It is important that as student teachers, we acknowledge the fact that learning continues all the way through life. We share with others what we’ve learnt through life experiences, and gain knowledge by working with the people around us. Practitioner enquiry is a skill that is developed through the observation of others, reflection, taking a step back and looking for areas in need of development, the constant self-assessment and learning from mistakes. The latter I am still working on to improve. This is my third attempt at writing this blog post as I forgot to save it the first two times, clearly not taking the time to reflect and learn from previous errors.
In order to be a successful enquiry practitioner, we as teachers, should always looking for areas of improvement, to further our own personal knowledge. We need to develop our investigation skills, the way we look at things, and continually question our beliefs and our practices. Almost like the infamous question that most teachers and parents are familiar with, “but why?”. These skills should also be used in the classroom when observing children, and understand behaviour, learning development and attitudes.
As student teachers, we already have accumulated a set of skills, and knowledge that will enable us in the classroom, to deliver children an education. However, to be an effective enquiry practitioner, we need to be able to seek out our ‘flaws’. To be successful, it’s required that sometimes we may need to take a step back, and really look at how we’re teaching, and whether or not we are delivering our pupils the best education possible. The worry is, that after teaching for many years, we may become ‘set in our ways’ with regards to teaching styles, and methods, and forget how to be open minded and reflect. This is why working collegiately in groups, with colleagues and peers can have such a positive impact on your development as an enquiring practitioner.
Observing other teachers in the work place can be so beneficial in our own understanding as a teacher. Opening our minds to new and different ideas will provide us with a different perspective, and so many opportunities in terms of teaching, and our own personal learning. This will also give us an insight to techniques and methods that aren’t as effective, and should guide us towards what work well in the classroom and what doesn’t. We are committing ourselves a life style where we will continue to learn. With the use of practitioner enquiry, we will be able to easily identify areas needing improvement, but also what is working well.
