I believe that we teach who we are. We are all the sum total of our experiences, our family upbringing, our culture, our personality type, and even the life choices we make. Who we are is a ever evolving process. If we choose to ask questions and explore our own way of seeing the world then we can grow as individuals and collectively as a society. This course has opened a window on the world of those with other learning styles than my own. I find this course has generated far more questions than I am comfortable with especially since my desire in taking the course was to learn to be a successful classroom manager. How I will implement my traditionalist SJ personality within a classroom to allow differentiated and cooperative learning styles and also facilitate others learning needs is an on- going quest. What I realise is that who I will be as a teacher will be a departure from who I am as an special education assistant. At times I feel that I would be able to internalize or incorporate these classroom management styles more into my teacher self if I had already completed my short practicum. While being an SEA has provided me with much classroom experience, I think it has been specific while the ideas explored in this class are more of a pedagogical orientation.
I think my educational self contract is to find a way to integrate differentiated learning concepts and cooperative learning within an inclusive environment. What I realise is the sacred trust that I have embarked upon as a teaching professional : to foster engagement, provide safety, create cooperateness, and promote a problem solving orientation is daunting. I expected the practical side of teaching to be difficult part, but honestly the intellectual quandries are more perplexing. I can now see the need to create an inclusive classroom as involving all childrens special requirements be they physical, emotional, or cognitive.
To be a teacher I think is not to have all the answers but instead to be open to the exploration of infinite ways of knowing. It is to hold students minds and hearts in our care, to foster inquisitiveness, and to nurture a sense of optimism for the future of mankind. As a teaching professional we teach the past, nurture the present, and influence the futurte through our gift of learning.
1 comment:
Lisa, your comment about a teacher not having all the answers resonates with my NF personality type! Not having the answers but continually having an educational pursuit is important for us as teachers and life-long learners. I agree with you that fostering this sense of wonder and 'infinite ways of knowing' is important for student success. My problem is, my self contract shows my biases, which may not be as important to other personality types in their learning journey. Where's the happy medium?
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