April, 23...Teaching and Community
As The Ethics of Teaching goes on, Strike and Soltis make it clear that, to them, being an ethical teacher means being open, communicative, and in dialogue with others. Does this match up with how you have tended to think about teachers and what teaching is? Please think hard about whether your assumption about teachers/teaching have tended toward thinking about teachers as isolated individual workers. Do you see value in a more social depiction of teachers/teaching? Why or why not?
Morgan H:
ReplyDeleteI think I have tended to think of teaching as mostly individualized. I think most teachers do their class prep in the summer or at home. They also spend time alone getting all their marking done. Even in the school, teachers are in their class teaching alone, or use their prep periods to get work done. I know of some teachers who even eat lunch alone in their rooms. This is all very isolated. However, I believe teachers need to be communicative and work together. This would allow teachers to communicate about a child's situation and education status, it would allow teachers to share materials and help each other, it would allow teachers to feel supported and like there work has meaning, it would make teachers feel as though they belong, and it would allow teachers to feel united and more willing to voice their opinions knowing they have support from their other teachers. Being a united teacher community would have so many positive benefits! So my question is, why don’t teachers do that now?
I haven't thought too much previously about teachers as isolated, but I do believe that teaching should be communicative and social to provide a strong front and sense of unity within teaching communities. This allows teachers to discuss systems for their classroom and find what works for them, this could easily happen if the education system was more social and there were accessible groups to discuss tactics. Not only would such a group provide support for teachers, but would overall create a better learning environment for students with tips and advice in administration. No teacher should have to be isolated from peers, as numbers provide help like a family and will transfer over to future educators and their students as well.
ReplyDeleteErin Felix-
ReplyDeleteI thought that teaching was more of an isolated job but from my SL i have learned that it can be quite open. I think that it is a good thing for teachers to work together and communicate. I believe this will create a strong bond within the schools community. I think this can help with lesson plans to school hosted events. I also think this is good because I would think that this would help create a good environment for the students to learn in if the students can see there teachers openly working together. I feel like openly communicating will create a positive and supportive environment. I think that teaching should not be a completely isolated job. teachers that are isolated are more likely to burn out as well. An open teaching community can help prevent teacher burn out. I think that having an open community among the teachers would have a very positive outcome and allow them to connect their knowledge and skills.
Ji-eun Hwang
ReplyDeleteOriginally I did not think of teachers that way because I mainly thought teaching was more about instruction.But now reading this text I see those characteristics helps make an ethical teacher because it is important to have a relationship with the students.When I first got interested in teaching I was thinking I would be that individual isolated worker. But no I no longer think this way and want to be seen more as a social depiction. Teacher do a lot for their students which includes socializing. They have to work with colleagues, students and families so in a school setting they don't have much time to be isolated. It is great for teacher to be sociable because it allows communication and strong relationships.
I always new teaching involed communication with others but i didnt realize exactly how much and its alot more than i expected. I never knew how much you would need to create a sort of pact with other teachers and get close with higher ups so you can continue teaching how you want to and get more leeway. i also thought that teachers had to follow a strict way to teach, how they teach, and what they teach but it turns out theres a kinda basic guidelines and you can branch off of that which is nice. i do see more value in being social and getting out into society as a teacher because it can impact so many peoples lives by doing so.
ReplyDelete-Garen Glueck
DeleteI always thought that teachers in the same department worked collectively together. It helps them build communication between each other and bonds. It is important for them to have that communication because you might like something that another teacher is doing to teach their children and do the same thing as well. You can build ideas off of each other and come up with improvements for your classroom together. I never thought of teachers being isolated because you are always communicating with your students and colleagues. If teachers were to think of themselves as feeling alone or isolated in their classrooms, they would have this pressure of thinking they always have to be perfect and have no one to talk to for advice or help which would not be healthy.
ReplyDeleteCourtney Hedrick-Choi
Personally, growing up Ive seen teachers in the past work together a lot. It is a support system and they all rely on one another for help. During my service learning experience I was assigned to a classroom who had two teachers! They both switched off on different days of the week and both shared information regarding different activities and lesson plans. Also when I was younger a lot of my teachers were on "teams" where they all did activities together like field trips and etc. They were a close knit group and they all helped one another. My service learning teaching told me that teachers in the past would pass down their lesson plans to help one another especially if they were new to the grade or school. Yes teachers may be alone in classrooms most of their days but overall they do communicate with other teachers either through emails or text to make them feel close.
ReplyDeleteI have always seen teachers work together and share content/ideas as well as other useful things. I think teaching works best when you have a group you're able to communicate and elaborate with best. I see why there are some teachers who are more private and do their "own thing." To a certain extent the job is not realistic being extremely isolated, especially during the first few years. I consider being a teacher to be more social but I don't know if I'll ever know the extent until I'm first hand teaching.
ReplyDeleteRebecca Mendoza Vasquez
ReplyDeleteI have always seen being a teacher as being open, communicative, and in dialogue with others. I think teachers working together is important because one teacher may be able to help another in a lesson plan and sticking together can help feel less isolated and stressed. I think it's important to be able to problem solve together and work as a team.
Nour Hamadeh
ReplyDeleteWhen I first started college, I thought of teaching as an isolated individual work, where teachers just go to their classroom and teach away from everybody else. I though it is better for teachers to prepare their lesson plans by themselves. However, now I think of teaching as an open, communicative work. I have seen a lot of teachers working together and coming up with great ideas to help all students succeed in the classroom. Teachers can help each other in lesson planning, coming up with new ideas, meeting the needs of all students, and creating a better teaching environment. I believe that teachers should always communicate and build strong relationships with others. This will make the school environment more friendly and accepting of others.
My educational experience was pretty unique in the sense that my elementary school had "pods" for each grade, basically it was a communal area with reading shelves and tables and 4-5 doors -- one for each homeroom in that grade. So from an early age I got to witness teachers and educators working together. I remember in fifth grade we did international foods day, and we got to line up and walk into each classroom for a different type of culture and their food. We did big group readings in the pod where teachers rotated reading to us, we watched movies and videos there and even did free time there. I guess i'e never realized how beneficial that is for students until this assignment, because I just assumed other schools functioned the same. Going into middle school, I actually attended a secondary school so it was grades 7th-12th under one roof. The middle school was kept separate and as students we were put into "teams" -- blue, gold, green, red. We had team teachers and worked together with other classes in our team. It really helped develop our team building skills and just further emphasized my understanding of teachers as a team not isolated. I think there is a lot of value and power in seeing teachers as a team rather than as an individual because there is a better sense of collaboration, spread of knowledge and benefits for the children.
ReplyDeleteI also had the opportunity to attend an elementary school with "pods" for younger grades and specific sections of the school for each grade. for my grade in particular, we were the largest at the school so for our upper years there (4th-6th grade) we had 4 classes instead of 3 and occupied the upstairs which had only 4 classrooms. due to this i was able to see each team of teachers collaborate heavily together and allowing students to flow in between rooms easily for certain activities and subjects when we weren't in our individual classrooms. i do think that teachers should be their own individual and tweak activities and lesson plans that are personalized to their personality and teaching styles but being exposed to such strong team values seemed efficiently and beneficial for me through my schooling.
ReplyDeleteNaomi Debebe:
ReplyDeleteI thought teaching was more of what that individual like to do and how. The way the materials are prepared to even how the exams are laid out. I thought teaching is something that is prepared when the teachers have more free time like summer or any vacations. I do believe for the most part teachers are individual workers when it comes to how they setup the material. When it comes to the actual material, I do feel that that is when they have to communicate.
I think of teaching as both individualized and social. You teach in the room alone for the most part but teachers use online resources from other teachers on TPT, they bounce ideas off of each other, you are bound to work with the special ed teacher eventually, and you have to do a lot of communication with administration and parents. So even though for the most part it will just be you and your class, I don't think I would consider teaching as an isolated job. Arguably, I don't think there is anything you can do all on your own without any communication or dialogue with others. Even doctors who own there own business have to bounce ideas off of other doctors or be able to trust other doctors to refer patients out and they have to go to a certain amount of seminars every year where they are forced to communicate with other doctors.
ReplyDeleteMelodee
ReplyDeleteI've always thought of teaching as an individual task. A single teacher spends hours everyday with teaching to large class sizes without much help. I do see a lot of value in teachers working in a social aspect with peers, parents, principals, and other educators. It helps spread new ideas, materials, and knowledge for everyone involved, rather than leaving it to one teacher. This then creates frustration, stress, and poor communication skills with their students. Competition often comes with teachers who try to shine the best with high test scores or overall passing rates on SOL's. Nothing about that screams social to me, yet extremely individual. I feel that if teaching were to be strictly social, there would be an increase in learned materials and an overall satisfaction in society. Everyone will have the same access to great education.
Before I did think teaching was mostly isolated but since taking classes where I would need to be in a classroom all day as an observer/helper of the teacher, I saw how they hold meetings with the other teachers of their same grade level and share what they plan to do and ideas of what has worked and hasn't. I think it is very important for teachers to be open, communicative and in dialogue with others but a proper balance of this and individual work is the perfect setup in my opinion. Each teacher has their own style of teaching and it is great to get ideas from other teacher that may own better but being able to make changes and incorporate your ideas is important as well.
ReplyDeleteWhen I started thinking about becoming a teacher I thought of it as an isolated individual work. I thought each teacher is responsible to come up with their own lesson plans and everything related to their class. But after I started doing service learning I started observing what teachers do as a group of educators getting together to help students succeed. They hold meetings to come up with ideas for every lesson. It’s great to have different point of views on everything as teachers do when they gather.
ReplyDeleteBy default, I guess I have assumed the teacher as an individual- there styles and passion only reaching a certain crowed. However, now I think that it is important for educators to collaborate and share new ideas and tactics. Things in the world are always changing, so I see there is a benefit to teachers discussing how they plan to take their next step in order for them to stay one step ahead.
ReplyDeleteI attended a small, private school for elementary and middle school. Each grade had only two teachers until you reached 4th grade, after which we rotated between 3 to 5 teachers. In this environment, I witnessed a decent amount of collaboration and coordination between teachers. In high school, however, my teachers appeared to work in their own individual spaces. When I reflect on what I think teaching is, I thought of teaching as social outside of the classroom but isolated inside. On one hand, depending on the situation, some teachers may not be in an environment in which open communication is welcome and may be forced to work individually to maintain their own values and beliefs within the classroom. On the other hand, if a teacher is in an environment where socialization and dialogue are welcomed and encouraged, I think this is incredibly beneficial to the teaching practice. I think it is important for teachers to share and discuss situations in the classroom and to be open to different opinions.
ReplyDeleteLeslie ^^^^
DeleteAnna Calabrese:
ReplyDeleteBeing open and communicative doesn't really match up with the teacher stereotype that I am used to. I think that we're always told that teachers should be able to handle problems on their own and be in control of everything. We also tend to think of teachers as individuals separate from their peers. Despite this view, I think that seeing teaching from a social perspective is a healthy and helpful way of looking at it. It would allow teachers to build a support system and to collaborate with others. In another class, it was also suggested that building relationships with other teachers and faculty can prevent teacher burnout.
It was enlightening to read about my classmates’ varying experiences in school - some had pods while others had more traditional classrooms. I had a mix of both experiences. My elementary school tried a system where one teacher in a grade level taught one subject, science for example, to the whole grade and we would rotate into each teacher’s classroom during the day. I think this was a great idea because it prepared us for what out middle and high school learning experience would be. I have personally always preferred teachers who were more outgoing and they tend to collaborate and engage with other teachers and students. I feel strongly that both teachers and students benefit from a collaborative process - we all have our special talents and the “artists” among us can create certain materials that the department can share while the writers, linguists, and problem solvers have their own contributions to make. There is no sense recreating the wheel and, with time at such a premium, a collective of shared materials will help all of us. Time management always came up as a challenge with my service-learning mentor teacher. This is another way that veteran teachers can help the newbies while we are still learning to manage all of our responsibilities. The reality of today’s high student - teacher ratios means we will all have extra time devoted to marking papers, working with even more student issues (behavior plans, IEP’s etc.), reaching out to more families - so a collaborative process among teachers is critical really in being able to manage it all and maintain equilibrium.
ReplyDeleteWhen thinking about becoming a teacher I thought of it as completely individual work since other than the content it is up to you and your ideas to present the content. I thought each teacher is responsible to come up with their own lesson plans and everything related to their class. This is not really the case they hold meetings to come up with ideas for every lesson and collaborate on what works and what does not work. Things are always changing, so I see there is a benefit to teachers discussing how to take their next step in order for them to stay one step ahead. I also feel like It’s great to have different point of views on everything as teachers do when they gather.
ReplyDeleteMadison Nail
ReplyDeleteTeaching is quite a lot of individual work, each teacher has control over how their classroom is run and how the information is presented. There are SOLs that must be presented in each grade, so there are mostly guidelines for what information you teach each year. You should use all the resources you have access to and that includes other people. I think it is important to communicate and collaborate ideas, help each other out, and continue to learn your entire career. Hopefully all teachers are working toward the goal of providing the best education possible for all students, so it work together.
From what I think teaching should be like being open and communication is key. Being open to different techniques for classroom management even being open to Sols their students are obligated to take. Communicating with fellow teachers and even the principal at your school is two good resources you should when trying to come up with ideas and things. With this being said I don't think it's so easy for everybody. Some teachers like to do things on their own and feel no one is needed for help. I just wish that even if you stand on working alone, at least try reaching out to others to get ideas or even elaborate on things.
ReplyDelete