Philosophy of Learning
Much of my beliefs about learning are included on my "teaching philosophy" page. In my belief, a philosophy of teaching is incomplete when the concept of how individuals learn is not addressed.
Through my observations and experiences, it has become obvious to me that the learning styles of visual, auditory, and tactile need to be catered to in order for each individual to learn as their minds are able. Simply, a strongly tactile individual will not reap a maximum benefit from a teacher who merely lectures. An auditory learner is not best suited to experiential learning alone. On the same lines, a visual learner must be presented with a visual representation of material of some sort to fully grasp material.
It is unreasonable to think that a teacher can plan every lesson to cater to each one of these learning styles. The most reasonable and effective strategy, in my view, is to balance these approaches. Many teachers get caught up in their most comfortable way of teaching, never trying a new approach, not presenting material in different ways. Getting into such a rut is monotonous for teachers as well as detrimental to many students who are not suited to learning the way the teacher is most comfortable presenting material. As a teacher, I owe it to myself and to my students to strive to keep the material fresh, and to present it in a variety of ways.