Reflect on which aspects of the children's sharing strikes a chord with.
Explain why and discuss the implications for you as beginning teacher.
The video mentioned the following topics:
(1) What they want their teacher to be
(2) About the physical environment
(3) Active learning engages them better and can be more fun
(4) ICT in the classroom
(5) Group work and cooperative learning
(6) Reinforcement, encouragement, feedback of recognition of pupils’ work
(7) Discipline and scolding
(8) Teachers’ awareness of pupils’ needs
(1) What they want their teacher to be
I feel that most students, not to mention primary school children would want their teachers to be nice, friendly and never scold them. However, I wonder how realistic and practical would this be. No single person can be nice, friendly and happy 24/7, moreover with the ever-increasing workload and pressure placed on the shoulders of teachers, it is really impossible for teachers to be an ‘angel’ all the time.
What I feel is important is for teachers to build positive teacher-pupil rapport such that there is a warm, accepting mutual relationship. As a teacher, I should bear in mind that pupils especially young children, look up to me as a role model, thus my words and behaviour have a huge impact on them. While I need not be smiling all the time, I should never vent my anger/frustrations on the class. Remaining calm and self-regulating my own temper is essential to garner the respect of pupils as well as to set good examples for them. Nonetheless, I believe that as a teacher, I should have a loving heart and try my best to be patient and tolerant of pupils who may deviate from ‘normal’ behaviour.
(2) Physical environment of the classroom
One of the participant in the video mentioned that he would like to have the opportunity to paint/decorate his own classroom.
Personally, I had the chance to paint my own classroom when I was in Secondary 2. I believe that this gave me greater ownership towards my classroom which is essentially where the bulk of my learning takes place. It also provided me with a sense of satisfaction, achievement and belonging when the classroom decoration was completed. It also differentiated the various classes and gave us a sense of ‘identity’ which is very important to adolescents.
However, as a primary school teacher, I feel that several concerns need to be address if one was to allow pupils to paint/decorate the classroom. For instance, as young children’s brains are still developing, it might be hazardous for them to be breathing in/in contact with paint. In addition, even after warning pupils not to ‘eat’ the paint, there still might be a possibility for children to do so, and this could have serious consequences.
A suggestion would be to allow pupils to decorate their classroom according to their chosen theme (e.g., palace, forest, underwater) or according to season (e.g., spring, summer, autumn, winter) or during festive season (e.g, Chinese New Year, Hari Raya, Deepavali). The class can use recycled materials and child-safe equipments such as safety scissors to minimize/prevent accidents.
It is also important for the physical environment of the classroom to be clean so as to provide a healthy learning environment that is conducive for teaching and learning.
(3) Active learning
I agree that hands-on activities that involve student participation such as games, role play, experiments, and excursions would promote meaningful learning as there is a concrete context for pupils to relate to. In addition, students should actively construct their knowledge such that the information belongs to them instead of teachers spoon-feeding them all the content knowledge which may eventually function as ‘sticky paper’; once exams are over, pupils lose their memory of the information.
(4) ICT
I agree with what one of the participant mentioned regarding ICT; the use of ipad for pupils to input their answers such that teachers can collect their responses, provide immediate feedback and save time on collection and distribution, thereby promoting efficiency.
Another advantage of tapping into technology to collect data would be that responses can be anonymous, thus reducing the pressure on pupils to provide the ‘right’ answers rather than what they truly think.
(5) Group work and cooperative learning
The video triggered me to reflect on the role of teacher to facilitate group work and cooperative learning. For the benefits of collaborative learning to occur, I believe that the stage/atmosphere that supports it must be present within the classroom. If pupils have poor peer relationship, poor social skills, are unable to resolve conflicts; group work may have a negative impact by exacerbating the tension and feelings of animosity within the class.
Therefore, it is important for teachers to educate pupils on the values of team work, the necessary conditions for the benefits to be reaped and lay down certain ground rules such as respect each others’ opinions, be open to constructive criticisms, give everyone a chance to speak.
(6) Reinforcement, encouragement, feedback of recognition of pupils’ work
I am a strong believer of reinforcements as I feel that children would be motivated to repeat a particular behaviour when it is followed by a positive reaction/consequence. The simple act of recognising the child’s effort and improvement can certainly boost his/her confidence and self-esteem to do as well or even better the next time round. This is especially important for the weaker students who make need more encouragement so as not to feel despair/discouraged at their lower attainment as compared to their peers. Nonetheless, teachers should not give reinforcement freely, as this may be perceived by the pupils to be ‘fake’ or ‘acts of sympathy’ rather than genuine recognition. Over-reinforcement when inappropriate may also create a situation where the child is sensitised to rewards and only work for extrinsic motivation rather than inculcate the love and passion for learning.
Feedback is another area that is very important. I believe that feedback should be immediate and specific, for example, when a child does something inappropriate, the feedback should be immediately after his behaviour and specific to the behaviour itself, rather than attacking the child as a person. Positive feedback should also be specific so that the child knows what went well and how to improve.
(7) Discipline and scolding
Difficult it may be I feel that teachers should not jump into conclusion and lash at pupils when things go awry. Before scolding the child, perhaps as adults, we should take a deep breath and re-look at the situation. Find out reasons why the child is behaving in such a way and are there any other contributing factors (including teacher’s behaviour which may reinforce the child by providing attention, or when the class laughs at the child’s jokes/disruptive behaviours). In addition, teachers may try to ‘scold’ the child without raising his/her voice as this may scare the child. Instead, try to reason out with the child what went wrong/why is it wrong and what might he/she have done alternatively.
(8) Teachers’ awareness of pupils’ needs
I believe that this takes time, effort and a lot of trial and errors for teacher to understand the child and attempt to tailor teaching styles to match the pupils’ needs, abilities and learning preferences. It also depends on the quality of the teacher-student relationship for pupils to be willing to share/disclose information with the teacher and raise concerns or seek help from the teacher.
"Ideal teachers are those who use themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross, then having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to create bridges of their own." -- Nikos Kazantzakis
This is one quote that I really like as I agree that teachers are facilitators, we cannot force pupils to walk a certain path or cross the bridge in a certain manner. However, we should be a reliable source of encouragement and support to egg them on in crossing the bridge and eventually, we should hope that the pupils are able to create bridges of their own and in-turn, help others in need.
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