My Teaching Philosophy

Teaching as Transformation, Inclusion and Learner Agency

My teaching philosophy is rooted in the belief that education has the power to transform lives. This belief is shaped not only by educational theory, but also by my own experience as an adult learner who returned to education during a period of significant personal and professional change. Through that experience, I came to understand that learning is not simply about acquiring knowledge or technical skills. It is also about developing confidence, agency, resilience, and the capacity to imagine new possibilities.

As an educator, I aim to create learning environments where students feel supported, challenged and valued. My role is not simply to deliver content, but to facilitate learning experiences that help learners connect new knowledge with their own experiences, interests and goals. This philosophy is informed by learner-centred education, adult learning theory, Universal Design for Learning (UDL), reflective practice, and my ongoing engagement with digital pedagogy.

My approach is also deeply connected to my own transformative learning journey. Returning to education helped me rebuild confidence and develop a new professional identity. This experience continues to influence how I support adult learners who may be re-entering education, changing career, developing digital confidence, or balancing study with complex life responsibilities. A reflection on this journey can be accessed in the following link Transformative Learning Experience.

My Teaching Context

I currently work as an instructor supporting adult learners undertaking Adobe Certified Professional programmes. I teach creative and digital media areas including Visual Design using Adobe Photoshop, Graphic Design using Adobe Illustrator, Print and Digital Media Publication using Adobe InDesign, Digital Video using Adobe Premiere Pro and Content Creation and Marketing using Adobe Express.

My teaching takes place primarily online in Further and Adult Education contexts. The learners I support are aged eighteen and over and come from a wide range of educational, professional and social backgrounds. Some are employed learners seeking to upskill, some are unemployed learners preparing to re-enter the workforce, some are higher education students developing additional digital competencies, and others are engaging in second-chance or lifelong learning opportunities.

This context strongly influences my teaching philosophy. Adult learners bring valuable life experience, but they may also bring uncertainty, low confidence, digital anxiety or previous negative experiences of education. For this reason, I believe effective teaching must be clear, structured, respectful, flexible and relevant. Knowles’ principles of andragogy are useful here because they highlight the importance of self-direction, relevance and experience in adult learning (Knowles, Holton and Swanson, 2015). In my practice, this means designing learning activities that connect to real-world creative tasks and allow learners to see the value of what they are learning.

My Core Values as an Educator

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Beliefs About Teaching and Learning

I believe that learning is active, social and reflective. Learners develop understanding when they engage with ideas, apply them in practice, discuss them with others, receive feedback, and reflect on how their thinking has changed. This belief is informed by constructivist perspectives, including Piaget’s view of learners as active constructors of knowledge (Piaget, 1954) and Vygotsky’s emphasis on the social nature of learning and guided support (Vygotsky, 1978).

In creative and digital disciplines, experiential learning is particularly important. Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory describes learning as a cycle of experience, reflection, conceptualisation and experimentation (Kolb, 1984). This is visible in my practice when learners create drafts, test ideas, receive feedback, refine their work and produce final artefacts. The learning happens not only in the finished product, but also in the process of developing, questioning and improving the work.

Humanistic learning theories also influence my practice. Rogers (1969) emphasised the importance of empathy, authenticity and supportive relationships in meaningful learning. Maslow (1943) reminds educators that learners need to feel safe, respected and valued before they can fully engage in higher-order learning and creativity. These perspectives are especially relevant in adult and further education, where learners may be managing personal challenges, previous educational barriers or low self-confidence.

The video below illustrates my personal journey and the values that have shaped my professional and personal development.

This is who I am today

Teaching Practice and Pedagogical Approaches

My teaching practice emphasises active learning, authentic tasks and collaborative engagement. In online learning environments, establishing a supportive learner-instructor relationship is essential. I therefore aim to create a welcoming digital learning space where learners feel comfortable asking questions, sharing work, participating in discussions and learning from each other.

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is central to my approach because it allows learners to apply technical skills in meaningful contexts. Rather than completing isolated tasks, learners work towards creative outputs that reflect real-world design and media practices. This supports motivation because learners can see a clear purpose for what they are doing.

My assessment design is also influenced by constructive alignment, which emphasises the relationship between learning outcomes, teaching activities and assessment methods (Biggs and Tang, 2011). I aim to ensure that students understand the purpose of each activity and how it supports their development. Formative feedback is especially important in this process. I provide guidance on drafts and encourage learners to revise, improve and reflect on their progress. In this way, assessment becomes part of learning rather than simply a judgement at the end.

Online forums and discussion spaces also support collaboration and feedback literacy. When learners are encouraged to comment on each other’s work, they begin to develop a stronger understanding of quality, audience, design decisions and improvement. This helps build independence and supports the development of a creative learning community.

Accessibility and Inclusive Practice

Accessibility is not an add-on to my teaching practice, it is part of the design process. I aim to create learning materials that are clear, structured and usable for a wide range of learners. This includes using accessible language, visual examples, step-by-step demonstrations, captions and transcripts where possible, clear navigation, consistent formatting, and flexible opportunities for learners to engage with content.

In creative disciplines, accessibility also means creating a psychologically safe space for experimentation. Learners need to feel that they can try, fail, revise and improve without fear of embarrassment. I therefore try to normalise the design process as iterative. Drafts, feedback and revision are not signs of weakness, they are evidence of learning.

This commitment to accessibility reflects my wider belief that inclusive teaching benefits all learners. When materials are clearer, more flexible and more thoughtfully designed, every learner gains better access to the learning experience.

A Critical Incident That Shaped My Philosophy

A significant moment that shaped my teaching philosophy occurred while supporting learners from war-affected regions in Ukraine. I observed that some learners’ creative work reflected the emotional and psychological impact of their experiences. This reminded me that learning cannot be separated from learners’ lived realities. Students do not leave their personal experiences outside the classroom or online learning environment.

In response, I completed a Psychological First Aid course with the Irish Red Cross. This helped me better understand the importance of safety, calm, connection, empathy, practical support and appropriate boundaries. It also strengthened my belief that educators are not therapists, but they can create compassionate learning environments and guide learners towards appropriate supports when needed.

Evidence and guidance relating to Psychological First Aid can be seen below.

Wellbeing in Education

Psychological First Aid for Practitioners

This experience changed my practice. I became more attentive to flexibility, tone, emotional safety and the importance of giving learners space to communicate through creative work. I also became more aware that inclusive teaching involves both design decisions and relational care. Since then, I have aimed to create learning environments where learners feel respected, supported and able to continue learning at a pace that recognises their circumstances.

The following article also demonstrates wider interest in Psychological First Aid training within educational settings: Effects of psychological first aid training on teachers: a scoping review with a global perspective.

Reflective Practice and Professional Growth

Reflection allows me to move beyond simply asking whether an activity worked. It encourages me to ask deeper questions:

• What did learners experience?
• What barriers appeared?
• What evidence do I have?
• What assumptions did I make?
• What should change next time?

These questions help me improve my practice and respond more thoughtfully to learners’ needs.

My engagement with the National Professional Development Framework has also helped me understand my development as an educator. The framework’s focus on The Self, Professional Identity and Values, Professional Communication and Dialogue, Professional Knowledge and Skills, and Digital Capacity reflects many of the areas that are central to my ongoing growth. It has encouraged me to view teaching not as a fixed skill, but as a professional practice that develops through reflection, dialogue, scholarship and evidence-informed improvement.

Future Development

Looking ahead, I aim to continue developing my expertise in curriculum design, digital pedagogy and professional development for educators. I am particularly interested in designing learning experiences that integrate multimedia, interactivity, accessibility and authentic assessment. I also want to continue strengthening my scholarly practice by sharing examples of teaching innovation, reflective practice and learner-centred design.

My interests in drawing, illustration, motion graphics, animation and video editing continue to influence my teaching. I enjoy transforming complex content into engaging multimedia experiences that support understanding and creativity. As my practice develops, I want to continue connecting creative technologies with inclusive pedagogy so that learners are not only technically skilled, but also confident, reflective and capable of applying their learning in meaningful contexts.

Conclusion

Having experienced the transformative power of education in my own life, I recognise that every learner arrives with unique experiences, challenges and aspirations. My role as an educator is not simply to teach content, but to create learning environments where individuals feel supported, challenged and empowered to realise their potential.

Ultimately, my teaching philosophy is grounded in inclusion, creativity, learner agency, reflection and transformation. Through accessible design, authentic learning activities, constructive feedback and supportive relationships, I aim to help learners develop not only knowledge and technical competence, but also confidence, resilience and belief in their own capacity to learn and grow.

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References

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