Education Tips: Develop your Educational Philosophy

Hopefully none of you have decided to become teachers so that you can enjoy the summer holidays. If you are still studying to become a teacher and this was the main reason for choosing this type of career: STOP NOW or you're in for an ugly surprise. Unlike regular jobs, teaching is a vocation, a strong desire to affect the future by educating young minds. Truth be told, teaching involves more work than most other jobs. The amount of planning and preparation involved takes a lot of time and, often, teachers have to work during their free time. Because of all this, it is important that all teachers develop their own philosophy that helps them stay motivated while doing their job. This is a list of questions that need to be considered while writing your educational philosophy:

• What is your definition of a good education? Why is a good education necessary?
• What defines a good teacher?
  
• How can you, as a teacher, contribute to education as a whole? Teaching is not only about following textbooks and correcting students' work; you need to involve yourself on a more personal level...think of ways to make education more effective and share your success with other educators.
• How will you make teaching more effective? (this can be tied in with the previous question)
  
• How do you feel when you think about expanding your students' knowledge?/As a teacher, what do you owe your students?

By writing down your educational philosophy you will be able to more easily understand what makes education important and, thus, helps you understand the importance of your role as an educator so that, ultimately, teaching becomes much more rewarding.

As per usual:
Please feel free to share more ideas with us by leaving a comment with this post.
Take care, and as always, I'll keep you posted.

Teaching: Physical Classroom Layout

Teachers who have their own classroom need to avoid the traditional classroom layout, i.e. straight rows of desks facing towards the white-board/chalk-board. Such classrooms are boring and, often, make teaching and learning less effective. A classroom needs to be dynamic, it needs to accommodate each lesson and facilitate different methods of teaching. Let's take group work as an example. Traditional classroom layouts were designed in a way to avoid interaction between students. However we are now aware of the importance of peer-tutoring. Education is all about communication and the classroom needs to allow this to happen. Arranging small 'islands' of desks is a very effective way of encouraging group work in the classroom. the best way of doing this is to arrange four desks facing each other. Arrange them in a way so that students can still see the board. Such classroom layouts will also allow you to move freely between desks. You cannot allow yourself to stand in just one area of the classroom. Moving around will allow you to interact better with the students and to easily supervise their work. You need to experiment with different layouts and don't be afraid to ask the students for feedback. Involving students in such decisions will allow for a better understanding between you and your learners.
For elementary teachers, it is a good idea to divide the class in different areas. For example, the 'Science Area' will include a small exhibition of materials used in previous lessons or a display of the students' own work. The "Reading Area" will allow students to spend some quite time reading, make this area as comfortable as possible, throw some cushions or small recliners. Make students understand that reading can be a fun way to relax. The reading area may also be used by students who have finished class assignments earlier than their peers.

Education: Dealing with shy students

Teachers tend to think that they are the only ones allowed to talk in their classroom. However, as you might have noticed in my previous posts, I strongly suggest that students are allowed to engage in active discussions about the main topics of the lesson. However it is important to know the different ways of going about doing this. Class discussions are not enough and many students, particularly shy ones, will find it very difficult to engage in such discussions. Such students are usually terrified of the prospect of being at the center of attention. On many occasions I have asked a shy student a question and I see them cringe when I tell the rest of the class to be quite so that they can hear what the student has to say. I've made it a personal goal not to try to put shy students in such situations. Many teachers erroneously think that forcing shy children to speak in class is an effective way to "bring them out of their shell". This is very far from the truth since making a shy person feel inappropriate makes them dread theses situations even more. Such students need to be respected and given their space. In time they will overcome their shyness, but this needs to happen on their own terms. Never treat shy students differently; just because they don't raise their hands does not mean they don't know the answer. What you can do is give them an opportunity to show the class, and themselves, their true capabilities. You need to understand their niche area and help them excel in what they are truly capable of doing. A few examples: recognize their capabilities and praise them for it .Do not exaggerate this, shy students are not stupid and when they realize what you're trying to do they will not trust your 'reactions' anymore. Another effective method is to divide students in small groups, give them an assignment and have each student present their work to their group. It is much easier for shy students to present their work to a small group rather than to the whole class; remember that even the most seasoned speaker sometimes gets stage fright. Another successful method is to hold 'contests' based on the target student's capability. For instance: if the student is a good artist, organize an art challenge and put the student's art-piece on display in the class. This is a good way of boosting their self confidence.
In the end, treating students the same is key to a fair and successful teaching/learning experience.

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