Did gender have an effect on your education as a child?

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Going through primary school, I can not think of any circumstances in which gender played an effect on my education, Although what I do remember form primary school, is that the teachers were often very stereotypical. Anything that involved carrying a heavy item from one place to another, it was always a boy that was chosen to do it, never a girl, as we were seen as too weak to carry things. Then there was tasks that involved responsibility and required the person carrying out the task to be responsible, for example, delivering notes to teachers. This type of task, girls would always be chosen as boys were seen as unreliable, and would not get the job done. Although these are very simple stereotypes, I feel very strongly that we as future teachers, need to try and make an improvement. If we as grown ups are telling children, your too weak for this, you are too unreliable for this, what are they going to think about themselves. It is a very minor issue, however something that needs to be looked at seriously, and changed for the better.

Why am I here?

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So why is it that I am here, studying education at The University of Dundee? I have always been aware of how satisfying teaching is, growing up in a teaching environment. From being at school, to attending my aunties dance classes, five times a week, I was constantly surrounded by teachers. They all seemed so happy at their jobs, and I knew all I wanted to be, was happy. My mum then went on to have my three younger siblings, of whom I was a sort of ‘teacher,’ if you like to them. They followed my every move, done what ever I done, and they looked up to me. It has been such a satisfying experience so far having three younger siblings who look up to me, who think the world of me, and I know that this is a feeling that I never want to go away. From spending time with them, I have began to notice that they are constantly talking about their teachers, as they look up to them as well. Their teacher is the center of their world at times. I started to read some posts online from teachers, to try and get a real feel for the job. All i kept reading was how satisfying the job was, and how incredible it is, to be such a big impact on someones life.

Then came the all important time when I had to start applying for colleges and universities. I knew that i wanted to have a satisfying career, although the one though of ‘am i right for this’ kept going through my mind. I started volunteering at my local dance classes to see if I could experience the real satisfaction from being a teacher that every teacher seems to be raving about – and it happened. I was taking one of the students privately to help her with her dance, and she was continuously beating her self up if she could not remember what move came next. I suggested writing the dance down, or practicing at home. A few weeks later she came running in to the class bursting with joy as she had took my advice, and she done her dance perfectly. I then had that feeling of great satisfaction. It was such an incredible feeling that this young girl had done something I simply suggested she do, and got a great experience from it. From then on, I guess I just knew, and that this is why I am here.

For me, the kind of teacher I want to become, is one just like my primary five teacher. I have never had a teaching experience like the one she gave me. She made such a huge impact on me, and to this day I can still remember her classes. She is still my inspiration in the type of teacher I would like to be. She was outgoing, creative and knew exactly how to relate to children. My whole class loved her, and only know I can understand how good a feeling that must be, having such an impact on so many children’s lifes. I want to be that teacher, who children respect, talk about and are inspired by – the teacher that she was. I know that in ten years time, that if I am even half the teacher she is, I will have succeeded.