Category Archives: 1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment

Thinking About the Values Workshop – Week 1

During my first workshop with Lina on Tuesday we were spit into 4 groups. She handed each table a large envelope and we were instructed not to open them until we heard the instructions. We were told we had to come up with something that would help new students at the University of Dundee.

We then got 10 minutes to look at the items we had and come up with an idea. My table never noticed that other groups had any different materials as we were focussed on the task and were discussing what we could make.

We then all came back to listen to Lina who then instructed us to make our idea. Once created, we had to present our model. We had made a ‘Student Survival Gude’ as we had a few bits of paper that came in handy to make a booklet.

When all of the groups were presenting their models, I realised that each table had different materials but as each table was different, I thought it had been done on purpose and nobody else in the class had questioned it.

After each group had presented, Lina gave everyone a mark out of 10. It was here that we realised that the groups with the ‘better’ materials were gaining higher marks. In comparison to the other groups, I would say we were in the middle, we did not have the best materials but we certainly did not have the worst.

Lina then asked how these marks made us feel and there were a few comments made about how we could not complete the task to a high standard as we did not have the same equipment but each group did say that they all felt proud with what they had made as some groups did have the bare minimum and had done well considering.

Lina then explained to us why this task had been put in place. I think many of the people in our class were too polite and too nervous to say anything about the differences in materials however Lina explained that this was something she wanted to point out to us. If you believe something is wrong, speak up as it will never change if you don’t.

We then put this into a classroom environment and spoke as a class about being a teacher and having children in your class that are given a homework task of making a rocket at home. When this is due, some children may come in with a huge fancy replica and other may come in with something as simple as a toilet paper tube and some paper. However, we should not discriminate as each child has worked hard and it is not fair that some may have better resources than others.

To reflect, the praise that Lina gave the other group with the better materials, would make a child feel very unworthy if this was in a class and is not how a teacher should act at all.

In reference to the 4 areas of the GTCS SPR under section 1, it is important we have: social justice, to ensure everyone is treated the same and we follow the correct policies to make sure of this; integrity, by ‘critically examining personal and professional attitudes and beliefs and challenging assumptions and professional practice’ to make sure that if we don’t think something is correct, we speak up; trust and respect, to consider each person’s social and economic background and never judge them for this; and professional commitment; to adapt to all situations and work collaboratively with both within and out with the school community.

Starting Education to Become an Educator

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When asked, “what do you want to be when you’re older?” I said, “a ballerina of course!” However, that was not the path for me. I do not know who I was trying to kid, but I had two left feet so a career in dancing was thrown out of the window very quickly. From then on I had no idea what I wanted to do. My dream had been crushed. Then, I began to learn the violin.

Now, this was something I loved but my parents hated at the beginning. The sound that I made was definitely not pleasant but when a specific violin instructor entered my life, this all seemed to change. She gave me the push I needed to believe in myself and she was there to pick me up when I fell. Going through the years in school, I gradually gained more and more respect for this woman. I saw how she had to adapt to each individual pupil and put up with our moaning each week as none of us wanted to play that one scale we had already played 30 times and got wrong every time. As I reached the senior years in school I decided I wanted to become Mrs Green. I wanted to go off to the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and become a music teacher. This all then changed when I got the chance to go into a primary school and see how an “Aspire Dundee” class was led. It was here that I realised that high school children were not for me.

Seeing the delight on the primary school children’s faces as they picked up an instrument for the first time was really something amazing. The smile that crossed their faces when they managed to play their very first note was something I will never forget. It was here that I realised I wanted to become a primary teacher and be able to experience moments like this every day in the classroom.

After school, I went to college to complete the HNC course where I spent two days a week, every week in a primary school. This experience allowed me to realise that this is the pathway I wanted to take. Through this course, I widened my knowledge of the skills needed to becoming a teacher. Not only do you need the basics such as: commitment, being punctual and being respectful, you also need to have the ability to adapt in a short space of time and be able to evaluate your own practice.

It was after this, that I realised that this is what I want to study and graduate in.