Vincent's Teaching Philosophy

I strongly think that teaching is simply a form of help. I believe that each and every child needs help, in one form or another. I, as a teacher, may not need the students’ help but students definitely need us. Thus, I believe that through the teaching profession, I will be able to help my students build up content knowledge and hopefully also mould their character and values through incorporating different ideas when teaching whatever content, so as to bring out their true potential. I believe all students have their potential but some of them may not have discovered it yet, thus my job will be to help bring out their potential in them.

For me, teaching and learning should be a complete cycle. If teaching is taking place without the process of learning, the whole cycle will be incomplete and deemed as ineffective teaching. Thus one of my hopes as a teacher will be to make my students enjoy and appreciate the learning process; this hope will only come true when a caring and stimulating atmosphere is provided. To make a positive learning environment, I will present the content in a way which students are interested and able to relate to real-life situations. I wish to build good rapport with all students as I think good rapport can catalyze the process of effective teaching and learning. I will try to integrate different forms of teaching pedagogies and activities in order to provide students with a well-rounded and holistic education.

Students can also play the role of a teacher. Other than helping and teaching students, I think it is also very important to learn from the students too, they are able to teach us how to open up our mind and accept each and individual diverse backgrounds. They can also drive us in developing different teaching and managing styles for different kinds of students because no size fits all.

I understand that teaching is definitely not a bed of roses all the time. I must constantly tell myself not to be overly affected by problematic students and other ‘down moments’ so that I can preserve my mental and physical well-being to continue to serve my role as a helpful teacher. I will strive to be a teacher whom students will respect and look for when they need help or someone to confide in.