Teaching Philosophy Statement

My philosophy of education is that all children deserve a productive, healthy, and stimulating environment where they can learn and grow academically, psychologically, and emotionally. I believe that it is the responsibility of the educators to provide safe places for the children where they can enhance their skills and contribute towards community development. COVID-19 had a significant impact on the education systems across the world and changed the lives of students. There was a massive shift towards online teaching approach as educational institutes were shut down, and students were supposed to stay at home due to lockdown. Educators can support vulnerable students who have been greatly affected by COVID-19.

Although children appear to be less at risk against the disease; yet they are considerably exposed to different psychological issues due to lockdown [ CITATION Liu20 l 1033 ]. Hence, school re-entry is a crucial procedure for both students as well as the teachers. Educators and school psychologists can utilize different resources for implementing an effective school re-entry plan that can prove to be helpful when the schools open again. School re-opening plan can help with promoting social justice and supporting the children residing in marginalised communities [ CITATION Cap20 l 1033 ]. The goal of the school re-opening plan is to support the students who are returning back to school after a prolonged period of stress and lockdown due to COVID-19. It would help with improving the teaching methodologies, focus on building back better, and ensuring effective communication with the students.

Ensuring Safe Environment

Maintaining health and security for the students is the responsibility of teachers. Educators can provide psychosocial health support for the students and implement effective programs for the wellbeing of the students. Teachers and staff can offer school-based psychosocial intervention for the returning students, which would help them with overcoming the traumas and stress. Different studies show that children are more exposed to depression and anxiety during social isolation [ CITATION Ala20 l 1033 ]. Teachers who are trained to give psychosocial support to students who have gone through a crisis can help with achieving productive outcomes. The programs for psychosocial support can be based on different demographics, such as gender and age. It is seen that young girls were considerably exposed to the risk of abuse during the lockdown and social isolation [ CITATION Gho20 l 1033 ]. Hence, teachers should also provide gender-based counselling programs for young girls who have been exposed to trauma during the lockdown. This program will enable the students to focus on their academic goals and enhance their learning. It would result in an increased level of self-confidence and self-esteem among vulnerable students who were exposed to stress and depression due to COVID-19. This approach would enable them to communicate and socialise with their peers effectively. I believe that educators are capable of providing emotional and psychological support to marginalised students who are suffering from immense challenges. With the implementation of these sessions, students will be able to expand their abilities and overcome the stresses of life. Such sessions would empower them and boost up their morale. I will adopt this approach of conducting sessions with the students for focusing on the emotional, mental, and social wellbeing. It will allow me to support the children in achieving their academic as well as social goals.

Recovering Learning Loss

I will target and adopt learning programs that would help the students recover the learning loss. Although online classes were being provided to the students; yet these virtual classes are not as practical as the physical classes in the institute. I will use effective teaching methodologies and communication approaches for engaging students and enabling them to recover the learning loss. Accelerated learning interventions will be applied for enabling students to learn the basic and core academic concepts [ CITATION Bil20 l 1033 ]. It will help to gain the learning loss and enhancing future trends. Programs focused on basic literacy and numeracy can be offered in accelerated learning intervention. These programs will be provided for an hour or two every day, which will significantly assist the students. I will provide learning camps and tutoring programs, which will also support accelerated learning intervention. Studies show that learning camps and tutoring programs can significantly support the learning of students [ CITATION Say17 l 1033 ]. I will use research-based instructions for developing highly-effective programs for learning camps. These programs will comprise of different creative activities that would attract the interest of students and enhance their learning. These learning camps would specifically support and help students who have suffered from anxiety and stress.

Moreover, I will integrate modern technology into my teaching methodologies. Different techniques, such as cloud computing are being implemented for making the process of learning easier and effective. I will implement highly effective and advanced technology for promoting my accelerated learning intervention. I believe as being an educator; I must also attend training sessions that could enhance my skills and abilities. These sessions would enable me to provide adequate knowledge to the students and support them through a difficult time. Teachers also need to adapt to the changing environment and fulfil the needs of the students.

It is my goal to support and assist the students who have been critically hit by the pandemic. I am excited to abet the students when they come back to schools after a stressful lockdown. I am committed to exploring effectual teaching approaches for supporting the students during the times of COVID-19.

References

Alateeq, D., Aljhani, S., & Aleesa, D. (2020). Perceived stress among students in virtual classrooms during the COVID-19 outbreak in KSA. Journal of Taibah University Medical Sciences, 15(5).

Bilagher, M., & Kaushik, A. (2020). The potential of Accelerated Learning Programmes (ALPs) for conflict-ridden countries and regions: Lessons learned from an experience in Iraq. International Review of Education, 66(1).

Capurso, M., Dennis, J. L., Salmi, L. P., Parrino, C., & Mazzeschi, C. (2020). Empowering Children Through School Re-Entry Activities After the COVID-19 Pandemic. Continuity in Education, 1(1), 64–82.

Ghosh, R., Dubey, M. J., Chatterjee, S., & Dubey, S. (2020). Impact of COVID-19 on children: Special focus on psychosocial aspect. Minerva Pediatrica, 72(3), 226-235.

Liu, J. J., Bao, Y., Huang, X., Shi, J., & Lu, L. (2020). Mental health considerations for children quarantined because of COVID-19. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 4(5), 347–349.

Sayı, A. K. (2017). Students’ Views about Enriched Summer Camp for High School Students. Eurasia Journal of Mathematics Science and Technology Education, 13(11).