Week One writing tasks for Curriculum, Pedagogy and Practice 2

a) Read through our Nine Provocations. Respond with your initial thoughts about one or more of them.

The provocation "how will I control my students" is one that stood out strongly to me, when first reading the Nine Provocations. For years I have worked in childcare of various ages, ranging from newborns to primary school. As such I have a lot of experience in creating controlled environments for children, one where they respect any authority I have, so for most of the time they have freedom to make decisions or choose what or who they want to play with without any problems. However, feeling confident in being an authority over young children does make me question whether I will be able to adjust to being an authority over students who, at the start of my career, may not be that much younger than myself. I feel on one level I am at a disadvantage as I am used to dealing with much younger children, wherein different techniques are used to enforce the rules of the centre or school and I hold an inherent authority simply by being an adult, whereas in a Secondary School environment, it is not unreasonable to think students may question my authority based on my age.

However, I also feel I am at an advantage as I have a lot of experience in dealing with people and children as individuals with individual needs, as is obviously cruicial in early childhood and remains of great importance in Secondary School. I also have developed my way of controlling a group of young people, such as in primary after school care, while managing to treat the children as equals, rather than patronizing them, as skill that seems crucial in relating to students in Secondary School. I feel that developing a positive relationship with the students based on mutual respect and an understanding from the students that I will be strict on behaviour until the students prove that they will not abuse a freer approach to discipline will be crucial to controlling the students. While they respect me and my authority, there should be no need to actively have to control them in the first place.

b) Tell the story of, and describe, a learning environment that worked particularly well for you. (This doesn't have to be connected to formal learning, though it could be. It can be about any experience of deep and successful personal learning for you.)

An experience that springs to mind when thinking about a deeply successful learning environment was when I completed an Outward Bound course in Year Nine. We were allowed to pair up with one other friend, and then placed in groups with students from our year that we did not know, and then sent out to the Blue Mountains to camp and hike for ten days with that group and two Outward Bound leaders. The leaders were there merely to supervise and would not help us with cooking or directions etc. This experience was extremely challenging on everyone in the group as we were walking for around twelve hours every day with heavy packs through the rain, most of us never having done anything like it before.

What it taught me was the internal strength inside myself and my ability to survive and even conquer things I did not think I could. This learning environment also made everyone in the group support and help each other as much as possible. While at the time, I did not realise the importance and reason we were doing this, when it was over it was intensely satisfying and I felt very proud of myself for completing it. The real power of this learning environment has really been felt over subsequent years, as it has led me to embrace moments of adversity, to try and help and aid others in every day life as we did on that trip, and to appreciate challenges in the moment, as well as when they are over, as important life hurdles.

It gave me a lessoned fear for the hard things in life that I would have had to gained some other way. As a future teacher it has also made me realise the importance of constantly challenging students and making them realise they are capable of more than perhaps they think.

Week One writing tasks for Education Foundations G.

a) In describing what teachers do, people have compared them to parents, mentors, coaches, artists, performers, analysts, etc (see Churchill, et al., p.15 for other metaphors). Who do you associate an ideal teacher with? Can you elaborate a bit on that?

An ideal teacher to me is a guide, although there are definite elements of all these aforementioned people and professions in teaching. Although I feel all these descriptions definitely apply to teaching and reflect the importance of a teachers varied roles in a students life, the general role of guide stands out clearly for me. This is perhaps due to the teachers that have most greatly impacted my memory and life, and the qualities that they possess.

Teaching is obviously about so much more than merely imparting knowledge, which is why, especially at a secondary level, it is important for them to guide their students.

An ideal teacher would guide their students towards whatever passions the students may hold, perhaps ignite in them a passion for learning something new but always being in line with each students needs.

They should not impart their prejudices or judgements about the world, but encourage students to form their own ideas and critically think and question not only their school work but the world at large. An ideal teacher recognises what level of guidance each student needs, but never neglects those who perhaps need less.

The more I think about this question, the clearer it is to me that these metaphors need to be used in conjunction with each other, as each metaphor leaves holes that a teacher fills. For example, the idea of teacher as gardener is inspiring when thought of as the teacher helping students to be healthy for the long term and giving them space and aiding their growth. However, as that metaphor is extended the teacher as gardener also prunes away the weeds to allow only the best plants to grow through, something that is clearly opposite to the teaching profession.

b) Before we begin this teacher education course, we have all had over a decade of classroom experiences, observing and interacting with our own teachers who helped shape who we are today. Relationships with these teachers in our educational experiences in the past is likely to have enduring impact on how we are going to teach in our future classrooms. Can you describe a teacher (or teaching figure) who has influenced you either positively or negatively, and some of his/her qualities or
characteristics? If there was one, describe an event or moment of encounter that has since stuck in your mind. Can you explain what specifically was about the interaction that changed your thinking or understanding? Putting this memory or impression in words may help illuminate an essential and fundamental quality of teachers that is especially meaningful to you.

One of the teachers who influenced me the most positively was my dance teacher for year eleven and twelve. She brought such an amazing passion, not only for dance, but for teaching itself, that it inspired myself and everyone else in the class to challenge ourselves more, as well as making the classes themselves more fun. Although I have always had a passion for dancing, what she encouraged in me was also a passion for learning about the history of dance, and about dance as a literary subject.

One of her most amazing qualities was her ability to bring out the best in all her students, I believe through her belief in each of us as individuals and being able to recognise different strengths and weaknesses in us all.

Basically in a nutshell, her ability to treat all her students as individuals and equals made me strive to work harder and challenge myself more, because I liked her so much and didn't want to let down her belief in me. However that being said, she instilled more of an internal belief in myself than anything else.

Another quality was the way she delivered criticisms and critiques. We developed a relationship where she could critique me and others freely, and it was not defeating, but a challenge. She would also deliver small criticisms that were things that could be easily focused on and improved upon, rather than sweeping, generalised criticisms. The environment in her classes was set on such a supportive foundation that students could also freely critique other students without anyone ever getting defensive or angry, which was certainly not the case in many of my other classes. I don't believe any of this is just because it was an artistic 'fun' class, I believe she would have brought the same passion and fun to teaching anything.

A moment that has stuck in my mind was on our last day of classes she told me that I should keep dancing because it is an obvious passion and to keep pushing forward. This has stuck with because I was so fond of her as a teacher, but also because I am not actually that skilled at dancing, as in I would never hope to do it on a professional level and she knows this, but her belief in me and her conviction on doing what makes you happy has continued to inspire me today. It didn't change my thinking necessarily, but it did stir a focus and determination in me I had not had before.

c) As much as an independent endeavour, teaching is also an embedded profession. Teachers' work is contextualised in a complex social network and is consequently a response to requirements and expectations of national and local governments, school authorities, parents, and students. Teachers' clienteles, their students, are equally social beings from varied societal backgrounds. Based on your reading of Connell (2009), can you talk about the implications that social contextualisation has for what a good teacher is?

As is stated in Connell "teaching's daily reality is an improvised assemblage of a very wide range of activities". (p9) Due to the diverse nature it seems clear upon reflection to us that it is foolish to attempt to pigeon hole 'standards' for all teachers to reach, as inevitably the only standards that can be judged and ranked is that of academic performance. Unfortunately it is the belief of the government that endeavours such as My School are needed, when in reality it just forces teachers to focus more solely on academic achievement, as many parents also place an over emphasis on test results as a sign of learning. However, while society may place importance on testing and ranking both teachers and students in various limited criteria, what a good teacher is will never really change, it will continue to be a well rounded person who is good at imparting knowledge while also guiding their students and helping them in any various ways. It is just disappointing that the pastoral care of the students in these tests is so overlooked as are teachers whose students do not necessarily get high grades, but through the guidance of their teachers go on to become successful and happy in their chosen professions. It is important for current and studying teachers to understand the widespread and varying roles they play and the government and parents need to recognise teachers work beyond test scores.