I believe that the purposes of education are to engage
students into active learning and to give them the tools (learning strategies,
tactics, and thinking skills) and support they need to succeed in school as
well as the world. Education should be an ongoing building process of newer
information onto existing information. Ideally, children should be able to
recall and retrieve prior knowledge to adapt to the new information. I also
believe that the purpose in education should be to help children strengthen
their different types of intelligences and in the process help build healthy
self-concepts and self-esteem. This can be achieved through accepting each
child for their contribution to the class and by providing opportunities for
them to explore and build their confidence in the different intelligences they
have such as creativity, art, music, logic, and etc.
The
roles of a teacher are critical
in shaping students to becoming competent learners. Roles of a teacher that I
think are important include: facilitator, nurturer, and challenger. As a
facilitator, I will provide basic knowledge and skills students need to
critically think about their own solutions to problems. I will also guide class
discussions where the students will be doing most of the talking and
questioning. Students can process
the information more deeply when they are able to cultivate their learning
through experience rather than listening to a teacher lecture all day. As a
nurturer, I will care for all my students and do my best to meet individual as
well as collective needs of the class. It makes a difference when a child knows
that his/her teacher cares for them as an individual. Another role of a teacher
is a challenger. I will uphold high, yet achievable expectations for children
to meet, challenging students to put out their best efforts. By doing so, we
are able to scaffold our students into becoming independent life-long learners.
As for the students, I believe that they should claim “ownership” of their
education. Education should be an interactive process for students. Their role
in the classroom should be to initiate questions and discussions. Their role is
to build upon their knowledge through their own manipulation of the material.
The teacher should have certain
qualities and behave in certain ways. Qualities I think important for teaching
are creativity and being relational. By being creative in preparing and
carrying out lesson plans, a teacher is able to engage more of the class’
attention. I believe that a good teacher is creative in making learning
enjoyable yet stimulating to their students. Many times teachers are low in
resources (money, tools, time) and need to creative with what he/she has. Another
great quality for a teacher to have is the ability to connect with students.
Building relationships with students can break down any barriers between
students and their teacher. Investing time and energy to relate with students
positively affect the dynamic of the classroom by creating a more comfortable learning
atmosphere.
Children learn best in an
environment that promotes learning. One of the important elements in schools is
to create a school climate where children feel safe and challenged to explore
their unique interests and strengths. Each child is different and everyone is
intelligent in his and her own way. There are not just one or two types of
intelligences that determine our abilities, but multiple ones. In the class, I
will help build a community between the classmates and model and encourage positive
behavior and support for each other. I believe that school should not be a
competition, but rather a place for supportive and cooperative learning. The
class environment also needs to encourage students to ask questions and to
explore their own thinking processes.
