Role of Teacher on Society

Who are we? What are we? A lot of what we are was implanted in us as young children by teachers who cared enough to teach it to us. Throughout my life I was taught many of the values I have today by my educators. I was instilled with the skills of how to get along with my peers, knowing right from wrong, and realizing that the best way to get what I wanted was to respect others first. The teachers I’ve had along the way have inspired me to become a better person. They have made me recognize how I wish to be like them. I too want to help children realize their full potential. I want to be a person in their lives that they can look back on and say she helped me hope and strive for the best that I could be.

In today’s society there are so many distractions in students’ lives. They have to deal with family traumas, drugs, extra-curricular activities, making their place in the world, peer pressure, jobs, etc.. When all these things are on someone’s mind it’s often hard to concentrate on school work and rules. I want the students to come to my class with the attitude that it is a place of refuge. I want them to forget about their fulfilled lives and see that learning can be fun and interesting. I want to make them realize that school isn’t just a boring place where the cafeteria food is bad. I want them to be interested by finding something they enjoy doing and maybe they’ll be able to find their places in this world a little better. It is so hard to make students understand how crucial education is. Especially in today’s society. I want to try and raise their self-esteem so they can become the people they want to be. I want to be involved in their lives so maybe if they are having problems at home they can feel like they can come to me for comfort or help. There are a few teachers who I could have gone to for assistance. I now appreciate them more than ever because they made me see hope in people. I want to be like them if not better.

In order to be the teacher I would like to be I first want to challenge my students to be the best they can be. I agree with a Nation at Risk when it calls for greater academic rigor, and higher expectations for students. I want to enforce these values in my classroom as well.

I’ve always been a fan of learning in groups. I found that a little assistance from fellow classmates always aided me further in my learning progress. That’s why cooperative learning will definitely be applied in my classroom. Since cooperative learning helps to amplify students interactions and processing skills it will assist children to strive for the higher expectations that society will put on them as they get older.

Cooperative learning can improve on students grades, self-esteem, personal relationships, and understanding of others. Which I feel is a very good incentive to try and promote in my own curriculum. The groups should be small and circular to promote easy conversation. Within the group the assignment should be shared and the work load should be evened out between how many students there are. If the labor is shared then all students will feel like they have contributed in some way and might take it more seriously if a whole group is depending on them instead of just one person. If a student understands that he or she has a responsibility to do something within their group they will more than likely do it, because if they don’t then the individuals in the group might be upset with them and it would serve as an incentive for them to do well.

Students often receive approval or rewards for a job well done in their overall performance. When I obtained praise for my accomplishments I usually always tried to repeat what I did well. I’m a firm believer in awarding children and reinforcing them when they behave and do a good job. In my classroom, I will try to make students feel like they are doing things right, and maybe they will try and achieve at everything they do.

I like the idea of project-based instruction as well as cooperative learning. Trying to have children learn with real life situations is a very good concept. Asking the students higher level questions and having them involved in their own projects gives the students a taste of what “real life” has to offer. It also excites and motivates students to want to learn. If I combine cooperative learning and project-based instruction in my classroom I feel that it will be an effective way of approaching learning and getting the curriculum across to the students in a fun way.

I’m aware of the different fundamental principles of teaching. Which include: essentialism, perennialism, progressivism, existentialism, reconstructionism, and behaviorism. Each have their own unique techniques of teaching, but I prefer progressivism. I’m ecstatic that there was a progressivist movement that stimulated schools to broaden their curricula, making education more relevant to the needs and interests of students. I feel that it was brilliant on John Dewey’s behalf when he states, “as we alter our relationship with our environment, we ourselves are made different by the experience.” I believe that we are changed everyday by encounters we have. Everything we do alters our lives in some way and that makes us who we are. I’m a fan of progressivism because it emphasizes the ability to have intelligent free-thinking citizens. I like the idea that progressivism is a hands on technique of teaching. John Dewey thought there should be more observing and experimenting withe the subjects. He proposed a five step methods for solving problems: (1) become aware of the problem, (2) define it, (3) propose various hypotheses to solve it. (4) examine the consequences of each hypothesis in light of previous experience, and (5) test the most likely solution. I want to apply this style of teaching in my classroom and hope that the students respond as well as I think they will.

In conclusion, I want to state that I feel strongly about promoting students to excel. I feel it is essential that children are confident about themselves and what they achieve while they are attending school. I want to present to the students in my classroom that they can feel free to be themselves and try to have them interacting with others. In teaching there are teachers and then there are great teachers. I will prove to be a great teacher!