EDCI 5065 Week 2 - Theory 2 Practice essay

Last week the main question we addressed was "what is needed for successful learning to occur?".  This week the focus was on us as a teacher and what we should bring to the teaching/learning mix, again, for successful learning to occur.  In Judy Yero's "How Teacher Thinking Shapes Education, the point was well made that teachers create an environment by their actions, thoughts and words that greatly affect whether a student will feel, for lack of a better word, wanted in the classroom.  One example was whether to describe one's classroom as a zoo or a beehive.  There are values intrinsic in the words I use and I must be careful to keep my words nonpunishing, welcoming, and honest (but polite and respectful).  The students will know how I feel about them by the words I choose.


In David Hansen's "Teaching and the Moral Life of Classrooms, he presents very clear examples of how teachers can create a classroom in which life is as close to fair as possible.  As a society we want our citizens to take turns, treat each other with consideration, be supportive instead of judgmental, and make a personal commitment to learning.  As a teacher I must demonstrate fairness, rationality, respect for myself and the classroom, appreciation for diversity, and even punctuality.  I must model the behaviors I want to foster in my students.  Only then will the classroom have the feeling of being a safe environment for people to be free to get their geek on.  


We talked about how people learn.  I believe that people learn best in an environment in which mutual respect and mutual enhancement is present.  The student-centered approach is   particularly challenging to me.  But I own the benefits of having discussions that lead the students to their own "aha" moment instead of me lecturing for 45 minutes and telling them what they need to know.  I need to make room for off-topic questions, personal discovery and self-directed learning in a physics class.  


If a teacher accompanies students as an expert learner and "guide on the side" through their learning experiences, then the student is more likely to learn because he or she is being given some freedom (which is a demonstration of trust and positive expectations) within a structured, predictable, safe environment while the teacher is available to encourage positive behavior, provide modeling as needed, and engage in an authentic relationship with the student that will hopefully motivate the student to develop competency.