I have a question:
Do you think that J/I teacher should teach all subjects or only those they have studied at university or those they feel comfortable with? Do you think that the comfort level and knowledge of a teacher in a subject area they are teaching affects students' overall performance?
For example, I think that as much as I try, I will never be able to teach music as that is not my strength at ALL! How are students supposed to learn from me? Don't get me wrong, I love music and I couldn't live without it, but my loving it and being competent to teach the same are two COMPLETELY different things. Please help me, console me and more importantly, TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK!
THANK YOU!
Ana K.
(aka MayaTheBee)
Sunday, September 23, 2007
What Do You Think?
"Schools, more than any other institution in our society, assimilate persons from different ethnic, racial, religious, and cultural backgrounds and pass on the values and customs of the majority.(Parkay et al., 1996, p.109)" quote comes from Chapter 1, pg.22 of our Foundational Methods textbook along with two interesting questions:
1. Should majority values and customs be honoured in schools?
2. Should each student be expected to assimilate the values customs of majority?
I am really interested to hear your opinions as my stance on this issue might be tainted. Just a mention of the word assimilation stirs up something in me. I must admit that in my case, the word has a rather negative connotation. To rephrase it I am quite allergic to it and sometimes, I wish it didn't exist in our vocabulary:) However, I recognize its positive side and how the process of assimilation could be beneficial to an individual in learning new ways of being and coexisting with others in a new country.
When I hear the word assimilation, the past becomes alive and I can't help but to see the following:
I've just come to Canada. Everything was new -a new city, new people, a new language...and a completely new educational system. I decided to take Canadian history as one of my subject and my first test was coming up. Mr.G preferred lecturing, while we students were expected to take notes. At the beginning of the year we were given a textbook, however Mr.G never made any reference to it. The test was coming up, and I wanted to prepare myself really well, especially because this was my very first test to be written in English. In my previous educational system, students were expected to study both from the text & notes. I went to Mr.G and I wanted to know if I needed to study from the text since he never made any mention of it. If memory serves me well this is how our dialogue went on:
"Mr. G do I need to study from the text as well or just from your notes?"
"Ana this is not Yugoslavia , here you don't need to memorize everything word by word."
"O.K. Mr.G" - I left the classroom with feelings of shame, hurt and disappointment....(I was always proud of my education prior to coming to Canada). However, I quickly learned that and not only from that experience alone, I will need to "assimilate" as quickly as possible. Did I have to compromise on my existing identity? Did I have to change my ways of being to fit the majority? Did I have to assimilate? The answers are most likely YES, as a kid I did not want to experience any further marginalization due to my "differences".
Now, I realize that I cannot change the past, but as a teacher I really need to look at these issues closely, as I would want my students to be proud of who they are and from where they come from.
I am looking forward to hearing your opinions. Thanks!
Ana K.
(aka MayaTheBee)
1. Should majority values and customs be honoured in schools?
2. Should each student be expected to assimilate the values customs of majority?
I am really interested to hear your opinions as my stance on this issue might be tainted. Just a mention of the word assimilation stirs up something in me. I must admit that in my case, the word has a rather negative connotation. To rephrase it I am quite allergic to it and sometimes, I wish it didn't exist in our vocabulary:) However, I recognize its positive side and how the process of assimilation could be beneficial to an individual in learning new ways of being and coexisting with others in a new country.
When I hear the word assimilation, the past becomes alive and I can't help but to see the following:
I've just come to Canada. Everything was new -a new city, new people, a new language...and a completely new educational system. I decided to take Canadian history as one of my subject and my first test was coming up. Mr.G preferred lecturing, while we students were expected to take notes. At the beginning of the year we were given a textbook, however Mr.G never made any reference to it. The test was coming up, and I wanted to prepare myself really well, especially because this was my very first test to be written in English. In my previous educational system, students were expected to study both from the text & notes. I went to Mr.G and I wanted to know if I needed to study from the text since he never made any mention of it. If memory serves me well this is how our dialogue went on:
"Mr. G do I need to study from the text as well or just from your notes?"
"Ana this is not Yugoslavia , here you don't need to memorize everything word by word."
"O.K. Mr.G" - I left the classroom with feelings of shame, hurt and disappointment....(I was always proud of my education prior to coming to Canada). However, I quickly learned that and not only from that experience alone, I will need to "assimilate" as quickly as possible. Did I have to compromise on my existing identity? Did I have to change my ways of being to fit the majority? Did I have to assimilate? The answers are most likely YES, as a kid I did not want to experience any further marginalization due to my "differences".
Now, I realize that I cannot change the past, but as a teacher I really need to look at these issues closely, as I would want my students to be proud of who they are and from where they come from.
I am looking forward to hearing your opinions. Thanks!
Ana K.
(aka MayaTheBee)
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
One Week Later
Dear friends:
It's been exactly a week since we started Teacher's College and yes, I survived it. Needless to say, I am still trying to organize my time even with waking up at 5:00 a.m. If only I could squeeze another 4 hrs. into my day, I would not have to work on my time management skills. No wonder I didn't fall under a GOLD colour of the personality test we did in our Health and Physical Education class. No stress though-I say to myself- I have a lifetime to work on these "underdeveloped" skills.
O.k., this GOLD colour deficiency is only a "minor" detail compared to my GREEN and ORANGE colours, which in two words describe my relationship to learning and teaching - CURIOSITY and ADVENTURE. Let me tell you, the first mentioned noun is always thirsty and the other one is always restless. Where will they take me? Where will Brock take me? I wish my binoculars could see that far.....well, imagination works too.
Btw, as days are passing by and assignments are generously piling up and my memory card belongs to 386 PC version (plus my family photo calendar is too tacky to be seen by public), I finally gave in and bought an agenda. How does one make agendas look motivating? If you have any tips, please DO share. We will get to know each other a bit better, joke and scaffold. You know, you throw an info/tip, I throw another, we barter in hope to bridge the gap and get really equipped to be thrown into the "real" world.
Ok, here goes one:
A friend of a friend is my friend.
A friend of an enemy is my enemy.
An enemy of my enemy is my friend.
An enemy of my friend is my enemy.
(not necessarily true, but it might help in teaching math)...If you would like to know more about it, just shoot.
The one below is a quote picked by a gifted student I work with:
Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
Ciao,
Maya The Bee (a.k.a Ana K.)
It's been exactly a week since we started Teacher's College and yes, I survived it. Needless to say, I am still trying to organize my time even with waking up at 5:00 a.m. If only I could squeeze another 4 hrs. into my day, I would not have to work on my time management skills. No wonder I didn't fall under a GOLD colour of the personality test we did in our Health and Physical Education class. No stress though-I say to myself- I have a lifetime to work on these "underdeveloped" skills.
O.k., this GOLD colour deficiency is only a "minor" detail compared to my GREEN and ORANGE colours, which in two words describe my relationship to learning and teaching - CURIOSITY and ADVENTURE. Let me tell you, the first mentioned noun is always thirsty and the other one is always restless. Where will they take me? Where will Brock take me? I wish my binoculars could see that far.....well, imagination works too.
Btw, as days are passing by and assignments are generously piling up and my memory card belongs to 386 PC version (plus my family photo calendar is too tacky to be seen by public), I finally gave in and bought an agenda. How does one make agendas look motivating? If you have any tips, please DO share. We will get to know each other a bit better, joke and scaffold. You know, you throw an info/tip, I throw another, we barter in hope to bridge the gap and get really equipped to be thrown into the "real" world.
Ok, here goes one:
A friend of a friend is my friend.
A friend of an enemy is my enemy.
An enemy of my enemy is my friend.
An enemy of my friend is my enemy.
(not necessarily true, but it might help in teaching math)...If you would like to know more about it, just shoot.
The one below is a quote picked by a gifted student I work with:
Do not train children to learning by force and harshness, but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.
Plato
Ok, G (globe)-trotters, until next class. Looking forward to seeing you all!Ciao,
Maya The Bee (a.k.a Ana K.)
p.s.
Sorry for abbreviations, simply no time!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
