My journey of becoming the teacher of English I want to
be begins…
This new experience begins in 2017 when I decided to
study to become a teacher of English at Lenguas Vivas Bariloche.
During these two years, I have learned tons of concepts and
theories from different authors (belonging to different learning areas - studied
in different subjects) in order to approach to the teaching and learning process.
Discovering the different theories related to the Education field, helped me during
my kindergarten practicum period to experience them in the classroom as a
student who is acquiring knowledge to become the best version of a
teacher of English I want to be. I believe that every theory has something useful to put
into practice. Also, teachers and students can take important features from all
of them, so if we find that some theories are not relevant to our learning
process then we can learn from them as we may not put unimportant resources
(theories) into practice (this may be applied to daily situations).
Moreover, I think teaching implicates a lot of responsibility
as teacher work is not only referring to teach knowledge to be acquired by
students, but also as an adult (and as the head of the group) he/she has to
bear in mind student's needs, interests and motivation in order to plan
creative and motivating lessons for students as they acquire knowledge
effectively.
Furthermore, my philosophy of teaching has been
constructed so far by the influential theories read from different pioneers of
education. Some of them are:
* Froebel:
This education philosopher believed that it is essential that children show
their own feelings and their beliefs. Also, he believed that education is a mix
between family and school society.
* Montessori:
He considered that the development of autonomy on children is something
positive that it may be applied to the Education field.
* Dewey:
He was an education pioneer who pointed out the significance of considering
children as unique, and the necessity of searching for a suitable method in
order to cover children' needs.
* Steiner:
He was an educator pioneer who highlighted the significance of observing thoughtfully human being existence as a whole that is each child- his/her soul,
body and spirit connected as a whole- letting each student decide and choose
their own path (understanding teacher figure as a guide on student's learning
process).
I also considered Beloglovsky and Daly's points of view as
they referred to the significance of theoretical background on learning. Beloglovsky and Daly (2015, p 9) believed that have knowledge about learning theories
give us the power to understand and make sense of student's behaviour, allowing
teachers to make good and justified choices, and also to think thoroughly of our own
teaching practices.
Moreover, Constructivism theory concepts are present in
my lesson plannings as children played an active performance on their own
learning process. Also, there are two types of constructivism known theories:
one is Piaget's theory and the other
is Bruner's
theory.
Regarding to Piaget's theory, I highlight the
significance of including students in meaningful activities as this is the way
that they are able to make sense of the world around them. They are active
makers of meaning and their knowledge acquirement, so it is our responsibility -as
future teachers- to bring to them suitable materials and activities that
comprehend authentic difficulties in order to challenge children to keep
learning.
In relation to Bruner's theory, I'd like to underline
the interest on the methods, how to use them for finding out and solving difficulties
presented, the analytical thinking, the influence that narratives and culture
have on students, and the scaffolding strategies.
I strongly believe that multiple intelligences concepts are necessary to be developed during lessons. Alike providing a suitable
environment where students feel confident and motivated to learn, as teachers
we are responsible for helping them, paying attention to their strengths and
weaknesses, thinking on efficient activities to overcome those
weaknesses and how to venture on their strengths, making students feel
respected and in a safe environment providing opportunities for all of them.
Teaching a second language can be challenging, but if
we are creative and also we bear in mind that children enjoy playing, singing,
dancing, colouring and drawing very much while we are preparing our lessons as
a result we will achieve good outcomes.
This
journey is just the beginning of our teaching development and growth. It is the first step of a long way in which we have to be prepared
to learn everyday, not only referring to professional growth, but also learning through paying attention and hearing our colleagues, our students' beliefs, and also the
situations we will have to face (as teachers) day by day in this beautiful
path we have started to become the best teachers of English we can be
in the future.
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