Category Archives: edushare

1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment, 2.2 Education Systems & Prof. Responsibilities, edushare

Personal and professional presence on social media

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What challenges do teachers face when attempting to marry the personal versus professional presence on social media?

On social media, teachers may face challenges of coming across their pupils on popular sites. In this instance, teachers should ensure that their accounts are private so that no child/parent could access any of their personal details. On social media sites such as Twitter or Facebook, where many people give their opinion on current events, that they are professional and do not post anything that is inappropriate.

In my opinion, I would create separate accounts for professional and personal purposes in order to keep my personal life private and also to engage with issues that would relate to my professional life.

The GTCS has specific guidelines for social media and how to behave appropriately on social media. It is important to stick to these guidelines in order to be professional and to keep safe online.

 

How are the challenges/opportunities afforded by social media framed? How will you frame things – positive or deficit viewpoint?

Many of the older generation have a negative viewpoint of social media and believe that social media should not be involved in the classroom, as it may be distracting. In my classroom, I will use social media in a positive and fun way to create a variety of interesting lessons. It is important to educate children on the dangers they may face when using social media and show them how to keep themselves safe by using sites such as NSPCC and Share Aware.

 

2.2 Education Systems & Prof. Responsibilities, edushare

RSA Animate – Changing Education Paradigms

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I found this clip really interesting and really made me think about education in today’s society.

Sir Ken Robinson spoke about how our education system is still working the way it did in the past. It was designed for a different age and was conceived in the industrial revolution. He spoke about how there has always been the idea that there are academic and non academic people/ smart and non smart people, and that people who are non academic do not have the same self confidence to achieve. I agree with this as there are many people who have excellent skills in sport or the arts who can achieve so much with the skills they have, but may not receive the same encouragement from staff in school.

Robinson then goes on to speak about the rise of ADHD amongst children. Children are being given powerful drugs to keep them from being distracted.

“Getting children through education by anaesthetising them”

We live in a society where technology is all around us, and constantly holds our attention, yet children are getting told off for getting distracted from school work, which some may not be interested in. Robinson says that the rise in standardised testing has also seen the rise in ADHD.

Another point I found interesting was that schools are organised in the same way as factories. There are seperate facilities for boys and girls, a bell rings to signify different times and the children are put through school in “batches”. Children go through school based on their age group and not by academic ability. Why do we do this if some children are more academically gifted than others?

edushare, My educational philosophy

What made me choose teaching?

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I didn’t have to think too much, when everyone at school was deciding what they wanted to do as their careers. This is because I knew that I wanted to pursue a career in primary teaching since I was in primary school. I had such great admiration for all my teachers at school; it seemed that they taught us things that none of us had ever heard of before and filled our young minds with new and exciting information.  I feel that in primary school, the bond between a teacher and a pupil is so much greater than that of a secondary school teacher, mostly because they spend so much more time together and work with each other, all day, every day. This creates a nice atmosphere in the classroom amongst pupils. I hope that when i become a teacher, I can build positive relationships with all children, so that they feel that they can trust me.

In secondary school, I finished a week of work experience at a primary school and absolutely loved it. I was amazed at how committed and hard-working the staff were, and that they were always there before I arrived and didn’t leave until after I did – a very long day, I thought. I admired the different techniques that teachers used to teach and control the class, if they were being noisy or excited. I learned so much from observing the class, and learned that children will pay most of their attention to a new person in  the room; meaning that I never had a moment alone!

In the last few years, I’ve used a lot of my free time to go into primary schools to help in classes and gain more confidence and knowledge, when working in an educational setting. This really confirmed my decision of what I wanted to do as a career, as I felt that it was so rewarding to see the children in my classes develop and expand their knowledge, all thanks to the help and support from staff at the school.

I really look forward to continuing through the course, and for going out into placement to experience different school environments and work with new people!