What kind of teacher are you ...?

Well this is just for a little bit of fun. I stumbled across a quiz that is meant to determine what kind of teacher they think we might just be! Now, its really aimed at the comprehensive school teacher and one example involves year nine pupils smoking in a school corridor! So what would I do ... was I ever that kid myself ...? Well maybe for about a week but like many fads when I was an average kind of teenager this fashion accessory was not one for keeps (in my day!).

The question here might be how would you approach or would you even approach a teenager today who is blatantly smoking in full view of other pupils and staff? Well, I think I probably would but not in some punitive style like it appeared to have been 'in my day'. As I recall in the mid nineteen eighties any wrong-doing was pretty much dealt with by your archetypal male P.E. teacher who, in my 'old school' thought that making pupils run around the gym in a pair of plimsolls and a vest would be enough to cure any ill thought out notions of social vagrancy ... !

Perhaps it worked for some, however on the one occasion I was caught bunking off school (just the once and for a good reason, of course) this exercise seemingly only served to replace the running training I'd missed earlier that morning. This was opposed to assuming a more modern approach, if you will, that explores the conflict present between academic study and the usual teenage angst. An alternative framework based on restorative practice is certainly gathering momentum in Swansea which evidences a measurable value in its redistribution of power between teacher and learner and works towards a more mutual approach to learning, applying non judgmental problem solving skills to resolve any identifiable obstacles blocking the progress towards personal, academic and social development.

The real point to all of this is, arguably, a matter of fundamental 'approach'.  My approach, for instance, how might it differ currently from teaching practice 'in my day'? Of course, I am intending to assume the role I have since learned but how difficult a process might that be to implement in practice? The late Brazilian educator Paulo Freire (see notes on side-bar for more information) coined the following illustration as a passive 'banking style' method commonly applied in more traditional teaching environments. Whether you as the reader agrees that the redistribution of power between the teacher and learner is a positive change, I really find it difficult to recognize the benefit in any of the following sentiments: That " X, Y & Z, (for instance) are the facts, I as the teacher am the all knowing expert, your place here is to listen and learn from me and should you refuse to co-operate with me as your teacher then there are strict sanctions in  place, like after school and weekend detentions! Or,  if you prefer, under more extreme circumstances where abject disobedience from authority is obvious, you could find yourself the unfortunate recipient of ten lashings of the best from one willing head-teacher whose really is quite handy with a cane ... So kid, just sit down and listen to me, you're in for the learning experience of your life and one day you'll come back and thank me for being so brilliant and telling you everything you ever needed to know!"

But really, this is not the modern way or my personal philosophy at all ...!

...So, I thought the quiz could be fun in any case although I found the questions a little restrictive and without actually being a comprehensive school teacher, I have taught and interacted with students on delivery of drama in education workshops, so I attempted, as a neophyte, to base my answers on what type of teacher under those conditions I like to consider myself to be. I tried not to imagine being too serious about it all though under pressure with deadlines to meet and a real sense of responsibility when it comes to doing justice to the learning experience of children in whatever capacity they may  be, I think this might be an activity to ask your colleagues or best friend to complete it on your behalf. Still at the least it got me really thinking about what kind of teacher do I want to aspire to be for my pupils, what makes a really great teacher, who were my favourites and why .... so thanks TES Resources for this little gem, I hope that if this sparks your interest too, I would love it if you shared one or a few of your viewpoints about your own learning experiences and what kind of teacher TES reckons you are .... even though it insists on calling me Carole... perhaps to TES though everyone is Carole ... who knows, maybe you could illuminate ....?

Try the quiz for yourself right here by following the link below:
http://www.tes.co.uk/article.aspx?storyCode=6363259&s_cid=Landing_teachertypequiz#.UpN7EtK8Diu

This is the feedback I received, what will yours reveal about your teaching approach ...?

 Your Results

Carole Comfy-Cardy

Everyone likes Carole. She’s the one who’ll ask you about your plans for the summer and actually listen to the answer. She talks to anyone, and falls out with no-one. The younger kids are happy to be mothered by her; the older ones might muck her about, but they always turn to her with issues or insecurities.

OK, so she’ll never be the model of corporate efficiency or ruthless ambition. She can’t be bothered with the wardrobe for a start. Friendship,being a good listener, fluffy slippers – these are the things that really matter.

Any questions, "Please SEE ME!" 

Reflections on blogging as a noggin!

Oh, you should create a blog ... it's easily accessible, user friendly, you can share your news with friends, colleagues and fellow students ... creating a personal journey of interesting viewpoints, reflections and latest academic research about our working progress in a related field, in my case, within the post 16 education and community sectors.

Well, I tried ... it all began so well, at first ... I logged onto Google and found the right button to create my first blog ... but oh the possibilities,they appear endless ... the means to work out how to make your blog do what you beheld in your vision at the very beginning of this innovative idea ... simply a minefield!

I felt like a fool, walking aimlessly around Hampton Court Maze, trying to remain cool whilst knowing full well I have no idea where my physical presence existed within the seamless grass time-warp that had seemed to consume all my abilities to make informed choices and exert my autonomous power that might eventually

be my fate accomplice!
 

Thank goodness for ICT lectures and Mandy Peace at University of Wales Trinity St. David for saving my face and my virgin blog on more than several occasions. I am indebted to the whole team and our collaborative input that enabled this blog post to ever make it onto the public wall for anyone to add a contribution by way of refutation, rebuke or a welcomed conjecture to any impromptu inclinations to post about current issues, to spruce up daily regurgitations that still present themselves in this epoch of modernity.

Of course under the auspices of a university, academic research is one of the leading authorities on the latest knowledge inherent in anything knowledgeable or technical so I defer all technical errors, found here present to the over-arching powers that monitor my independent IT skills, in my best interest of course and to protect the safety of its readers ... I say in jest of course!

I am faithful that my idealized aims to blog interesting posts, both academic and personal (which who knows may synchronize even sometimes) - to create a kind of working archive that can be resourced time and again, as a pointer and a reminder towards delivering the best practice and an effective reflexive tool to enable the continuation of professional and personal development.

Blogging, it appears is a generous activity since it empowers anybody with the power to publish anything they might wish to share with anybody else in the world ... the art of blogging, I suppose is finding innovative and engaging ways to invite others to read what you thought was interesting material ...

I am interested to learn who would be interested in how I see the world, my viewpoints about specific items probably and usually affiliated within the field of education. I love the new Translation button, who in China, Nepal or Katmandu might stumble upon the musings of this ever optimistic writer and post their comments, generously creating a 'global' community that may be accessed from any remote corner or maze for that matter .. wherever they may be!