Teaching Philosophy

I am a firm believer of an eclectic teaching philosophy. A teacher needs to mold his or her ideals to the student’s needs. If a teacher prefers to use the constructivist methodology with a group of students that are able to work by themselves and use the teacher as a mere facilitator, than the class can be constructivist. However, if the students need constant motivation, rewards and positive reinforcement, then the teacher needs to put aside his ideal and turn to behaviorism. The type of methodology will depend on the student’s necessities and personalities. My teaching philosophy is based on structure, perseverance and potential. The teacher needs to be the very best he or she can be. The teacher needs to be organized, responsible, devoted and adaptable. After having all the required criteria, then the teacher can demand any task from the student and develop the students potential. The students are accountable for their development. They are the ones that need to learn the material. The teacher prepares it and provides it in his or her own unique way and facilitates it in every way possible for the student’s comprehension. However, the student has to work to acquire the knowledge.
For the acquisition of a language a person has to need it or want for a very special and important reason. If the student has no motivators or desire for the acquirement of a language, the teacher may try as hard as he or she can, and he or she will not have success the majority of the time. The students need extrinsic and intrinsic motivation for the acquisition of a language. Another element a student needs to achieve great language proficiency and fluency is to be immersed in the language, work with repetition and drills and read books in the target language.

There are people that move to the country where the target language is spoken and they die without learning the language. On the other hand, there are people that never visit, let’s say China, but they learn Mandarin. It all depends on your extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. However, if a person is immersed in the target language and has the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations, he or she will acquire the language.

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