Category Archives: 1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment

Social media.

Social media can be a touchy subject when it comes to the profession of teaching. Everyone undoubtedly these days is on some form of social media whether it be Facebook, twitter, Instagram etc. it has had a very positive impact on the world, and the lives that we live today. There are many great things that we can do with social media and the internet, and now most of us can’t imagine our lives without them. However when it comes to teaching and social media, there can be a dark side to it.

Most children these days also have access to social media and usually are up to date with the latest technology. Personally from experience with my younger siblings, it fascinates me how much more children as young as 7 know about technology compared to me at 17. Children can often end up in a section on social media they are not supposed to be on. For example, they may be watching a video on YouTube and click on one of the suggested videos, which may be completely inappropriate for a child to be watching. This can also come in to effect, especially when a child reaches upper school ages, that they have a tendency to ‘google’ if you like, their teachers. We are all guilty of it. I can recall from being in high school, a group of us searching for some of our teachers on social media although I cannot think if a valid reason as to why we were doing so. Therefore it is our duties as teachers to be very careful with our social media sites and what we are posting on the online world.

The first steps that I feel are crucial when it comes to the profession of teaching and social media, is that we ensure all our profiles are private and only accessible to our friends only. Although it may seem very restrictive, if teaching is truly what we want to do with our lives, then it should be something we should be willing to sacrifice. We need to think twice before posting online, especially if we are teaching within our own community in which we may be friends with any pupils’ parents. A major thing that we need to be careful with is photographs of ourselves that are posted online. Our professionalism also exists the classroom with us when we leave. We need to make sure that no one is uploading or we ourselves are not uploading any type of photo that may get us in any kind of trouble or put our job at risk. With social media, it can have a huge impact on our careers, and it can have multiple consequences if we are not careful, thus we need to be very critical with ourselves and how we portray ourselves on the online world.

This being said I also do think that social media is a great asset to the teaching community. As teachers we can set up separate accounts to engage with our students online, in a fun and engaging way. Social media is something that is constantly developing in the word, and something that is not going to go away, thus we should be engaging with it within a classroom. It is most common that negative connotations spring to mind when speaking about the subject of social media and the teaching profession. Although this is something we need to explore in to and steer more towards the positives and begin to realize the many benefits social media possess to us as teachers.

After doing a bit of research in to social media and the classroom, I came across this video, and I found it really interesting in demonstrating the positives of using social media within a classroom and the benefits children get from using it in their learning.

https://youtu.be/riZStaz8Rno

self-esteem

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Self-esteem is something that in life, makes us who we are. Some people have a really high self-esteem where as others, struggle with their self-esteem. Self-esteem itself, is a person’s own emotional evaluation of their own worth. It is their confidence within themselves and also their attitude towards themselves.

Self-esteem is something that as student teachers, we really need to think about. For us as teachers, we need to make sure we have a lot of self-esteem to portray it to our pupils. We need to be confident in our work and with ourselves to demonstrate a good example to our students. If we can do this then our students will notice and will perhaps begin to see the importance with having a good self-esteem.

Having a healthy self-esteem.

There are many things that having good confidence within yourself has proven to have effect on. For example, people with high self-esteem when going through a bad time in their life, are more likely to come through that stage easier compared to those with a low self-esteem. People with high self-esteem are also more likely to achieve things successfully that they may have felt slightly apprehensive about trying, for example stepping out-with their comfort zone. Having a high self-esteem can also impact a person’s academics, as a person is more likely to do better with their work if they are confident in themselves, compared to someone who is not confident in themselves. This shows the importance of having a healthy self-esteem, and shows us as teachers, how vital it is that we pay attention to children and their self-esteem.

Having a low self-esteem.

It is also proven that having a low self-esteem can cookie_low_self_esteem_2 have an effect on you and the person that you are. People with low self-esteem think badly on themselves and also think that others also think badly of them. This can impact a person dramatically, and can also eventually impact ones health in more serious cases. People with low self-esteem, although maybe not on purpose, are often very negative people. This may only be the case with themselves, and not towards others, however it plays a dramatic part on their life. People with low self-esteem can often find it hard to concentrate on other things such as their school work. With this said, it clearly highlights the importance in our roles as teachers that we pay attention to a child’s self-esteem and that we try and help our students with their self-esteem.

As teachers we need to be careful with a lot of our methods as they may have an impact on a child’s self-esteem and how they value themselves. One of the most important things we as teachers need to look at is our feedback to pupils. We cannot be constantly giving the same pupil the exact same feedback or even giving all the students the same feedback. If we are doing so the pupils will become confused and could start to doubt themselves. Also if we are giving all the children the same feedback they may begin to question whether or not they are doing well or if the teacher ‘is just saying that.’ Also if children are split into set ability groups, we need to be careful with the way we are teaching the two groups. If we begin to teach and act in a superior way with one group, we need to consider how the children in the other group are feeling and how that may impact the way they view themselves. Separate groups for learning can have a huge impact on a child’s self-confidence and can dramatically knock a child’s confidence down. However it also works the other way. It simply would not be fair to children who excel in certain subjects to not have separate groups, as the children may not realise that they are excelling compared to if they are aware of it, they will grow a sort of good confidence in themselves. It is also important that we do not always spend a little extra time with certain students or are constantly picking the same students to answer questions, hand out recourses or to go on messages. Even though these are very simple things, they are things that children will notice, and if they are not one of those kids, then it will have an effect on them and how they view themselves.

Self-esteem overall is something that we as teachers need to value with every child. Every child that we come across will be very different, and we need to be prepared to work with each of these children and be prepared for any challenges that we may be faced with. As teachers, it is vital that we pay attention to each child and try to make an attempt to have a positive impact on each child that we work with self-esteem.

The SPR part one.

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Social justice;

* Embracing locally and globally the educational and social values of sustainability, equality and justice and recognising the rights and responsibilities of future as well as current generations.

When referring to sustainability, we should be thinking as teachers how we can actively engage a child to learn about sustainability in the world, for example, renewable sources of energy, recycling etc. Personally I feel as this is an issue which needs to be taught more in schools across the country as it is an issue that is never going to go away, until we do something about it. Therefore if we are educating children on these issues, in a fun engaging way, for example asking them to bring in old plastic bottles, cardboard boxes and showing them what can be done with them, then they will start to see the benefits for sorting out these issues and learning about them. Not only is this an important issue for us as a population but we need to start thinking about the upcoming generations. Thus if we are educating the generation in place at the moment, it will not only impact there future, but others futures too. When referring to equality, we as teachers should be educating children on multiple things. For example people from who come from different social backgrounds, from different cultures, who are different through gender, age and also through their sexuality. As teachers we need to ensure that we treat everyone fairly, as everyone in our classroom will be different. Then we will be promoting equality for everyone. We need to make sure children are aware of all types of different people, and also that they realise who they are too. Having equality in a classroom is vital, as it also brings a nicer environment for learning within the classroom for every student. Social justice is a term I have heard multiple times throughout my life, although I have never truly came to terms with what is actually meant by social justice. From my understanding so far, social justice is the belief that everyone has the right to equal social, economic and political rights and opportunities. Although I am not entirely sure how to relate social justice to a classroom environment and how I would go about teaching children it, it is an area in which I plan to do more research in to so that I get a more fulfilled understanding of it.

* Committing to the principles of democracy and social justice through fair, transparent, inclusive and sustainable policies and practices in relation to: age, disability, gender and gender identity, race, ethnicity, religion and belief and sexual orientation.

This second point, touches upon following school policies and rules. Although many schools across the country may have different rules for their students, I am certain that all schools agree that one of their main rules is that there is no discrimination within a classroom. I feel that in today’s society this is a vital rule to have within a classroom as everyone nowadays is so very different, thus as teachers we in no way can tell a student that their beliefs etc. are wrong! As a teacher, as previously stated, we should be educating children on equality, and if we able to demonstrate equality within our teaching, then children are likely to follow. If we as teachers come across any discrimination in a school, whether it be teachers or students, we need to ensure that we take the right actions in dealing with it immediately, to ensure that the issue is resolved as quickly as possible.

* Valuing as well as respecting social, cultural and ecological diversity and promoting the principles and practices of local and global citizenship for all learners.

Again following the other points, this point touches upon equality within classrooms. Also we should add for this point that as teachers we should be making sure that within the classroom everyone feels they are being treated equally and that they are conscious of that their classmates may be from different social backgrounds or cultures. This point also touches upon that we should be teaching children from a local and worldwide perspective. We need to be showing children that there is more to life than the classroom. For example, personally I feel that this is why we need to make more of an importance on things such as doing foreign exchange (not within primary schools, but upper schools) or doing things like setting up pen pals for primary students. They will get to see the world through someone else’s perspective which is a really important thing we should be allowing children to do. Even simple things like reading stories or watching videos about people from other cultures will help to educate a child on equality.

* Demonstrating a commitment to engaging learners in real world issues to enhance learning experiences and outcomes, and to encourage learning our way to a better future.

When looking back at primary school, I can never really recall learning anything about issues that were going on in world at the time. In a way I feel like I have missed out on something, thus I value the importance of teaching children about things happening in the world around them. We should be encouraging children to be watching the news, looking at newspapers, especially in today’s society when there is news shows such as Newsround, just for kids! It is important that children are educated in an honest manner on what is going on in the world around them. We should be encouraging children to engage with what they have learned about what is going on by asking them how that makes them feel or asking them to report back, and even simply encouraging them to ask questions about it and talk to one another about it.

* Respecting the rights of all learners as outlined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and their entitlement to be included in decisions regarding their learning experiences and have all aspects of their well-being developed and supported.

The last point of this section is pretty important within a classroom. As teachers we should be encouraging children to engage with their learning and express what they would like to learn or how they would like to learn. We can do this through very simple things such as giving them a few topics and asking them which one they would be most interested in, asking them to select their own reading book to write a paragraph on why they enjoyed it or did not enjoy it, or even simply asking them to do a vote, on what subject they would perhaps like to look in to first thing on a Monday morning. If children are doing what they want, then they are more likely to engage with the task at hand, and learn something valuable from it.

Professionalism tdt;

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Patience. For teachers, patience is key. It is the ability to accept delay, trouble or suffering without becoming angry of upset, something that teachers must have. As a teacher, we may not always know the background of the student or what their home life is like, and it things like this, that may affect a child’s behavior in a classroom. Therefore we must be patient when it comes to a child’s behavior and not be too quick in becoming annoyed or upset.

Empathy. This is the ability to understand and share the feelings of someone else. It can be quite a challenging skill to have, although every child is different, thus every child has different feelings. As teachers, we should be a person who a child feels they can come and speak to about anything, so we should be understanding for them and easy for them to discuss any issues with. Therefore empathy is a key ability to have as a teacher.

Self control. Personally I feel that this is one of the key abilities that a teacher must have. it is the ability to control your emotions, behavior and desires. If someone does something to annoy you, it can be very easy to loose your temper, although this is not something that you can do in front of a class full of young students. As teachers we need to be able to control ourselves, so that children are able to look up to us and respect us.

Respect. We as teachers want to gain the childrens respect, and the obvious way for us to do that, is to respect them. We can not demand respect if we show none. Respect is a feeling of admiration for some one else because of their qualities or achievements. Children will come in to classrooms with all different sorts of qualities and achievements, thus we need to learn to value and respect all different sorts of children, as children are all different. If we want to gain their respect, we must show ours.

Fairness. Coming back to the idea that every child is different, as teachers it is crucial that we treat all children the same. No child is above or below another. It is the act of treating people equally, and a classroom must be an equal environment in which kids are aware of that also. There should not be one child who feels that they are in any way below another child, and as teachers, it is our responsibility to create that environment.

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.