Over a career, most educators evolve with what works at the time, the subject they teach and the group of students that they teach to. The first word my father-in-law told me to remember when I told him I was going into Education, was “adaptability”. This came from a retired ex-teacher, with 35 years of experience. By the time I reached university as a TC or teacher canditate, I knew how valuable that advice was. This was where I realized the value of students needing to buy in to what we are trying to teach in order for it to be effective teaching. In my opinion, my strongest belief is in the constructionist philosophy. I enjoy designing inquiry projects that allow students to go in directions that interest them. This, I find, not only helps with engagement, but also goes a long way to helping students reach complex thought, where they can express to me what they have learned in a wide variety of ways.
This does not mean that there are not aspects of my teaching that do not represent other philosophies. Any teacher of math or science knows that there are times for lectures, formulas , and equations that have to taught in this objectivist view.
The point I am trying to make is that each teacher probably has one main view and then likely has areas of their teaching in which other philosophies are more prevalent.
As we head into more new technology every month, it seems, this may alter some teacher’s views on how students learn and therefore how we teach. AI is a perfect example, Constructivists, like myself, see this tech as an opportunity to see how students use it if they are taught how to properly. This is similar to when computers came into schools. Now, they are invaluable.
