Five values which are important in the teaching profession…

I’ve chosen to consider five different values which I think a teacher should possess to develop as a successful professional. It was difficult to chose five specific values to discuss, but these are the ones which I thought were most important to me.

 

Patience

Have you ever watched the penny drop? Have you ever seen the look on a child’s face when they finally, truly, understand? I have and I believe that’s down to exercising a little patience. There is no greater feeling than working with a child to find a way to create a deeper understanding of a subject area they have been struggling with. We want all of our pupils to succeed in school and some pupils may need a little extra guidance to do so. Some pupils may not be able to learn a subject using the materials you have provided for the whole class, this is not a failing of the child and I feel as a professional you need to have a little patience and work out a way to facilitate each individual child and their learning. There is no greater feeling than knowing that you have taught something well, and there is no greater feeling for the child than truly enjoying their learning & understanding what is going on. I will always take the time to do this!

 

Respect

As professional teachers, we need to show respect in a variety of different areas of our work and personal life. Firstly, we need to respect our pupils and their individual differences to allow them to work and learn in an appropriate environment. We also need to exercise a considerable level of respect for parents and create a good relationship between the school and the family home. I feel this helps to keep everyone in the loop with what is going on with the child and prevents conflicts further down the line. And of course, we need to learn to respect our colleagues – those we work with from day to day as well as those that we are required to work with from time to time. This is particularly important when working collaboratively with other organisations such as social work, CLD, police, health care etc to provide the ideal setting and circumstance for the individual child at the centre of concerns.

 

Integrity

I chose this value because I think it’s really important to be honest about what you want to achieve in your role as a professional. What do you want to achieve for your pupils? What visions do you have for the school as a whole? What visions do you have for yourself and your future progression? By laying down your principles and ideas, you can have strong vision and work in the direction of achieving your goals based on what you value. By being honest with your pupils about your expectations of them and how they can achieve their own goals, you can cultivate an environment which promotes constant development. I think that when you have integrity to your own goals, you are much happier as a person – you know who you are and where you want to be. I would like to see that rub off on my own children in the classroom, to allow them to be honest about who they are and to design the future that they really want for themselves. Integrity is a hard one, and I’d like to address this further in the future as I gain practical experience in the work place.

 

Moral Courage

As I have stated in my previous blog posts, I think being a professional teacher is very much about creating a positive role model for young children. Therefore, I think it’s important to believe in yourself, your own morals and display a strong sense of self worth. I’ve always considered it to be important to stand for something and I’d definitely like to encourage my pupils to consider what they value and stand up for it too! As a teacher I think it’s important to be able to voice your opinions when you think something isn’t right. This is particularly important when dealing with the welfare of children, I think you should be able to confidently address your concerns if you feel that a child isn’t in the optimum settings for achieving their full potential. (GIRFEC idea)

 

Fairness

A teacher should always be fair. When I asked my little brother what he thought was the most important thing for a teacher to be, he said fair. I agree completely. It’s very easy to have a favourite, a teacher’s pet if you like but I think it’s important to consider all of your pupils in the same light. This way you can give them what they deserve in terms of teaching and allow them access to all they need to achieve their full potential.

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