It is vital that educators can adapt to the needs of their learners from class to class, and year to year. This means reflection is an important aspect of education and should be ongoing throughout the year so that the appropriate adjustments can be made. There is no one size fits all answer for how a class should be taught or how information should be presented. Therefore, it is a valuable skill for educators to be able to intertwine multiple teaching strategies within their lessons and determine which ones work best for their individual learners. It is important to note that the teaching strategies chosen by teachers often correlates to their own teaching philosophy, which aligns with the theories of knowledge. Reflecting on my own teaching philosophy I can identify with both the constructivism and connectivism theories of knowledge.
Within the constructivism theory, a main focus is thinking and reflecting. Many of the classes that I teach are subjective, different from science or math. There is opportunity for open discussion and space for students to defend their way of thinking. This process encourages students to bring their prior knowledge with them, reflect on their ways of thinking, and test their ideas through social interaction. I utilize group work and projects with fairly open guidelines to allow students the opportunity to express their learning in different ways while also providing students the opportunity to learn from one another.
The second theory that I had identified was connectivism. Siemens states that within the connectivism theory the capacity to know is much more important than what is known. With the internet almost always readily available to students today, it is important that they understand how to read through the information that they are learning and develop a strong digital awareness. The internet also enhances opportunities within the classroom for self-directed study. Many of the curriculums within Saskatchewan have developed outcomes to encourage students to further their learning within classes based on personal interest. Personally, whenever possible I utilize directed studies. This allows students the freedom to choose a topic of their interest under a guiding question or prompt that I give to them. Furthering their research abilities, while also giving them the opportunity to learn about something they have personally chosen. Connectivism also follows the idea that learning and knowledge rests in the diversity of opinions. Technology not only provides students the opportunity to express their work in multiple different ways, it also gives them the option to learn in different ways. For example, some students prefer to watch videos over reading.
Towards the beginning of my career the ideas of connectivism and constructivism were overshadowed by objectivism. The objectivism approach focuses on students being able to comprehend, replicate and justify their answers. My lessons were focused more on objective reasoning, rather than personal opinions. I believe this shift occurred as the classes that I was teaching changed. Moving from mathematics and social sciences to physical education and wildlife studies. Not to say that connectivism and constructivism approaches are not applicable in all classes, however, they are easier to integrate in some more than others.
