My teaching philosophy

My teaching philosophy is based on a set of principles that I believe can help second language learners develop their English language skills and become fluent speakers of the target language regardless of their L1 or sociocultural context. These principles include the following: the teacher’s and students’ roles in the L2 classroom, the choice of the theory of teaching and learning, the teaching approach, the choice of classroom materials, classroom management, the assessment techniques, students’ motivation, the learning environment, and the integration of technology-enhanced language teaching. 

Although there is no such thing as a perfect teacher, I should always plan and review my lessons in light of the lesson objectives and my students’ language needs. I should be a motivator who provides positive energy because students learn best when they are intrinsically motivated. I should therefore create a stress-free environment that fosters learner motivation with lessons that are appealing and relevant to my students’ real lives. As Dewar (2002) said "it is important to remember that whatever is taught must somehow relate to the experiences of the student or it will be sterile”. So, my teaching materials should be of great interests to learners as they are the driven force of the learning process. I believe a good teacher should have strong classroom management skills with an authoritative approach and not an authoritarian one to ensure a relationship of trust and respect in the classroom. I believe good classroom management should involve learners in the design of classroom rules and principles. I believe all students should be treated fairly, regardless of their level of motivation, effort, or proficiency, to avoid discriminations. 

I believe I should create a student-centered learning environment based on the constructivist theory of language teaching. For me, the ESL student should be in the driving seat of the learning process and should feel valued, empowered, and motivated to play an active role in the classroom. I should encourage active learning discovery and communicative language teaching based on Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development (ZPD) through problem-solving and interactive tasks that foster autonomous and collaborative learning. I should implement hands-on tasks that encourage learning by doing to motivate students while taking into account the different learning styles. 

I believe a good teacher should promote critical thinking using Bloom’s taxonomy with a focus on low order and high order thinking skills. I should incorporate activities that encourage my students to think outside the box, to be creative and to connect what they learn to their own lives. I should therefore use authentic learning materials and tasks that mirror real-life situations. I should motivate students to use English in the classroom with more focus on meaning and fluency rather than form. I believe effective second language learning should focus on developing students’ communication skills. For me, it is important to build connections between the four skills and seriously consider my students’ oral abilities through communicative tasks. I should help my students to overcome their fear of making mistakes through peer-reviews and assessment, pair, and group work. 

As a 21st century teacher, I believe technology should be integrated in language learning because my students are all digital natives. Using technology-driven methods of teaching such as blended and flipped approaches can help extend learning outside the four walls and motivate learners to become autonomous. I believe mobile-assisted language learning should be an integrative part of the second language classroom as it enables students to reinforce their language skills with the wealth of resources available online. I also believe as Nussbaum- Beach states that “teachers will not be replaced by technology but teachers who don’t use technology may be replaced by those who do”.

I believe that assessing my students’ progress implies reflecting on and evaluating my own teaching in order to better address their weaknesses. So, formative assessment should be considered as part of the learning process and my students should feel motivated, not anxious, when their language skills are being assessed. Although grades represent an individual student’s level of proficiency, I believe they should not be prioritized upon students’ achievements because according to Brown & Abeywickrama (2019), “any assessment should reflect the five principles of assessment (Practicality, reliability, validity, authenticity, and washback) with uniform rubrics, authentic materials, reliable scoring, and practical test administration. I consider that affective factors such as anxiety and stress may affect a student’s ability to perform well in a test. Although the issue may seem beyond control, I should help learners to develop test-taking strategies to lower the filter. 

Finally, I consider teaching as a career-long process of learning. For me, a teacher stops teaching the day he stops learning. I therefore believe that I should be curious and use other teachers as learning platforms. I should always attend professional development programs and connect with larger networks of classroom practitioners so as to maximize my expertise and improve my classroom practices.