Kumar Ch.1

When reading one quote right from the start jumped out to me; it was the quote on page seven about the role of the teacher that said, “the teacher has been variously referred to as an artist and an architect; a scientist and a psychologist; a manager and a mentor; a controller and a counselor; a sage on the stage; a guide on the side; and more.” In my first teaching class ever at ISU, on the first day, my teacher began class saying that a teacher wears many different hats; meaning a teacher can be and is all of the various things mentioned in the above quote. A teacher’s role can never be distinctly defined; chances are it is always changing day to day since a teacher never knows what to expect, or what will happen. Like the chapter states, teachers can be seen as technicians focused on content knowledge, fact and rules; teachers can be reflective practitioners who are context-sensitive, and whose actions are grounded in intellectual thought, or they can be seen as transformative intellectuals where pedagogy is embedded in relations of power and dominance to create and sustain social inequalities. The point is teachers can be and are everything our text talks about; the proper phrase being having “relative tendencies, with teachers leaning toward one or the other at different moments” (17).  A teacher’s role is always changing to meet the changing classroom dynamic and needs of all the diverse learners. 

Prabu, “There is No Best Method” & Brown Ch. 1&2

When looking through the chapters in our textbook by Brown, especially chapter two, a common theme I found was how in almost all of the methods talked about throughout the chapter they all value comfort, relaxation, listening, and support.  When reading through Prabu’s piece then on there being no best method I could not help but think that comfort, relaxation, listening and support were all parts of a method that carries onto other methods like Prabu discussed.  Before even reading the piece, just from all the different classes that I have already taken, I knew the reason there is no best method is because there cannot be one single method for everyone or every context.  To me the best method, if there has to be one, is a mixture of all methods that include such things as comfort, relaxation, listening, and support, but then include what works within the context you are teaching. Everything in our learning differs depending on the person and the content. When in the article Prabu says “because it all depends,” it is true; it really does depend on a number of different factors (162).  First off, one of the main reasons I myself believe that one best method cannot be determined is because all the definitions, even ones as simple as motivation or environment, etc. all have very ambiguous meanings to different people depending on their context and content. There are numerous shades and layers to each term; our knowledge on how to define these terms is uncertain; again it all depends.  This is the reason so many different methods are constantly surfacing, teachers must use what works for us for each of our different contexts and what makes sense to us based on our definitions and what we know.

There is some argument on there being truth to every method, but how do we know what part of the method is the truth? Again, it all comes down to the teacher, students, and what is being taught. What works for one may not work for another. To me, I think each teacher just needs to worry about one’ own theory; that is what is most important for both teachers and their diverse learners and learning situations. If we are trying to make teaching not mechanical and have teachers instead be truly involved and engaged, they need to create theories that work for them.

At one point in our reading it says, “this implies that, for any single teaching context, there is in fact a method that is best and, further, we are able to determine what it is” (163). My question is after reading and using my prior knowledge and experience, why do we need to determine only one best method? And furthermore, why can’t we deem the one best method a mixture of methods that best work within each specific teachers content and context in which they teach?

Intro Posting

I am an English Education major. I wish to teach in a context much like my own high school. I am from a suburb of Chicago which is a fairly large town. My high school was pretty big; my graduating class had about seven hundred students in it.  I would love to teach in a high school about this size. I am not sure what schooling is like in a small school environment, or one that is too large. I feel, for me, that my high school was the perfect size. It was small enough to feel comfortable, yet big enough to feel like you have more freedom than when in a small school where everyone knows each other. My high school had a great social environment too.  I feel like we were very involved with everything that was going on in the school. If the football players were having a great season we would have weekly pep rallies celebrating their success. If even a small club had something great happen for them we would celebrate. My high school was so spirited and close knit. This is the kind of high school I wish to teach in in the future.  I feel economically we were well off, but not extremely wealthy like some of the other high schools around us. We had everything we needed, and the budget to get the things that we didn’t. I wish for it to be that way for me in the high school I teach at.  In addition, my high school was very culturally diverse, and I loved it. There were students with very various backgrounds and ethnicities. I feel this truly enriched our learning because we learned to work with different learners as well as students with different backgrounds and stories to share. I am comfortable in a culturally diverse environment and would really enjoy teaching in one as well.

As an educator some goals that I have are to really make an impression on my students and their lives. I want them to think of my class as somewhere safe and comfortable. Somewhere where they can come at any time and feel like they belong, and for my classroom to be a place students enjoy.  I want them to find me as a teacher they can trust, talk to, and be supported by. Another goal I have is to be positive always and constantly encourage my students. I want to provide them with an environment they can truly flourish and grow in. Throughout this course I hope to gain a better understanding of my diverse learners and the theories and practices I need in order to teach them best.