What makes an excellent educator? The answer lies in one’s teaching philosophy. Teaching philosophy is a statement regarding one’s core beliefs and values about teaching and learning. Teaching philosophy is gained through multiple ways in a teacher’s life such as teaching experiences, observation, reflection and ambition. 

It is crucial to develop teaching philosophy in order to determine the outcome of students’ success. Without it, teachers will not teach wholeheartedly and this will give major negative impact towards the students in terms of their academic achievement and motivation to learn. Other than that, teaching philosophy is important for oneself as an effort to contribute towards the society. This contribution will give meaning in their own life in terms of self-satisfaction and purification of the heart. Teaching philosophy also affects educational institution in which it would influence the school’s upbringing such as mission and vision. As we know, each school have different upbringing due to variety of teaching philosophy in all schools throughout Malaysia. However, the main goal is still the same which is to educate the next generation to become a part of a high-functioning society. This will lead to an excellent country in which the overall society is well educated in terms of IQ and EQ. 

My teaching philosophy is continuous learning from my mistakes, patience, sincerity, and inspirational. This philosophy is determined by four factors which are teaching experiences, observation, self-reflection, and ambition. 

Firstly, I believe that the best lesson is through experience itself. The experience of teaching is priceless as humans learn by mistakes. While I was teaching in SK Serdang, I have learnt a lot of invaluable lesson from the teachers such as how to present myself in class during my first day of practicum. My first mistake was presenting myself as a friendly teacher and somehow it escalates to the point where the students take my kindness for granted. For example, students will play outside the class while I was teaching, or take leave as an excuse to meet their friends from the nearest class. Therefore, my teaching peers advised me to present myself as a stern teacher on the first day, then gradually become softer depending on the situation. This is also a learning process for myself as I am required to adjust and become more flexible in my character. 

The second factor of my teaching philosophy is observation. I believe that learning from my mistakes is not enough, as I need to observe before I talk and take action. Observation is an important element as it allows a teacher to evaluate the pros and cons before making a decision. This also includes being patient with my students in order to understand and guide them better. Over time, I have developed this observant trait by having experiences of being misunderstood by my previous teachers in school due to lack of communication skill. Therefore, I would not allow history repeat itself because I understand how it makes my students feel alienated.  During my practicum experience in Sk Serdang, teachers undergo this observation phase every day for each week by doing lesson plans. Lesson plans is one of the most important tasks to finish in school before teachers can teach a particular lesson. It considers the students’ needs, previous performance, classroom facilities, as well as the target outcome from the class. By making lesson plans, I could avoid misunderstanding my own students and most importantly, have a daily self-reflection about my own teachings. 

The third factor is my own core beliefs shaped through how I was raised that influences my cognitive thinking. Specifically, religious teachings among the Malaysian society. In order to become an excellent teacher, it is important to understand why education is heavily emphasised in Islam. In my opinion, one of the purposes of teaching is to purify one’s heart and allows one to sacrifice for the betterment of the society in this life and the hereafter. In addition to this, my family have an upbringing to provide others rather than take anything. According to the Quran, this practice is called ‘Sadaqah’, which means voluntary offering. I believe that this offering is not limited to only materialistic elements, but also includes an offering of knowledge with a sincere heart. In fact, offering knowledge is the most beneficial as it is everlasting in a person’s life. Therefore, one of my teaching philosophy is to become a teacher with sincere intentions.  

The fourth factor for my teaching philosophy is my own ambition. Personally, I am highly ambitious as my life goal is to become an inspiration towards others. Growing up, I went through painful obstacles in my life in which I would often feel defeated. However, I manage to get back on my feet and persevere until this day as I want to inspire my students that they can be successful despite the hardships that they may face in the future. As stated in my favourite quote by Joseph B. Wirthlin, 

This quote shows that obstacles and challenges finally shaped me as who I am today, and who I am today will shape how the society will be tomorrow. Therefore, I will continue to conquer any obstacles in order to fulfill my life goal as an inspirational teacher. 

Other than that, my hope for the future is to become the teacher that triggers change in the current education system. For example, If I am given the power and opportunity to fix or change the education system, I will introduce a new education curriculum about mental health awareness in schools. I will also abolish the traditional ways of studying for exams, and will put forth a new idea of continuous evaluation throughout the school year. This is because I believe that teachers and students should understand that knowledge is infinite, and should not be emphasized heavily on merely academic achievement. Instead, teachers and students should understand that knowledge is also gained through practical skills and that students should be evaluated holistically. I also believe the most effective method of teaching is by applying the knowledge into the real world. Otherwise, students will only study out of memorization and this do not reflect the students’ actual knowledge. 

Teaching philosophy is one of the most important things a teacher needs to develop. Without it, how can students become a fully functional adult?  Nowadays, some teachers treat the profession as a source of income, and not necessarily out of love for the students, society and country. This can be seen throughout their ways of teaching without passion. Therefore, my biggest hope is for teachers to become more emphatic. This applies to both school setting and outside school setting. By being emphatic and aware, teachers can develop their own teaching philosophy and even find the key to answer how great minds are born in our country.