Author Archives: Kirstie Grant

Values concerning The Teaching Profession

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Just like in any profession there comes the need for values that need to be met and constantly reviewed. This idea to behave or act in a certain manner in which is appropriate to your specific discipline. It is important that I make myself fully aware of the values in the teaching profession if I am to become a future teacher myself.

The values present in the teaching profession are far too vast to be able to explain in depth why they are all individually important. However having considered a large number of these values I have chosen five to discuss that I feel play an integral role in this discipline.

Patience

Patience should come second nature to a teacher for many reasons:

  • When lesson plans don’t go to accordingly you may have to adapt and compromise.
  • You class will be full of children with different abilities so you will have to persevere and overcome barriers you may have to face.
  • Taking into account of different learning abilities, the children will in return grasp the teaching points at different times so you have to be patient and help the ones that are in need.
  • Class tasks aside you will require patience when working in the school itself whether its with other teaching staff or parents who may try to challenge you over decisions you make concerning their child’s education.

Tolerance

Tolerance very much interlinks with the value I have just discussed above, it is vital in the teaching world for very similar reasons:

  • Just like being faced with children with different learning abilities/needs you are also going to be challenged with their own opinions and questions. Some of these you might agree with and want to therefore promote in your lessons and some of which you may not fully agree with. However as a professional you need to appear very non biased in your way of thinking so that it does not influence their development.
  • An example of this may be certain lessons you are having to deal with regarding the religious side of the curriculum. This approach of appearing very neutral in your thought process is crucial. Children in your class are going to have come from different religious backgrounds and in order to make the other children aware of these backgrounds it is essential that you educate them only on the facts of each religion rather than forcing one in particular on them.
  • Classroom aside, teachers need a great amount of tolerance when dealing with other members involved within a school, especially parents. For example commitments such as parents nights can sometimes cause disputes between a parents opinion of their child compared to a teachers viewpoint. They may not like to hear constructive feedback of areas their child could develop in. Therefore you need to tolerate their side of the dispute and word it in such a way that you can always back up the conclusion that you have come to, from such things as pieces of work or attainment record sheets.

Fairness

  • Something which is often the case amongst teachers is assumptions, they are often made without realising it, regarding the children in their class. These assumptions are often based upon factors such as the child’s background, their language bracket and the way their appear at school. As a professional this is completely forbidden, you have to be very fair as a teacher and treat every child/colleague/parent as an equal and be very open minded when working with them.
  • As a teacher you need to be aware of every individual in your class and flag up any problems that may arise amongst them. Such problems may require further action, as a professional you need to distinguish the area of work that may need to step in to help. It would only be an injustice to your pupils that you are essentially responsible for if you did not look at them in an holistic approach and cater to all their needs.

Respect

  • Working in any establishment, there comes a degree of respect needed. In a school there is no difference, there are different contributors within a school ranging from support staff to parent helpers. But the main shared goal within a school is the well-being of the children, this is reinforced through the approach of GIRFEC. This idea of everyone within a school working collaboratively in order to achieve the best towards the development of the children present. Therefore this need for respect concerns many areas such as being able to cooperate successfully with everyone, be open minded, listen to others, build a trusting community and all share the main ethos of the school itself.
  • Respect also needs to be present throughout the teaching practices within a school. Often a school has a vision statement or set in stone aims. This requires teachers to create and plan certain lessons to promote this so that the school can have a wholesome community feel where everyone is working together to achieve the same outcomes.

Compassion

  • In the teaching profession as like in many others there needs to be a great deal of compassion felt. I think this feeling of passion towards your chosen discipline really rubs off on other colleagues or in this instance the pupils in which the teacher is in contact with. If you have this love for you profession then I feel like you can engage with it further and go that extra mile. This approach of making lessons more exciting or promoting new ways of learning that perhaps haven’t even been considered by someone who only does enough for their practices and no more.
  • I know myself as a pupil back at school I enjoyed going to the subjects that the teacher showed an extent of compassion for. They were as a result more upbeat which really made an impact on my development as I wanted to do well.

Basic Academic Skills

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One of my main fears about this course has definitely become the academic side of it regarding grammar and punctuation. It is not the feeling of I can’t physically do it but more the task in hand of reminding myself about all the grammar ‘rules’ and punctuation ‘codes’. As someone who has been away from education for a few years now I certainly feel a bit rusty. The different uses for commas for example, which could result in what you are trying to write meaning the complete opposite.

I have found ‘The Study Skills Book’ a great help, by just reading the specific extracts relating to grammar and punctuation it has forced me to take a more active approach to my learning. This required me to make a list of areas where I feel completely out my depth in, from this I have looked at the different places where you can get more help, so that I can practice until I feel confident in them. Due to this fear I also made a separate list of areas where I still feel strong in to give me a little boost and keep me motivated with this side of the course.

My next step regarding my academic skills will be to ensure that I am regularly carrying out the OLA’S, in particular the English one. I have yet to attempt it as I am apprehensive of how I will do but I need to get over this barrier or else I will never be able to develop and build on my weak areas properly.

My understanding of Reflection

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Reflection is a daily aspect of our lives whether we are fully aware we are doing it or not. This general idea of thoughts or consideration concerning a certain topic or a certain past experience that we have underwent. There are different types of reflection some in more formal circumstances where we have to be more critical in our thoughts and some more informal regarding how we simply feel about something.

Reflection is so much more than just thinking back about a past experience and remembering how you felt in that moment or following through the certain steps you took to get somewhere or achieve something. Especially in the profession that I am entering I believe that reflection plays a vital role for both the teacher and the pupil.

A teacher can reflect on circumstances in a more critical way for example lessons that you may have taught, you can reflect back on your planing and they way your lesson actually went in relation to this plan. This analyse can really highlight the points that worked well and the points which didn’t seem to go as smoothly. Therefore this use of evaluation can set you up for future lessons and act as a guidance tool. It can also act as a great confidence boost as you can gather up all this information and be sure with what your future steps should be and what things you want to stay the same and therefore build on your repertoire.

Likewise a child can use reflection in their daily life especially when it comes to taking charge of their own learning Much like a teacher a child can take responsibility for what they felt they did well and what they feel are their weak areas and want to in time improve on. This will allow them to engage more with their work and their understanding of where they perhaps went wrong. A great task that schools use commonly is the approach of ‘two stars and a wish’. This idea that after carrying out a piece of work or dealing with learning points they have to state two things they felt they did well or went well in general. Followed by a wish which entails an area that they want to improve on. This acts as an informal way of critical thinking. It is getting them to acknowledge their strong points but then making them go that one bit further in identifying areas that they need to develop in, which will get them thinking about future goals.

Taking all of this into account reflection is just as important than anything else we do in our day to day lives. As a firm believer in; you learn from past experiences and the actual doing of something. I feel that it is always important to cement what you already know and then work and plan from that.

Co-operative Working

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There are many advantages in my eyes regarding Co-operative working; working as a team or a group to achieve a shared end goal or quite simply understand or engage with learning itself. Working alongside others acts as a great support system to build confidence either within your own ideas or for you to help other individuals develop and reassure them on their proposed ideas. I know for myself as an individual I tend to lack confidence when it comes to my own work. So this reassurance and support from group members whether it is a positive comment about what I am suggesting or someone coming up with a similar idea just allows me to know that I am on the right line of thought.

What is great about working in a group is you are surrounded by different individuals who bring different ideas and diverse ways of thinking. Therefore you are forced to think outside the box and see things from different angles which I never think is a bad thing. Especially in the profession that I am entering where there will be ongoing changes to the curriculum and the way lessons can be taught and the way in which you teach them to different individuals.

I also think that working together brings on your academic development as you are constantly hearing opinions being discussed and ideas being vocalised. You will be able to pick up on useful phrases that you can later use too enhance you own work or simply share research you have found or useful resources to bring more depth to your understanding and learning.

Alongside these positive points about working as a group there are many drawbacks also. An example of these could be every individual may not take responsibility and contribute as much as others which can become very frustrating and bring an ill feeling to the group dynamic. On the other hand you might get people who take too much control and become very dominating which will result in this feeling of everybody being equal in the group being lost. There needs to be shared respect amongst everyone however some people can become very ignorant in their way of thinking and not take on board the role of listening to everybody’s view and not remaining open minded that other’s views have value even if you do not agree with the individuals opinion.

In every group there needs to be set out rules and conditions in how you would like to work collaboratively. There are bound to be ups and downs but as a whole I think that if you are using the ups to your advantage and reflecting on the low points or barriers that you had to face and knowing how to overcome them in similar future situations then this practice can be successful and very effective.

Benefits of Active Learning

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I personally am a big fan of the concept of Active Learning, this idea of taking a mature approach to engage with your learning. I have always felt that sitting in class whether it was at school or in a lecture now at University is clearly not enough. I have to take in what is being taught and then go home and put in the extra work to get down to the bottom of the subject in hand and why we are learning about it. I have always been told that I question everything or I am known as the one that always asks why. This is because I like to know why we have to do something and the purpose of it in order to stay motivated and therefore focused on completing the task in hand.

Staying active in your learning by carrying out related activities is vital to stay positive in your line of work, and in the long run develop on your ability at a skill or promote attainment. As mentioned above staying active with my learning keeps me focused and also gives me a sense of worth as I am stepping up and taking control of my own work/learning.This control requires me to be very disciplined with my time away from lectures and workshops in the form of managing my time carefully.

Such tasks which help me engage with my learning at University include:

  • Colour coordinating my work so that I know exactly what lectures relate to each other so I can see a development in them and stay motivated to where the learning is going.
  • I like to come away from lectures and type up the notes along with getting on with the reading required straight away whilst it is all still fresh in my mind and I can completely relate to what is being discussed.
  • I am a very visual person so I make word clouds at every opportunity to get my head around the new lingo that we are learning about and which i may need to engage with one day in my chosen profession.
  • I also use my favourite coloured pens to record some of the topics that I am either struggling with or becoming a bit disheartened with to almost act as a positive mental stimulus to try and change this negative opinion on.

Overall I think that active learning occurs in some shape or form in everybody’s day to day life and I am a firm believer in the thought process of ‘you get out what you put in.’

Social Media and the struggle between the Personal and Professional world

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Social media is now the main form by which we find out what is happening in the world, it’s the way people share their thoughts, look for guidance or advice from friends, share their ideas and gain creativity or simply find out how to get by in day to day tasks. It has many advantages as just mentioned however there is also a great stigma surrounding social media.

There is a consensus that the older generation are very opposed to using social media perhaps because they are not as educated with it or not in the habit of using it on a daily basis. The continuous coverage of the negative uses of social media may also add to this view point regarding inappropriate use of personal sites by professional individuals or the issue of cyber bullying amongst youngsters is also a huge talking point.

This goes on nicely to discuss can you really differentiate the use of social media between the personal and professional world. As a twenty-three year I use social media on a daily basis and have done for many years, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat are amongst a few. I find them a great way to stay in touch with friends who have moved away to live at University much like myself this year it allows me to stay in the loop of what is going on back home. I also use it as a guilty pleasure to keep up to date with the so called Celeb world. By following celebrities on twitter you are able to keep up with the latest trends and on goings. Even as someone who enjoys social media and favours it there are still parts of it which I don’t like and i can sympathise with this stigma felt by many. I think some people use it as a shield to hide behind when venting their frustrations concerning their jobs or feelings towards others.  This impulse reaction of how they are feeling at that very moment in time is then up for the rest of the world to see and saved in the online universe as it were, this sadly could result in consequences in their future career paths and opportunities.

The way in which I use social media sites will definitely differ ever so slightly due to now progressing into the respectful profession of teaching. I think that in any discipline of work that deals with communities of people you have to be very aware of what you are sharing or posting. With this professional role that you are carrying out comes a lot of responsibility and values to be met. You should appear diplomatic and PG and be able to account for everything that has your stamp on it no matter the topic you are discussing. Saying this I am not insinuating that you can’t challenge others views or have an opinion yourself but you should always ask yourself what is the purpose of posting this blog/status and can I back it up in an appropriate manner.

If social media is treated in this way I believe and favour the use of it within the professional world. Especially within the area of work I am entering, I feel that it is an excellent way of stimulating children’s education. So may schools now a days have a Twitter page to highlight the school’s attainment this allows parents to gain immediate feedback about what their children are doing and highlights positive behaviour and achievement amongst individuals or class groups. It can also act as a great way in which schools or communities can share their practices and spark new ideas in organisations who are maybe lacking creativity and wanting to change things up a little. I think it sparks up communication and discussion amongst teachers and educators of all stages and is a great way in connecting different schools from all around the world. I only hope that it escalates in a positive way to benefit children’s experiences throughout their school life.

Online Unit – Managing my learning

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Recognition/Reflection Action
What helps my learning?

 

 How can I utilize this?
 I am a very visual learning and it helps if i take an active approach o my learning.  I am going to start printing off my lecture power point slides before class so that i can physically write notes on the slides and be more engaged with the information being taught during the lecture.
 Feeling supported at all times.  I am going to make use of the workshops offered during the week of the 19th October having been away from education from a few years i know the workshops in essay writing and referencing will be hugely beneficial.
 Being organised and planning ahead.  As i work through each lecture i am keeping a note of any extra reading i do highlighting facts i can use as references later on so that when it comes to writing my assignments i don’t feel bombarded with the workload.

Having the assignment titles at this early stage i am already making up essay plans so i can add to them gradually over the first semester so i do not forget to add any information from early lectures in.

 

 

 

Recognition/Reflection Action
What hinders my learning?

 

 How can I address this factors?
 I struggle to stay on task at times.  I am going to try and read up on lecture slides before class so that i can pick up on the main points about to be discussed so that i can take relevant notes relating to what i consider links with the main points and i don’t go off into a tangent.
 I am easily distracted.  Take time alone to study myself in quiet area so that i can fully concentrate and make best use of my time.
 self discipline  I am making a conscious effort to make myself attempt the online Maths and English assessment weekly. I know because it is not necessarily compulsory I might become complacent and put off doing them on a regular basis.

My experience growing up concerning Gender

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Growing up I was never fully aware of why there was a divide regarding different genders I just accepted that this was the norm.

Right from the word go there were clear divides among boys and girls in my classes from what line you stood in to how you spent your free time at break and lunch. Girls would tend to play imaginary games which would challenge their creativity as opposed to boys who would stick to very hands on sports like football. There was a similar divide in which the behaviour at school was dealt with boys tended to get a harder time when it came to disciplinary procedures. For whatever reason if a girl misbehaved it would be dealt with in a more discreet manner compared to a boy getting punished in the form of losing Golden Time.

As I progressed through school this split between genders remained apparent this time reflecting in what each wanted to pursue as a career. For example girls were more likely to chose arty subjects or domesticated ones such as cooking or textiles and boys were more interested in the sporty subjects as well as Craft and Woodwork.

I am now aware that the old fashioned stereotype view played a huge part in this of how it was appropriate for women and men to behave in a certain manner and perform specific tasks. However I do believe there has been great efforts to shift away from this .

The beginning of my journey…

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My progression into this discipline which I have chosen to study and hopefully succeed into one day has been influenced by many factors and people. From an early age I have been confident that I want to enter a profession which works alongside children and as I have grown up and matured the path to this career has become more straight forward in what I need to do.

My previous career choice played an essential role in picking the Education course that I am about to undertake. I studied Professional Stage Dance at Edinburgh College where I had a strict routine of training for three years straight. This also included multiple placement opportunities at different establishments and a clear insight into the world I want to enter thus being Primary Education. This previous study took the form of helping children of all abilities in terms of having little or no background in dance or even movement as opposed to others having varied levels of training in some disciplines of dance. Within these placements I was able to work alongside peers and help the children discover who they are as individuals, help them to build confidence and develop their own identity all through the simple method of movement. This realization that small actions by myself could make such a major impact on a child’s thought progress was the consolidation I needed to confirm my present career path.

I chose to develop on this process and contacted a local Primary school to undergo placement one day a week to get the feel of the 9-3 day whilst being challenged by a class. I was able to assist a Primary two teacher every Tuesday in which I was given the role to assist her in day to day tasks or take a small group and oversee them carry out individual tasks. It was then I had the feeling that I belonged in this discipline and I could only dream of having this as a job one day.

When looking into the bright future that hopefully lies in front of me i often think how i want to come across as a teacher and how my pupils will view me. There is one quote that really stays stuck in my head which i know i will carry forward into the teaching profession which was used in an Assembly once when i was a pupil myself.

‘A child may forget what you taught them but they will always remember how you made them feel.’

This whole idea of not what you are teaching children (which of course goes without saying) but the way you are teaching them is what i want to utilize  so that i am able to connect with them and ensure that they are reaching their full potential so that they can move forward as young learners and feel confident in whatever they want to do.