Category Archives: My educational philosophy

Week 1 at Somerset

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What a quick first week complete! Early reflection has already distinguished the differences in the classroom environment, schedules and overall ethos for the schools I have been to in Scotland prior to this placement. Australia’s IB perspective on schooling has showed me that one thing which is vital to the success in the classroom is through trusting the children. The relaxing atmosphere in the classroom is completely opposite to the stresses which I have witnessed back in Scotland. Anyway, week 1 in a nutshell…

             

Somerset has just completed its yearly ‘Celebration of Literature’, a 3 day event which celebrates the reading and writing which surrounds us by involving all of the community, and inviting over 30 authors to come and hold interactive workshops for the children and adults. This festival is giving the children opportunities to meet the authors of some of their favourite books, discover new books and also gain an insight into the imaginative ways in which the authors plan their books. The children loved the excitement of meeting these authors, getting the opportunity to get their books signed and also enjoy the experience with their peers. Overall, the event was important for my class in particular as they are currently required to create different creations in class for the unit of inquiries – the structure of imagination from literature can be used here, and the enthusiasm which the event gives the children to then circulate back into the class is invaluable.

     

Friday was a different day for both Lauren and myself – we were asked to come along and supervise on the Year 5 trip to Saint Helena’s Island – an island off the coast of Brisbane, which was home to a high maximum security for Aboriginal and English prisoners during the 19th century. This was a fascinating opportunity to learn about the Australian history, but also to meet other staff and children who were on the trip from Somerset. It was certainly a different school trip in which I have been used to, and we learned all about the difficulties which prisoners faced whilst on the island – the duties which they were assigned, the struggles of having to work through the Australian heat and also the heartbreak that wardens had to face when their child died and was buried on the island.

The initial spark for my interest in teaching

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My interest in becoming a teacher first began at primary school. Here I saw great teachers inspiring me to learn and encourage me to reach my full potential. As I passed through high school I was given the opportunity to go out 1 day per week to a local school and assist the children during their day. I enjoyed this so much that I went on to do an access course to childcare and was given 2 placements. These were in a school, nursery and baby room setting and they gave me a whole new perspective on teaching, having previously been the pupil!

My main reason for wanting to be a qualified teacher is that I have saw both the challenges and the delights of working with children. There is no denying the fact that the job is both exhausting and demanding, but it is also extremely pleasing to know that my input will improve children’s education, general confidence and happiness. This alone has made me want to be a teacher. I also get satisfaction from seeing the children feel proud of work that they have done, whilst enjoying themselves.

I also wanted to become a teacher because I believe I have a good skill set which is required to be a teacher –  I have a caring personality, I am confident, organised and have good work ethic. These skills were used and strengthened by my role as Student Rep at college. Here I listened to other students ideas to try understand their views about issues. I was dealing with people’s problems and working with other staff to try and get issues resolved. This is like working in a school, where you must work as a team to get effective results. Also, from working in a shop I feel that I have built up good communication skills – I am serving and dealing with customers and with the aim of giving them a positive experience within the shop.

Once qualified (or, IF (!!!) I survive the 4 years!) I hope to become one of the teachers within the community that is viewed as an excellent teacher, and one that both the children and parents are excited to have as an educator for the academic year. I hope that my role as a teacher will make learning fun, fresh and interactive for the children, aiming to get away from many of the old school teaching styles which can often still be found within schools.