How teacher feedback and early intervention shape student performance

¶ … Teaching Philosophy and Practical Experience

My Early Philosophical Approach to Education

One of my first assumptions about education was that teachers could greatly influence the attitudes and performance of grade school students provided they were sufficiently attentive to the manner in which education was introduced to them initially. At that time, I regarded the degree to which students differed in their response to schooling as substantially a function of the feedback they received in their earliest educational experiences.

It was my belief at that time that many low-performing students had not received an optimal introduction to education and that if their teachers had been more attentive to the earliest signs that they were losing interest in or experiencing difficulty with their studies, many of them could have improved tremendously as students. Moreover, I also believed that self-confidence and self-esteem in relation to intelligence and learning capabilities played a large role in student performance. By responding to the very first signs of difficulty, I hoped to minimize the degree to which their self-perceptions in those regards could be harmed by the internalization of negative perceptions based on academic weakness, particularly in relation to peers.

Experience with Failure Retrospective Analysis

I discovered that there were many more elements of academic performance than could possibly be accounted for in such a broad conceptual approach. Likewise, the many variables that influence and determine academic performance are interrelated in such complex ways that my assumptions were, apparently, simplistic albeit idealistic and well-motivated. I discovered, for example, that some students are simply disinterested in many academic subjects, irrespective of their intelligence and self-esteem. In fact, in my experience, the instances where poor performance appeared to be linked to early educational experiences were far fewer than instances where entirely different factors seemed to be responsible. Additionally, I realized that it was not realistic to assume that I would necessarily be able to identify the precise point where each student first experienced difficulties for several different reasons. Since that time, I have revised my approach and now try to focus more on identifying the interests and possible learning styles and preferences of individual students so as to present material to them in a manner most conducive to their absorption, particularly where they appear to be more intelligent than their performance would indicate.

Sources Consulted

Adams, J. "Kant, Pestalozzi and the role of ideology in educational thought," Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol. 24, No. 2; (1990): 257-269.

Brehony, K. "Montessori, individual work and individuality in the elementary school classroom" History of Education; Vol 29. No. 2; (2000): 115-128.

Burton, J., Moore, D., and Magliaro, S. (2004). Behaviorism and Instructional

Technology. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Darling, J. (1994). Child-Centred Education and its Critics. London: Chapman.

McAuley, H. And Jackson, P. (1992). Educating Young Children: A Structural Approach.

London: Fulton.