1. “Again I am concerned not so much that great teachers and their successes are being ignored (which they are), but that the teachers and the qualities and skills that great teachers bring to great teaching are in danger of vanishing, disappearing from both the public eye and from the curriculum of teacher preparation.”
This is a scary thought to have to teacher’s abilities to be creative and innovative disappear in the future. But based on the requirements that are now in place it is very possible that teachers don’t have the time for their lessons that they have created themselves that involves creativity. These type of lessons are what will grab student’s attention and get them excited to learn. The lessons that are focused of the state tests are more difficult to make into something exciting and fun when the outcome to the students is just to get a good score on a test. It will be immensely detrimental if teachers are not able to teach the way that they want to teach or worse off not have the preparation that encourages creative that students yearn for and need.
2. “The teacher cannot think for her students nor can she impose her thought on them. Authentic thinking, thinking that is concerned about reality, does not take place in ivory tower isolation, but only in communication. If it is true that thought has meaning only when generated by action upon the world, the subordination of students to teachers becomes impossible.”
This quote really rang out as I read it. I immediately ran my pen under these lines and stared my paper. Authentic thinking is a goal that teacher need to reach with their students for them to be able to form an unbiased opinion. This happens through communicating with one another and hearing everyone’s thoughts about a subject. Hearing different perspectives is an enlightening thing. The teacher must present different perspectives so children can critically think about things on their own. Students need to do the thinking themselves because us teachers and parents will not be there for them in the future to do the thinking. That is why this is so important as teachers we want to instill in our students to become thinkers and go as far as they can in their thoughts.
3. “Knowledge and ‘distinctive character’ are part of it, but it is also about efficacy, a teacher’s belief that she or he will be successful, because his or her students will be successful. And, to achieve student success, great teachers help move their students via three paths: producing, empowering and connecting”
These three paths are essential for teacher’s to have their students experience true success in their classroom. The collaboration between teacher and student is very important as well. I liked how this quote emphasized these two points. These are two tasks of a teacher I feel like take time and experience to be able to master. Also it takes a great deal of work to get to know your students to be able to find what will be empowering to them as a student. Also a teacher cannot influence connections unless they know their student’s backgrounds. I think about being a teacher in completely new place I have never been and having little understanding of the way of life in that area. I feel like this can have an impact on the teacher’s ability to make connections since their way of life is different. Therefore this takes extra effort and time that is necessary.
4. “The teacher is no longer merely the one-who-reaches, but one who is himself taught in dialogue with the students, who in turn while being taught also teach. They become jointly responsible for a process in which all grow. “ (98 Freire) – Anthology
As far as quote 3 goes; i agree that the most affective teaching includes producing, empowering, and connecting. Teachers that follow this philosophy I believe will be the most successful. I can remember every teacher in my past who made an impact on me by doing this, and every teacher that didn't seem to care much. As a student, we all want our teachers to care and have faith.
ReplyDeleteI feel like being a person that is working towards becoming a teacher how could I not use my schooling experiences as a development of my personal philosophy of education. The teachers from my past definitely influence my future as a teacher. So therefore connecting to your comment, it is hard for me to believe that there are teachers that don't believe in this philosophy because they too had to be influences by affective teachers that they have had through their schooling years. But I can also understand how one could lose sight of these goals because of some of the poor environments that teachers and students are in like those we read about. This could become a distraction and lead to hopelessness. I feel that that can be a tough attitude to come out of once you have slipped into it. Thats what makes teaching so difficult because if you yourself are feeling discouraged how can you be the person to encourage other students to avoid those feelings? This is a struggle that I hope to never face but with the education issues and events that have been going on presently I worry for the future. But I plan to be well prepared and embrace the new things to come.
ReplyDeleteI want to discuss the comment you made about how as a teacher can you encourage your students if you yourself are feeling discouraged. This is a good point, and very true. If you have to go day in and day out in some of these conditions/environments, it could wear on you as an individual and as a teacher. To be only human, it is hard to check your feelings out at the door on the way in. However, in order to be an effective teacher you can not allow yourself to show these feelings to your students. It could become a very toxic environment very quickly.
ReplyDeleteWhat is important I think, is not to hide or mask the feelings you have but to be able to express them in a healthy appropriate way. If it is dealt with differently that is where things can go down hill and become negative and affect the children even more so. Teachers need to support the students any way possible but in order to do that the teacher needs to be emotionally strong and healthy. If an environment is wearing on you and you see that it affects the kids it needs to be handled right away. Not being a teacher yet myself it is hard for me to imagine what are possible ways of resolving something like this. I would think talking to fellow teachers or administration about things that are the factors that are making you feel discouraged or unhappy.
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