Read Aloud the Text Content

This audio was created by Woord's Text to Speech service by content creators from all around the world.

Text Content or SSML code:

Think like a teacher: Pedagogies, values and ethics In this chapter you will find: • images of teachers • images of children • information about why you should form relationships and which relation- ships you should form • knowledge about embedding Indigenous perspectives • details of how to construct a personal statement for your portfolio — some understandings of ethics and values. Mihalia does not understand why there is so much assessment in her course. It causes her so much stress. At the end of each semester, she finds herself doing ‘all-nighters’, trying to get her essays handed in on time. More often than not, she has to ask for an extension, and it’s not her fault. She is also working three shifts a week at a café in order to pay her bills. Why do they have to do all these tasks anyway? She just wants to be a teacher, not an academic. And it’s not fair that they have group work assignments. What is the point of that? It would be much easier if she could just get on with her own assignments. But they all have to meet up in their group, and sort out who will do which parts of the task. And she always seems to be the last to get her bit done. It’s just all extra stress. Darlia likes to keep a study diary. At the beginning of each semester, she notes when each assignment is due. She also makes a note in her diary three weeks before each assignment, so she can plan ahead and won’t realise at the last minute that something is due. She knows that if she leaves things until the last minute, they will be rushed and not as good as they might be. She also knows it will cause her stress and, again, she will not do as well as she knows she can. The group work assignments take more time because the team needs to get organised, and if the members work smart, they can pool their resources and help each other out. At Darlia’s part-time job, they try to do things this way too. If someone has a lot of exams coming up, then the others will cover their shifts. Coming up to prac, Darlia tries to do a few extra shifts if they are available so she might be able to manage better on prac, and not have to do too much. Look, I know that students have a lot on their plates, and I think they have a lot of assignments and they work and some of them are juggling families. But, honestly? That is not really my problem. I am busy too. I’m not heartless, and I am willing to cut them some slack sometimes, and I understand things can go wrong with the best of plans. But I like to see them at least trying their best, planning ahead, giving it their all while they are here, and having a go. I’m always glad of an extra hand in the room. But if they are like an extra child in the group, and I have to look out for them all the time, then it gets hard . . . and I lose my patience a bit. —Liu, kindergarten teacher, 2013 As recently as 20 years ago, initial teacher training included a number of ‘rules’ for teaching. One was ‘don’t smile until Easter’ (please note, this was situated within the southern hemisphere school year). Later, teachers could relax more and have some fun with the children, but first they needed to establish their authority. Other ‘rules’ included: don’t talk until every child is looking at you and listening; always be sure that you are able to see every child in the room; silence is golden. Activity 3.1 Can you think of the ‘truths’ that might underpin some of these ‘rules’? Can you imagine when you might apply similar rules? Under what circumstances might these be appropriate? Under what circumstances might they be inappropriate? Like much folkloric knowledge, these ‘rules’ may contain some ‘truths’, but they also invite critical reflection. A simple web search will locate any number of lists of ‘rules for good teaching’. There are also other sets of ‘rules’, such as a code of ethics, which we will discuss later in this chapter. The point is that it is possible to learn all the techniques, teaching strate- gies and methods available, and still remain unfit for teaching. Becoming a teacher requires something that cannot be packaged and sequenced and staged: thoughtful and reflective pedagogies. Becoming a teacher—being a lifelong learner When it comes to teaching, there is a lot to learn. Becoming a teacher marks an important transition in your life, whatever stage you have reached. You will have many preconceived ideas about what it means to be a teacher, and these will be shaped by any number of influences—movies, books, newspaper reports, your own personal experience as a student, others’ experiences. As you progress towards graduation, and experience a number of different prac settings, and as you begin teaching after gradua- tion, you will be building a knowledge base that will become part of your thinking. Some of this will be part of a body of knowledge shared by all professional teachers. And some will be your own understandings, arrived at through your own experiences and reflections. It is important that you think like a teacher, and then act and work like a teacher. In this chapter, we explore thoughtful, critical, reflective pedagogies. Ethics and values are critical for your actions while on prac and in your early teaching career. And we prompt you to engage with ideas, theories, critiques and rules—to think like a teacher. There is much to learn as you prepare to teach. Some of this is content, pedagogical knowledge, skills and techniques. Some involves attitudes and attributes. See the map in Figure 1.1, and trace all the different knowl- edges that you will acquire as you become a professional teacher. You will add to your knowledge of teaching and learning throughout your life. Graduation is another beginning. The process of learning to drive a car works as a popular analogy. After you have learned enough to be granted your licence, you learn more as you drive. Images of teachers Our ways of seeing the world shape and produce our approaches, actions, interactions and responses. In everything we do, we bring with us our beliefs and attitudes—there are many ways of seeing: children, childhoods, families, cultures, gender, ethnicities, disabilities, teachers, education, kindergartens, long day care centres, the teaching profession, colleagues, workplaces and the community. What is your image of a teacher? Naturally, every pre-service and beginning teacher wants to be a ‘good teacher’, but what does that mean? What makes a good teacher? For some, the answer is simple: qualifi- cations. For others, answering this question might be based more on personal experiences and perceptions: a good teacher is kind, caring, helps you, never shouts, is fair, funny, smart, tough, friendly, not too friendly, never sarcastic, organised, interesting, interested. Think about it What do you know about teaching? How do you know this: • personal experience • movies • media • cultural • social? Debates about teaching shift over time. A maxim for ‘good teaching’ (and parenting) was once ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’. What do you understand this to mean? Is this considered ‘good practice’ today? What are the current ‘maxims’ of which you have become aware when it comes to ‘good teaching’? What are the debates? What are the points of contention? For example, should teachers be rewarded through their salary and bonuses according to their ‘performance’? If so, how is teacher performance measured? Are students’ test scores an indicator of the quality of teaching? What are the arguments for this position? What are the arguments against this position? Be aware of the lens through which you are viewing the teacher’s practice at your prac placement, and your own developing teaching practice. The lens you use can affect how you view and interpret rela- tionships, organisation, teaching and learning, assessment and reporting. Consider the following quotations about teachers, and how the words affect you. You might like to revisit these quotes as reminders of why you have chosen this profession. The fundamental message of the teacher is this: You can change your life. Whoever you are, wherever you’ve been, whatever you’ve done, the teacher invites you to a second chance, another round, perhaps a different conclusion . . . (Ayers, 2004, p. 13) it is excellence in teachers that make the greatest differences, not just teachers. (Hattie, 2003, p. 4) We are not what we are; we are who we can become . . . (Caldwell, 2007, p. 782) How do you see yourself as a teacher? Good teachers make teaching look easy. Effective teaching leads to learning, and learning is such a powerful and transformative experience that it is the learning that is memorable, not always the teaching. What makes a teacher a professional? Activity 3.2 Make a note of the kind of teacher you want to be. Post it somewhere where you will look at it regularly. Note any changes you make over time. Qualifications THINK LIKE A TEACHER 65 Table 3.1: Thinking about being a good teacher What is your image of a good teacher? What teachers stand out for you in your memory of your own experiences? Which teachers do you want to be like? How do your friends talk about teachers? How do members of your family see teachers? Which teachers do you not want to be like? What do children say about teachers? What do politicians say about teachers? How do members of the community view teachers? In Finland, all teacher candidates are required to write a research-based dissertation as the final requirement for their master’s degree. In some places and in some circumstances (such as the United States, Australia and Scotland), you can become an early childhood teacher with six weeks’ formal training. In some places, teaching is learned through an appren- ticeship model, not a university degree. Names and titles for teachers can sometimes denote differences in roles, responsibilities, qualifications status and hierarchies