Respect- I feel that there is a great importance that a teacher has to be respectful in their occupation. This has an important connection with being professional. As a teacher we have to respect that each child is an individual who have their own needs that we need to attend to. Also by giving each child respect it then allows the child to respect us back therefore having a positive connection with each other and creating a positive atmosphere within the classroom.

Patience- I feel there will be many times when teachers feel they are going to lose their patience. Patience means being able to keep calm in stressful situations. For example, if a child does not understand part of a lesson, no matter how many times we explain it we must remain patient. By doing this we can then think of other ways to teach the lesson to the child to ensure that they understand it. Another example may be if the classroom is very noisy and the children won’t settle down. Instead of shouting and getting angry, which can result in the situation becoming worse we can keep calm and patient. The children may then recognise you are wanting their attention.

Fairness- being fair mean that we treat everyone the same without favouring someone over another. This is crucial that as teachers we are fair throughout our profession. We need to treat every child the same. By doing so no child is left out and they all feel equal.

Kindness- The children see their teacher as a role model. This leads to the child copying many things that the teacher does, including their behaviour. This is why we need to be kind. If we are friendly and generous the children will then start to show signs of this kindness when they interact with other pupils. This is important as we want to see every child being kind to others. As a teacher it then makes it our responsibility to shape these young children into the best person they can be.

Self-control- self control is very important in our profession as we need to remind ourselves of what is appropriate and what isn’t. When dealing with opinionated staff or parents we need to control our views and try to get an understanding of the view of the other person. If we do not agree we cannot allow our emotions to get the better of us. Instead come up with a balanced view where both opinions are seen to matter. This way everyone is kept happy.

My experience with gender issues.

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In primary I never really noticed that gender issues were a problem. I only noticed the differences that were visible between boys and girls when I became interested in sport.

As a child my parents were always open minded about the things I wanted to play with. For example, some days I would play with baby dolls then the next I would be playing with racing cars. To them it didn’t matter as long as I was happy. They then had the same views for sports. As a four year old girl I was given a choice of two sports that I could get myself involved in. From there a decided to pick ballet and football. Two totally different activities. I attended both activities but after a couple of weeks it became clear to myself that football was the sport for me. At the age of four I wasn’t aware of how female dominant ballet was and the same for football, not realising how male dominant that was. However despite the football class being full of boys I liked how much of an energetic and rough game it was.

In primary the boys used to always have a game of football at playtime. At first I was never allowed to join in because apparently according to some of the boys “football was a boys game and girls weren’t allowed”. From that point I became aware of the gender issues. It seemed to me that the boys were expecting me to be joining in with the other girls at the skipping ropes or at the hop scotch. This is why I feel the divide between boys and girls was so strong during play times. Both genders had made judgements at a very young age to which sports and activities were seen as appropriate for each child, depending on if they were male or female. Despite this, after a while I got fed up of sitting at the side and persuaded myself to join in without their permission. To their surprise I was better than they expected I would be, especially “for a girl”. From there on I was allowed to play.

I still see it as a problem today when people ask “what sport do you play?”. Boys especially seem to be shocked when I tell them I play football. It’s hard for some of them to believe that I can still be a “girly girl”, wearing make-up AND playing football.

My inspiration to become a teacher…

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My primary one teacher had a massive impact on me. She was the type of teacher who made every child in the class believe in themselves. (SORRY IF IT’S CHEESY) She would tell the class that if they worked hard in life they could be whatever they wanted to be. It didn’t matter if you wanted to be a baker, a nurse or even a bin man. If you wanted to be any of those as long as you worked hard and were determined enough you could make it. Every child in my class left primary one already having a favourite teacher including me. I feel that I am the determined and motivated person I am today because of her. Sadly, when I reached primary six I found out that my primary one teacher had passed away from cancer. From that moment I realised I wanted to be a primary teacher. I wanted to continue the amazing job she had made, giving young children like me the best start in their early years of education.

As I went through education from primary school to high school there were so many different teachers I met. From these teachers I took away all my favourite aspects from each and decided to use them to form myself into the best teacher I could be. One teacher was always up for a joke and a laugh with his pupils. Every time I entered his class I was excited as he made it more fun than I initially thought school was. I also had a teacher who was very supportive. If anyone had a problem they felt comfortable to go to her and explain what was wrong. This I felt was important as your students need to feel at ease when speaking to you. This allowed me to get a good view of the type of teacher that I wished to be, plus adding my own personality into the job.