Blog 7 - Teaching

Teaching in the 21^st century is a challenge.  The teaching profession isn’t a career that is suitable for everybody.  “In fact, many new teachers leave within the first 3-5 years of teaching.” http://712educators.about.com/od/teacherresources/tp/teachergood.htm

This might be a surprising statistic for some to understand since there are many people who think the profession is anything but a profession and that those involved with it only do it for the “exorbitant” amount of time off; these people are obviously not aware of the sessions in our own federal parliament.  Therefore, the question raised by this statistic should really focus on the reasons why so many teachers are leaving the profession within the first few years if it is such an “easy” job in the mind of many in the public.  Unfortunately, like other professions, being a good teacher is demanding and challenging enough without the focus on the profession by negative stories of poor teachers in an abusive system of education. Yet these are the stories that tend to dominate the public’s mindset rather than the all the positive stories of those involved in this profession. Unlike other professions, there tends to be an overwhelming feeling of expertise on the subject of education because of everyone’s personal experience with the education system.  Like other professions, there are those who are more adept at their profession than some of their colleagues and there is also a myriad of opinions about educators from students which are constantly changing. Therefore, one person’s ideal teacher could be another’s person’s opinion of a poor one. 

When I was six years old my parents gave me a chalkboard, with magnetic letters and colored chalk.  I spent endless hours printing and drawing on the blackboard.  My three brothers were made to play ‘school’ for hours; I was always the teacher.  Eventually, I would drag neighborhood children into my basement to play ‘school’.  It amazes me that I had any friends at all.   I remember my parents telling me that I was destined to be a teacher because I was so bossy.  Of course many people with exceptional leadership qualities and abilities may often be perceived as bossy so therefore I guess I’m bossy. 

After a brief stint working in radio after college and university I decided to go back to school and obtain my education degree.  I began my teaching career at the age of 25.   Mentally, I had prepared myself for a 10 year teaching career, and then I thought I may move on to something else.  Suffice it to say that was 26 years ago and currently I’m still doing what I love the most - teaching.  I believe that I am a teacher because I enjoy sharing my passion for learning with others.  Teaching still excites me and my passion for the profession continues to grow.  Teaching is what truly makes me happy.   Being a teacher is who I am, it is my identity.  When the September school supplies arrive at Staples I get very eager to start another year whereas my husband, who is also a teacher, cringes at the back to school commercials on television that seem to start earlier and earlier each summer; I’m not suggesting he is a poor teacher but am merely pointing out that he doesn’t like being reminded of work when the vacation has just merely started.   

Individuals, who choose teaching as a vocation in order to have summers and week-ends off, will have a very long and agonizing ten months and generally won’t last very long.  For many, teaching doesn’t turn out to be the career they had imagined and as such they leave.  I’ve worked with unhappy teachers who for one reason or another have stayed in the profession which is a very negative thing for all concerned.   Students are very perceptive and they can quickly identify the signs of a weak or unhappy teacher; in short they can tell if one is passionate and sincere or not.   A person has to enter the teaching profession for the right reasons which in my mind should always be focused around the betterment of students; that is what makes the profession truly rewarding.   In addition, I have learned that being a teacher takes a great deal of courage, tolerance, compassion, humor and kindness.  Every day I learn from my students and I am never bored.   Sadly, teaching has become an undervalued profession.  Everybody believes that they can teach because they were in the school for 12 years.  Everyone has an opinion of what a teacher should be doing.

Teaching 150 different students each semester is both a challenging and fulfilling job.  Good teachers give up a lot of personal time in order to help students succeed.   The diversity that exists in the classroom today demands pedagogy using a variation of approaches to understand every student’s individual abilities.   An effective teacher has to understand how their students think, discover what they already know and design lessons that will inspire and motivate them.   As Bracher explains in his book,   a teacher must empower students and allow individual students to become active participants in their learning.   Hence, the role of the teacher is to provide the necessary resources and to support the development and progress of students, not always an easy challenge.  Like many other teachers in the profession, I take my job very seriously and try my best to prepare my students for the world.  Mark Bracher’s book has made me look closer at ways I can improve as a teacher.  Bracher believes that students must be encouraged to develop critical thinking skills. This process requires that teachers and students work together to gain knowledge, explore problems and, investigate solutions.  Critical pedagogy encourages students to become active participants in their learning, and students are encouraged to expand and express their thoughts and opinions; not merely regurgitate notes, thoughts, and opinions given to them by their teachers.

An educator in today’s society is required to have a deep knowledge of the subject they are teaching.  Effective educators must continue to learn and develop their repertoire of teaching approaches.  As an educator I am willing to engage in lifelong learning in order to improve my teaching skills.  I believe that I benefit each time I put myself in the position of learner, the non-expert position.  An educator should have a deep knowledge of the subject they are teaching and must continue to learn throughout their career.  Teachers must make a commitment to become lifelong learners.    I have found in my years of experience that even when my expertise may not be what I’d like it to be as an educator it is always best to be honest with the students about being a bit outside of your comfort zone and take the approach of cooperative learning together.  Modeling lifelong learning with your students will bring more effective results. Being involved in communities of practice allows me to acquire skills from other educators. Communities of practice allow me to work with colleagues who share similar passions about teaching.   Within a community of practice I share stories and knowledge while learning.  It is important that as an educator, teachers work together and share a passion for teaching and promoting learning it has a positive impact on our students. 

 Lastly, it really saddens me that so much teacher bashing exists in our society today.  When I tell people that I am a teacher they usually respond by telling me what a cushy job I have and are quick to point out: teachers have summers and storm days off, they are done at three, it is not a stressful job, etc.   I always respond by asking why they didn’t choose to become a teacher if it is such an easy job.  Having summers off can be great. However, I spend many of those summer days planning for the new school year. Being done at three o’clock each day sounds wonderful but a study by St. Mary’s University a few years ago revealed that on average, teachers work around seventy-five hours per week; coaching, clubs, prepping, and marking don’t just happen without a substantial time commitment.  Throw in increasing class sizes, cuts to resources and programming, and ineffective policies from a disconnected bureaucracy and it is not hard to see why some great teachers burn-out or find another career.  Losing bad teachers is good for everybody but losing great teachers should be a massive concern.  “Parents, principals, and society in general blame teachers for every problem under the sun. We pour our hearts and souls into teaching and 99.99% of teachers are the most generous, ethical, and competent workers you can find. We have the best of intentions in a messed-up education system. But somehow we still get the blame. But we keep teaching and trying to make a difference. “(http://k6educators.about.com/od/classroommanagement/a/8understand_2.htm)

Despite all the challenges with the teaching, for me teaching is a profession that allows me to improve the world we live in through the student’s lives I touch every day.   I didn’t choose teaching for the money; I don’t get overtime pay for all the extra hours I work.  I love what I do because it is me; it’s what makes me happy.  I couldn’t imagine a more gratifying and satisfying career than being a teacher.    I’m proud of what I do. I’m a teacher, an exceptional teacher, I change lives!  

Thanks for reading!

Marilyn

BLOG 6

Critical Pedagogy and Discourse of the Analyst

Henry Giroux describes critical pedagogy as an "…educational movement, guided by passion and principle, to help students develop consciousness of freedom, recognize authoritarian tendencies, and connect knowledge to power and the ability to take constructive action." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Critical_pedagogy)  

 I have learned a great deal from our discussions in class about Mark Bracher’s book, Radical Pedagogy.  Bracher’s book prompted me to examine critical pedagogy in relationship to my own teaching.  Critical pedagogy is a completely new term for me although the concept is not; often educators utilize concepts, pedagogies, and methods in the classroom without being fully aware of the proper “eduspeak” terms for these processes.  In today’s rapidly changing technological society, being an effective educator is a difficult task for a myriad of reasons such as the lack of time, available training and resources to keep pace the evolving changes in industry; this fact highlights the absolute importance for a system of education that challenges students in a variety of ways while stressing the process of learning as being a lifelong event.

At present, I work with educators who demonstrate characteristics of the four pedagogical modes explained by Bracher. Bracher states that three of the pedagogies may damage student’s identities, rather than being beneficial to students. However, critical pedagogy “…aims to help students develop their full potential, to become empowered.” (pg. 101)    Above all, the teacher desires to empower students and allows individual students to become active participants in their learning.  As explained on page 101, critical pedagogy aims at liberating individuals from harsh forces such as racism, classism, colonialism, sexism, and heterosexism.    Students are inspired to develop and expand their identities which are frequently unlike that of their teacher. A teacher using this process does not seek to produce a carbon copy of themselves through their students.  The goal is for students to become conscious of their own individuality and identity and to begin formulating their own ideas.   Teachers provide students with opportunities to learn and grow through experiences. Teachers must be prepared to have their own thoughts and opinions challenged by the students they are teaching.  Unlike authoritarian pedagogies students don’t conform to the beliefs of their teacher, and aren’t afraid to articulate their views and ideas.

Therefore, critical pedagogy is “…a process for discovering one’s own potential identity components and developing them into an identity of one’s own.” (Pg.102)   Students are encouraged to develop critical thinking skills. This process requires that teachers and students work together to gain knowledge, explore problems and, investigate solutions.   “Practicing critical pedagogy requires educators to work collectively with their students, colleagues, and the larger school community.” (http://www.newberry.k12.sc.us/nbhs/literacypage/Critical%20Pedagogy.pdf) 

Likewise, students are encouraged to look at their world and their future in new and exciting ways.  Students think outside of the box while increasing their understanding of their involvement in the world. “…give us a sense of ourselves as a force that matters in the world.”(Preface)  Therefore, it is essential for educators to make students feel empowered about the role they play in society.   “We have to stop spoon feeding kids curriculum tests and homework. They need to be self-directed. They need to be lifelong learners, which mean they need to be empowered to manage more and more and more of their own learning.” (http://langwitches.org/blog/2010/03/12/empower-students/)  I believe that in order to achieve these goals it would require educators to re-examine current curriculums and outcomes. 

Critical pedagogy encourages students to become active participants in their learning, and students are encouraged to expand and express their thoughts and opinions; not merely regurgitate notes, thoughts, and opinions given to them by their teachers.  Hence, the role of the teacher is to provide the necessary resources and to support the growth and development of students.  In addition, critical pedagogy allows students to think for themselves, and share their beliefs and opinions in a safe environment. Critical pedagogy “encourages growth of each student’s intellectual character rather than a mere “mimicry of the professorial style.” (Shor, I. (1980). Critical Teaching and Everyday Life. Boston, Massachusetts: South End Press). 

To conclude, the reasoning that lies behind the critical pedagogy approach to teaching is, to me, simply the right approach educators must strive to achieve with their students.   It is vital that we help empower our students to become critical thinkers and to challenge the “norms” that have often created many problems in the first place. However, as much as I agree with the critical pedagogy approach,   I believe it will be years before school boards will allow teachers to adopt this method.  Presently, school boards continue to inform teachers that they must meet the compulsory outcomes and sadly many boards are buying into the old concept of “standardized” testing to address “accountability” issues; in short they are trying to force us to fit all of our students into the same mold when we all know that each student has their own unique learning proclivities and styles.   Perhaps as effective educators it is time to re-examine our curriculums, in order to produce students that are sensitive to the problems that exist. “We need an approach to education that is focused on dialogue instead of a one-way transmission of knowledge.” (http://www.newberry.k12.sc.us/nbhs/literacypage/Critical%20Pedagogy.pdf)

“When I think back on all the crap I learned in high school, it's a wonder I can think at all”

Paul Simon, Kodachrome

Thanks for reading!

Marilyn