Professional Responsibilities of Teachers of Young Adolescents
The theories that govern learning are vast and varied. They are forever changing as is the classroom dynamic. Teacher philosophies are so different. I see many teachers that strictly follow the theories that highlight the nature aspect of learning. They believe in a "one size fits all" approach more than other theorists. The staff that seem to let the children have a voice and some control stay in the nature realm of learning. My belief is that adolescents face situations and environmental factors that past generations did not. They seem more stressed and grow up faster as a result. It seems that teaching needs to be flexible and meet the children where they are at. Give them a voice in a frustrating adolescent world. This active, engaging. full teaching style can open up children that were otherwise shutoff.
In addition to the very daunting task of making teaching more interactive, teachers also are responsible for so many details of everyday life in the school community. The responsibilities include: ensuring a physically and emotionally safe environment, differentiation in instruction, critical thinking, multilevel activities, technology usage, community interactions (speakers, fieldtrips, community service), adhering to a huge amount of guidelines/rules (copyright, district policies, learning standards),and being a role model and facilitator. These are only a few hats educators must wear. All of these start with a base belief of how you believe you can best facilitate the classes learning.
I agree with you , Raene. Teachers do need to be flexible enough to allow their students to have some control of their learning. As I walk down the hallways of my school, I see all different types of teachers. Some are sitting at their desks and the students are perfectly quiet with textbooks in front of them. Other teachers are moving around the room while students work in groups of 2-4, with some in their seats and others on the floor. Our old definition of a good teacher may now be a teacher with students who are not engaged.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated your section on teaching philosophies and the phenomena of a "one size fits all" approach. Each of the education philosophies discussed in Chapter 2 possess certain positives and negatives. A teacher may associate more with one particular school of thought (no pun intended), but that does not mean they should ignore other philosophies. Each student has their own individual way of learning and behaving. In some occasions, it may be appropriate to think like a "Piaget". However, in other circumstances, it may behoove the teacher to think more like a "Skinner" or "Freud". Flexibility is always essential for any teacher.
ReplyDelete