My experiences of the course so far have varied. Both the teaching modules and my elective in Psychology have challenged me and developed a range of my skills. The one incident that impacted me the most was the assignment in the ‘Working Together’ module. I found it challenging to work with a group of people I hadn’t spoken to before and knowing they were  partly responsible for my  grade troubled me. In the beginning, I may have dominated the group more that required. This was because I was being closed minded in my way of thinking. I assumed the only way to get a task done right was by doing it myself. As the weeks went on and I started to develop relationships with the other group members I found it much easier to let them do tasks without feeling the need to check over the work they had done.

When I start on my first placement I will have a group of children in my classroom whom I have never met before. This means that I will need to develop my skills of being able to trust and credit the children with already having a large vary of knowledge before I have even met them. I must ensure that I’m allowing them to make mistakes and guide them through fixing the problems rather than watching over their shoulders and correcting their every move.

Teaching for me isn’t just about educating a class of 30 odd kids from 9 till 3 every Monday to Friday. It’s about inspiring the next generation to become greater than the last. I believe that every child is an individual who has something new to offer to the world, and it is my responsibility to help them discover who they are and what they can do.

‘When one teaches, two learn.’ – Robert Heinlein

For me, this quote sums up how I feel about being in a classroom with children. Their innocent minds assume that they are the one who are in learning position and I am the one who teaches. I want to create a classroom environment where everyone feels equal and are all learning from each other. Just because I am the one who may seem to have the most knowledge in the room doesn’t mean I am not learning new things from the kids everyday. Children who come from a variety of different backgrounds can provide new perspectives and views which maybe I wasn’t even aware of. I also strongly believe that people are more likely to listen to those who they can relate to in some way. Therefore I want to be responsible for creating a space where children can express themselves in a variety of ways. For example through art, music and drama and use their skills to teach and enlighten each other.

Children are our future, and I want to feel the rewarding satisfaction to know that I helped changed the future in a positive way!