that assist them to be

open-minded, become active listeners, and contributing members in a classroom

community. Using social constructivism allows students and teachers to work together to

connect the dots between learning and each unique student.

In my classroom, I want to be able to encourage my students to participate and engage in

group or class activities and discussions. Ryan and Deci (2000) discussed a tool for teachers

called intrinsic motivation, wherein a student is motivated to engage in a behavior simply

because it is naturally satisfying for them to accomplish. As Kohn (2008) described, “students

frequently perceive the tasks they are given as not worth doing” which makes learning boring

and “useless” in their eyes. Instead of forcing my students to participate in activities they expect

to dislike, I want to be able to give them as much freedom as possible, so they go into new units

with an open mind and excitement. When teachers apply intrinsic motivation to classrooms,

students are driven by their own internal desires to learn and improve by fostering creativity and

using their problem-solving skills. Although there must be a grade attached to their work, I want

to encourage my students to think about their work as for themselves, not for me.

With the layout of my classroom, I am able to have students pair share easily as well as

split into groups of 3 or 6 (depending on the number of students in my classroom, those numbers

are subject to change). Since most classroom settings that have students in groups tend to have at

least a handful of students in an awkward position that would force them to twist uncomfortably

to look at the front of the class, this set up that I chose requires that each students needs to only

look one way to be able to see. Not only this, but with the space I have set aside in the front of

the class, we can have presentations and play reenactments without worrying about hitting

something or someone. I have also set a table in the back of the classroom for projects to be

stored or room for papers to be turned into with dividers for each class period. All of these
important factors contribute to social constructivism and the ability to facilitate my students’

work with ease.

As an approach to my two-day lesson plan, I plan to use project-based learning for my

students that encompasses an overall unit as well as day to day projects for them. This approach

aligns with my theoretical teaching lens because it allows my students to have more freedom and

use a creative outlet to learn the goals of my unit plan. As a social constructivist, I believe in

giving my students more freedom and thus more opportunities to encourage their participation in

my classroom. For my two-day lesson plan, day one involves a creative poster project where my

students will have the option to collaborate with one another, although they each have to make

their own poster. This gives them the freedom to ask for help or ideas when needed, but

ultimately, their own work results in their own grade. Using this system allows for collaborative

learning, as described by Le, Janssen, and Wubbels (2017) where I will be using the positive

sides of this kind of learning. While it was reported that two-thirds of the students involved in

Le, Janssen, and Wubbels’ research disliked collaborating on group assignments, this use of

collaboration in my classroom doesn’t have students relying on one another to finish a project,

but merely offers the idea of helping a fellow student out.

Using the idea of collaborative learning and having students interact with each other

while working individually helps me, as their teacher, add in self-discipline, as Gordon (1989)

discusses. He explained that disciplining students “might be the least effective way to get

discipline at home or in the classroom” and instead, it should be “taught and nurtured”. The idea

is to get the students to acknowledge and accept ownership over their actions and behavior. In

my two-day lesson plan, using self-discipline will help students learn that there are some thing
they have to do on their own, like creating their own poster and turning it in for a grade,

however, this does not mean they aren’t allowed to ask for help if they need it.

My theoretical perspective is social constructivism because I believe learning is a shared

experience and relies on social interaction both teacher and student, as well as student and

student. The two-day lesson plan I wrote plays to students’ strengths as much as possible without

letting the power dynamic shift in the classroom. I tried to use my own high school experiences

in an effort to make the lesson plan comfortable for each student and to have them complete it in

their own way. This goes back to my own critical incident because I was incredibly shy and

introverted in a classroom setting in high school. I would often get points taken off assignments I

did well because of a lack of participation or involvement. Unlike in Brookfield’s (1998) article,

I didn’t have any teachers who attempted a CIQ, maybe because they didn’t know. It was only in

certain settings and assignments that I could flourish because I didn’t have many friends and I

didn’t like talking in class. With this two-day lesson plan, if a student has this kind of classroom

anxiety, it doesn’t require them to stress out or lose points, but instead find their own way to

comfortable in our classroom community.

Sections two and three absolutely align with my theoretical perspective, as I made to

focus on ideas and readings that harnessed in on teaching and learning that would support all

students, regardless of their background. The two-day lesson plan I created allows for students to

work together on their own terms, while offering the ability to work alone if they feel it’s needed

or they’re uncomfortable engaging in social interaction (if this is the case, I would be working

with this student closely and monitoring their learning in group dynamics). The lesson plan I

made allows for Kohn’s (2008) ideas about purpose, restrictiveness, flexibility, developmental

appropriateness, presentation style, and student involvement in his book. It gives students the
ability to have their own freedom in my classroom while adhering to the rules I made in regards

to the project.

In my two-day lesson plan, my biggest idea was for my poster project on day one, where

the students created a poster detailing themes used in both novels they read as well as connecting

those themes to a news-reported incident of social (in)justice. Because of the simplicity of this

assignment, it gives my students the freedom to make the poster as they want to; if they are more

of a visual learner, they can draw pictures or color-coordinate their ideas. If they are an aural

learner, they can connect themes or events to songs or find YouTube videos and reference them

on the poster. If they are a linguistic learner, they can simply write out everything they’re

thinking, even do bullet points or some kind of list. Whatever a student’s learning style is, there

is a way for them to make this poster their own in whatever kind of way they need. In order to

improve my effectiveness as a teacher in this capacity, I need to make sure I’m able to support

and encourage my students to make this project their own.

 References

Brookfield, S. (1998). Critically Reflective Practice. Journal of Continuing Education in the

Health Professions, 18, 197-205.

Kohn, A. (2008). Beyond Discipline: From Compliance to Community. Alexandria, Va:

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Gordon, T. (n.d.). Thomas Gordon: Discipline as Self-Control. In Foundations of Classroom

Management (pp. 55-58).

Le, H., Janssen, J., & Wubbels, T. (2017). Collaborative learning practices: Teacher and student

perceived obstacles to effective student collaboration. Cambridge Journal of

Education, 48(1), 103-122. doi:10.1080/0305764x.2016.1259389

Powell, K. C., & Kalina, C. J. (2009). Cognitive and Social Constructivism: Developing Tools

for an Effective Classroom. Florida Atlantic University, 241-243.

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

New Directions. Contemporary Educational Psychology, 25(1), 54-67. doi:

10.1006/ceps.1999.1020

Watson, J. (2001). Social Constructivism in the Classroom. Support for Learning, 16(3), 140

147. Doi: 10.1111/1467-9604.00206

“Even the smallest person can change the course of the future” – J.R.R. Tolkien

Code of Conduct:
1. Respect yourselves, your fellow students, your space, and your teacher
2. Come to class prepared
3. Raise your hand to speak; do not interrupt the teacher or another student
4. Ask for help
5. Be kind

Consequences:
1. Verbal warning
2. Sit in the front of the room to discourage distractions to other students
3. Phone call home

Procedures we will learn as a class:

1. Analytical reading
2. Group discussions based around difficult topics
3. Speaking in front of your class
4. Group work
5. Essay writing
6. Research based writing
7. Reading challenging books
Dream Classroom Layout (24 students)