An educator’s teaching and learning philosophy is developed over time and continually changes based on the experience and training they receive. As a former secondary education teacher who currently works in the field of community education while also pursuing a graduate level degree, my philosophy on teaching and learning is largely relative to the type of education a learner is experiencing. Teaching young people in a traditional school setting must be approached very differently than teaching adults in a school setting and teaching anyone in a community setting.

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Recently, I began a new adventure in education. I have now transitioned out of community-based teaching and am now an instructional designer, creating corporate training products for a major corporation. During my short time in this new position, my perspective on education has already altered slightly. However, my overall philosophy that learning is relative to the type of education still decisively stands.

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When I worked with high school students, and young people in general, I firmly believed that forming meaningful relationships with your students should be of the highest priority. Teaching and learning becomes much more effective and much less cumbersome when students know their teachers care about them as people. Classroom management problems are reduced. Missing assignments are minimized. Students put more effort into producing quality work, participating, and engaging in learning activities. Additionally, educators should focus on teaching skills over content. When children become adults, they will not remember all of the content they learned in school, but they will remember and put into practice the skills they had been consistently taught. These skills include critical thinking, problem solving, collaborating, communicating, creating, analyzing, etc. Skills should be scaffolded appropriately for students according to guidelines set in place by researched-based concepts like Blooms Taxonomy. These skills will prepare students for whatever post-secondary option they choose, whether it be attending college, going to a technical school, or entering the workforce. While focusing on skills, educators also need to emphasize why those skills are relevant to their learning and their futures. Often, students are asked to learn content/skills that don’t seem important to them. Students will naturally be more engaged and eager to learn when they understand why it will benefit them in their futures. Lastly, the end goal of actually learning what is being taught should be the standard instead of working towards completing an assignment simply for a grade. Students should be able to learn through failure, re-do assignments and assessments, and be scored based on their proficiency of a skill or concept. This approach will encourage learning vs the current trend in education.

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Outside of secondary education, my philosophy of teaching and learning emphasizes relationships less and relevancy even more. As students pursue educational opportunities of their choosing, their greatest motivation is to learn what is necessary and appropriate to be hired with a job that allows them to live the lifestyle they want. Therefore, the most effective way to encourage learning for students in a post-secondary formal education setting or even community public education is to make the learning relevant. Creating relevancy encourages the motivation needed to continue educating one’s self when they don’t have to. There has to be a good reason, purpose, and outcome for an adult learner to properly engage in further educational opportunities. This learning needs to help a student develop new skills or learn new information that would help them reach their lifestyle goals – whether it is a certification, training needed to get hired for a new job, or a new skill they want to learn to increase their quality of life. If what is being taught is not relevant, the learner will not be as invested as they should be to get the most out of the learning experience. Further, developing meaningful relationships are still important with adult learners. However, the types of relationships that should be formed are different. For young people, believing that their teacher cares for them can make or break the success of a student. But, for adults, having a caring relationship with their educators is much less important. What becomes more important is creating relationships and community with fellow learners who are sharing the same experience. Teachers should facilitate relationship building between their students so that they can use their relevant experiences to create bonds and connections that will not only help them in the class they are taking, but also potentially in their professional lives for the future.

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While my philosophy on teaching and learning for community education includes relevancy, skills-focused learning, and building relationships, it varies from formal education on the fundamental approach that should be taken to guide the learning process. Community education should be first and foremost simple and straightforward. Relationships are less important. Academic skills are less important. Students who seek out community education opportunities are looking for specific information on a process, skill, or topic. These learners want direct learning to accomplish a specific goal. This learning must be highly relevant and purposeful and, for many opportunities, can be accomplished through self-paced asynchronous learning. However, with community education, students still have the desire to create connections with their educator, but especially with other learners. This allows them to get feedback from other people who are experiencing the same thing they are and essentially helps to create a support system. Therefore, in-person classes or even a hybrid approach that includes an online communication or social platform can also provide an optimal learning experience for participants.

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With corporate education, my philosophy differs even more. The importance of forming connections and relationships drastically declines. Those who are expected to complete compliance training or are taking a course that is necessary to improve upon their job performance are less interested in who designed the course or how to communicate with the course creator. They are purely invested for learning and completion purposes. This is also a direct correlation to the natural design of these learning experiences as well. Typically, these courses are self-paced, asynchronous courses that don’t require any sort of communication or commitment outside of the course. The learning content is specific to a job skill, and often branching occurs to tailor the experience to the learner in order to optimize their growth and development. There is no feedback or communication from the instructor and no interaction with peers. The ability to even form any sort of relationships simply doesn’t exist. These learning experiences are for purely skill development only.

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Overall, my philosophy on teaching and learning will always be anchored by my core beliefs on building relationships, creating relevancy, prioritizing skill-based learning, scaffolding, and mastery. In any educational setting, these pillars willow allow for a successful teaching and learning environment. Yet, the emphasis of these characteristics will drastically differ, depending on the type of learning the participant experiences. This is especially evident when considering the importance of relationships in learning.