Category Archives: My educational philosophy

Giving and receiving feedback.

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I really enjoyed giving and receiving feedback on the enquiring practitioner tutor directed task. Looking at other people’s thoughts helped me to develop an understanding of what it is to be an enquiring practitioner.

Receiving feedback on my post was something that I found really useful. I was interested to read the feedback I received to see what people thought of my post and to see what I had done well or what I could possibly improve on. It allowed me to look at my work more critically to see where I had gone wrong.

I really enjoyed giving feedback on my colleague’s posts because it gave me a chance to see other people’s viewpoints and see if we had different ideas or if we were similar in our thoughts. Giving feedback was something that I wasn’t used to doing, so at first I wasn’t sure what I should write on other people’s posts. But after looking at other people’s comments on post I began to understand what I should do. I enjoyed being able to tell people what they had done well. However, I did find it difficult to tell people how they could improve on their post.

What does being an enquiring practitioner mean?

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From reading the general teaching for Scotland’s website, to me, an enquiring practitioner is someone who is looking to gain more knowledge and share it with others through collaborative working.  I believe enquiring practice is something that can be carried out as an individual or collaboratively.

Benefits of being an enquiring practitioner:

  • Allows teachers to look at how they teach more critically and challenges them to find ways in which they can improve.
  • When working collaboratively, a benefit is that each person can bring a different viewpoint to whatever is being discussed and can help you look at things in new ways.
  • Another benefit is that through being an enquiring practitioner you could help develop the curriculum with your peers.
  • Allows to teachers to question practices that they may not have questioned before.

Disadvantages of an enquiring practitioner: 

  • Stoll claimed that enquiry is “situationally unique” (2003) meaning that what works for one school, may not work in every school.
  • when working collaboratively, possible disadvantages include, disagreements, someone not contributing, differences in learning and teaching styles.

In conclusion, as student teachers, I believe that being an enquiring practitioner is going to be crucial for us in order to keep improving and learning. We must not just rely on our lectures for the information we need, we must seek it ourselves.

5 key attributes for a teacher to have

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As part of an input on professionalism, we were asked to choose from a list of thirteen, five terms and think about their importance for a teacher.

The first attribute I chose to reflect on is respect. Within the classroom, respect is crucial for both the teacher and students. In my opinion, it is a two-way street and if teachers do not show respect to their pupils, how can they expect to be respected? Showing respect can help to form a more positive relationship with your pupils, which is crucial if they are to excel at school.  As a teacher, it is essential to acknowledge and respect the fact that every child is different.

Another vital attribute for a teacher is patience. Nowadays, the world is such a busy place and things are expected to be done straight away. The same should not be expected in a classroom. A good teacher will acknowledge that all children do not learn at the same speed, therefore patience is an important attribute for a teacher to possess. As a teacher, your patience is going to be tested on a day to day basis, from pupils talking during lessons or not doing as they’re told and if you do not have patience it could result in you taking out your anger on pupils and promoting a negative energy in the classroom.

Fairness is hugely important in the profession of teaching. Every child must be viewed equally. As a teacher, you cannot have favourites or even give the impression to your pupils that you have favourites. It can lead to tensions among the pupils and it can be detrimental to the morale of the class. Treat each pupil the same, never make a child feel like he or she isn’t important to you.

I believe self-control is a necessary attribute in being a teacher. As a teacher, you need to be in control of your emotions and it’s crucial you have the self- control to leave your problems outside the classroom. When you enter the classroom, your main priority is your pupils and you cannot let whatever other problems you have effect how you teach or treat your pupils.

I think that sometimes pupils forget that teachers are humans too, so I believe that it’s crucial to have compassion as a teacher. It shows the pupils that you can relate to them if they’re having a bad day and hopefully it will encourage them to talk to you if they feel they need to talk to someone.

 

why do I want to be a teacher?

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When I look back on my life, it’s hard to pin-point a particular moment when I thought “I want to be a teacher.” As far as I can remember, teaching is what I have always wanted to do. Teaching is a profession that runs in my family. My parents and several relatives are teachers, while my sister is also studying to become a primary school teacher. School is an environment that I have always enjoyed and I always really liked my teachers. There was one teacher in particular who inspired me to want to become a teacher. He taught me in primary five and I still remember some of his classes because he had such an impact on me. I can say, without a doubt, that he is one of the main reasons that I wanted to become a teacher. My work experience in upper sixth in a primary school solidified the idea of becoming a teacher. I was only in the school for two days but I loved every second of it. I loved the idea that I could help the children learn new things and develop as people both socially and academically, for me, that’s the reason I want to be a teacher.

For me the teachers I have always liked the most are the ones who I feel comfortable in approaching. That is how I want to be seen, I want the children who I teach to be able to talk to me about anything without being afraid, even if it is just asking for help with a maths problem or talking about how their day is going. The most important thing for me is that children will not dread coming in to my class on a Monday morning. I want to become a teacher who makes learning fun, through interactive activities such as art, sport and music. If I can be that teacher after four years at university, then one day, hopefully I can be somebody’s favourite teacher.