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New teachers looking for their first teaching position spend countless hours considering their philosophy of education.  This is a question that almost always comes up during job interviews.

Why this matters:

At this moment in history, we are all feeling what it is like to be new teachers.  We are coming to terms with our core beliefs about what education is and how we can make it work for students and their families.  We need to consider that families don’t always understand why some things really matter.  It is our job to explain how the things we do in the classroom will make a difference for their child.

In remote teaching, it is important to keep your philosophy statement simple and easy for parents and kids to understand.  In The Distance Learning Playbook, the authors encourage teachers to keep this statement to 100 words or less.  This forces you to distill it down to the things that really matter.

In a post on Edutopia, educator Aaron Tombrella talks about how he took a five paragraph philosophy statement and distilled it into 3 phrases that are highly memorable and easy to keep in mind:

• Concepts are crucial.
• Process over product.
• Relationships rule.

Once you know what you want to say, then post it on your learning management system.  This is an opportunity to bring parents along and help them feel a part of your learning community. If problems arise, you can also refer back to your philosophy of education for context.  Parents are looking to us for guidance at this difficult time.

More information and examples:

• St Phillip’s Episcopal School’s Remote Learning Philosophy and Plan.  Their Family Guide to Remote Learning has some really good ideas.
• Reevaluating Your Teaching Philosophy for a Blended Learning Environment
• The Gunston School Distance Learning Plan
• 4 Steps to Prioritize Students’ Dignity During Remote Learning