I looked over my answers to the questions given to us in
class last Tuesday, about the fundamentals of education, schooling and
teaching. My answers all
seemed to be universal. They would
apply to a kindergartner, a teenager, and a 30-something stay at home mom, or a
septuagenarian who is still interested in learning more about the word around
them.
For example, question number four asked what the fundamental
purpose in teaching is. I
replied that it is to share knowledge and inspire a desire to learn. I think at any stage in life or
schooling there is an innate urge to try to better yourself. For me, that is about learning
and trying new subjects and ideas.
The question that brings up for me is how do you share
knowledge and inspire others to learn? It’s easy when you are passionate about a subject to
share your enthusiasm.
However I can imagine it would be hard to get others interested in what
you are saying if you aren’t really interested in it yourself.
My eldest son’s teacher uses humor, he can throw his voice
across the room, and makes up silly words to get the kids laughing. My kindergartner’s teacher uses
attention, love and caring to get the kids to respect and listen to her.
I have had a few teachers in my life that were very good at
sharing their knowledge and inspiring a desire to learn. My physics teacher in college was
so dynamic (ha ha) that he had us riveted to the overhead projector with only
his enthusiasm to make physics fun and to make sure that everyone of his 115
students understood the basic concepts of physics. It couldn’t
have been an easy task and he always had students coming up for help. He took the time to make a
personal connection with his students, and I think overall that is the
fundamental purpose of teaching.
Fizix was his word for it. My AP Physics teacher was one of the most memorable. He called it Fizix because it was understandable from the observation of the world, thus the sound from the letters, but the concepts and actual material were not as obvious.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how teachers can get children excited to learn and they all have different ways of doing it. Because children are also different and have varied interests and needs, each teacher can be effective. I think that even a kindergartener who needs the love and caring teacher you described might need the funny and loud teacher a few years down the road. The common theme with each teacher and classroom is the relationship built with the students and the safe and open environment provided. These are the fundamental purposes of teaching.
ReplyDeleteI am frustrated and appreciative when i think of teachers i had in the past. Frustrated because some teachers (especially in math)allowed me to pass even though i never grasped key essential "base concepts" as you point out. To this day i cant understand why? On the other hand, i am grateful that some teachers not only made sure i grasped the concept but also instilled discipline, structure and creative thought. I tell my kids "you won't always like or grasp much from some teachers but take what you can and keep it in the context of your whole base of knowledge"
ReplyDeleteI agree that it would be hard to get others interested if you aren’t interested yourself. Hopefully none of us comes across this during our teaching careers. I remember I had a teacher once who admitted to all of us she was getting bored with the lesson plans she had been using year after year. She decided to change up the syllabus, redecorate her room, and add more activities. I have to say that class went from my least favorite class to my favorite just because the teacher was willing to admit to her boredom and change things up to make it more fun for everyone.
ReplyDeleteYes, I agree that it is easy to teach subjects that we are enthusiastic about and find interesting. But I do think that there are ways to make teaching the subjects that are more of a challenge, fun and interesting for you as teacher. Even if the subject matter is not particularly exciting for you, can you think of any creative ways to make the teaching of the subject fun? Maybe games, flach-cards, maybe a contest or some type of fun rewards that might help to motivate the students. Perhaps taking the subject out of the textbook and applying it in a real/ concrete world experience could make it more interesting for both the teacher and the student.
ReplyDelete