Self Reflection
January 8th 2008 00:44
Self-improvement through regular self-reflection.
Often, teachers are so exhausted from their day-to-day teaching that they don't want to engage in much professional discussion even with beginning teachers. They prefer to chat about their weekend or anything else other than school during their recess and lunch breaks or after school. I've found that some teachers will, in fact, intentionally leave school for periods of time to avoid it such as during free periods or when they have an afternoon free of classes.
This is not productive. How can one learn how to either sustain good practice or propel their skills and knowledge further without regularly stopping and thinking at least about their own teaching if not discussing ideas with other teachers. I don't just mean "What activities do you use with Year 7 to teach the Vikings?". I mean questions like "How do you teach with a mixed ability class? Do you have separate worksheets or do you divide up the lesson time or what?". Or "How do I deal with student X who has a hearing impairment, student Y who has a reading age of 7 but is a senior and student Z who hardly turns up?".
Unfortunately, often teachers attempt to coast through and let most students feel their way through the requirements of the course without much deep thought or appreciation for the subject. Teachers do not often reflect even on whether the lesson they just taught was helpful to all students, to some students or to any students.
As part of the New South Wales Institute of Teachers accreditation program, new teachers and teachers attempting to gain higher levels of accreditation are required to collect evidence of self-reflection and professional discourse over a given period of time. A similar program exists in the UK and I'm sure the same goes for the USA. Teachers are required to collect evidence (usually normal documentation that would be collected for inspections and reviews anyway) in order to prove that they are a) doing their job and b) worthy of gaining higher levels of accreditation.
Self-reflection should be encouraged not just to bolster your level of accreditation but simply to be seen as a committed teacher. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and attempting to overcome obstacles through professional and reasonable discussion are processes which help not just your own growth but the growth of others if they find themselves in similar situations.
I hope that when I achieve the next level of accreditation, my skills at self-reflection will have improved far enough so that I may be constantly improving my own knowledge and practice, and then help others to do the same.
Often, teachers are so exhausted from their day-to-day teaching that they don't want to engage in much professional discussion even with beginning teachers. They prefer to chat about their weekend or anything else other than school during their recess and lunch breaks or after school. I've found that some teachers will, in fact, intentionally leave school for periods of time to avoid it such as during free periods or when they have an afternoon free of classes.
This is not productive. How can one learn how to either sustain good practice or propel their skills and knowledge further without regularly stopping and thinking at least about their own teaching if not discussing ideas with other teachers. I don't just mean "What activities do you use with Year 7 to teach the Vikings?". I mean questions like "How do you teach with a mixed ability class? Do you have separate worksheets or do you divide up the lesson time or what?". Or "How do I deal with student X who has a hearing impairment, student Y who has a reading age of 7 but is a senior and student Z who hardly turns up?".
Unfortunately, often teachers attempt to coast through and let most students feel their way through the requirements of the course without much deep thought or appreciation for the subject. Teachers do not often reflect even on whether the lesson they just taught was helpful to all students, to some students or to any students.
As part of the New South Wales Institute of Teachers accreditation program, new teachers and teachers attempting to gain higher levels of accreditation are required to collect evidence of self-reflection and professional discourse over a given period of time. A similar program exists in the UK and I'm sure the same goes for the USA. Teachers are required to collect evidence (usually normal documentation that would be collected for inspections and reviews anyway) in order to prove that they are a) doing their job and b) worthy of gaining higher levels of accreditation.
Self-reflection should be encouraged not just to bolster your level of accreditation but simply to be seen as a committed teacher. Understanding your own strengths and weaknesses and attempting to overcome obstacles through professional and reasonable discussion are processes which help not just your own growth but the growth of others if they find themselves in similar situations.
I hope that when I achieve the next level of accreditation, my skills at self-reflection will have improved far enough so that I may be constantly improving my own knowledge and practice, and then help others to do the same.
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