Time line of my teaching practice

I have one and a half years of teaching experience during which time I have gained some insight on teaching strategies and methodologies. The context of my teaching has changed over the period of my practice and some of the areas that I would like to discuss are: Teaching methodology, Teacher-student relationship, focusing on different learning styles and Clarity of instructions.

I knew from the beginning that teaching is not just about lecturing, giving handouts to students and having class discussions. It’s a fact that one should possess rich content knowledge as it’s an indispensable criterion to teach effectively. However transmitting ones understanding to a group of youngsters who have a mind of their own is quite a challenging task. I have realized that its imperative for me to be more accepting and open minded. Besides one should be widely read to successfully impart knowledge to students. I have often experienced satisfaction at the end of the lesson to see students actively participating in the discussions and class activities. This has inspired me to experiment with new methods in the class room like teaching children through role play, debates group discussions, case analysis and the like. Teaching and learning happens simultaneously and both become effectual when the lesson is accurately planned keeping in mind the flexibility that has to be incorporated while teaching to suit the student’s needs.

The teacher-student relationship is another area where I have tried to bring significant change in my approach towards them. Teaching becomes more meaningful and easier after the teacher and student reach a certain level of rapport. Since the students were already used to my predecessors teaching method and had developed a fondness for her it was again a challenge for me to win their approval. Since I had to prepare them for the final exam that was soon approaching, the only thing I thought of doing was to make the lessons interesting. This way they not only got involved in class but they started opening up. Of course their have been days of vehement in acceptance of my point of view and on few occasions my attempt to make the class interesting has been a failure. Though I had been cast down at times, I decided to remain focused. Gradually with time a better understanding developed between us. Since then it’s been a joyful ride with them. Therefore a healthy teacher-student relationship is one of the blueprints for successful teaching. Here again I know that I need to break the mould to suit the attitude and mind set of diverse groups of students.

Focusing on different learning styles is something I was completely unaware of. It took me some time to comprehend why some students responded better to certain mediums of teaching than others. Fortunately during the induction programme I was introduced to the concept of different learning styles and this knowledge later helped me to cater to the needs of different groups of students. I still have a long way to go and am not competent enough to structure all my lessons in accordance with the “different learning styles”. However I do give it a lot of priority now while planning my lessons.

Clarity of instructions is of paramount importance. It helps the students to work efficiently and independently. Initially I was under the impression that students are capable enough to understand the level and quality of work expected from them. Therefore I usually gave them basic instructions. This definitely prevented them from performing up to their potential and they were often perplexed about the work set for them. What was conspicuous was that they asked me questions that made me elaborate my previously given instructions to them. This has certainly made me mindful of the instructions I give now.

Today I am more confident, contented and passionate about teaching. I have picked up a few good skills. I hope to keep up my spirit and energy and inculcate appropriate qualities to be a successful and satisfied teacher.

teaching practice

I have taught grade 1 for 10 years. Each year was a new learning experience to me and the children. The bulletin boards were different. The methodology kept improving. Now after the first session I have more consciously looking into the content and context of the topic.

Change context over time

Hi all,
Some thoughts on how the context of my teaching has changed over the period of my practice.
The very first few classes I had to take were completely without any preparation. I just held forth banking on limited knowledge of the subject. There were skeptical faces, but after the 45 mins or so, the students felt that I might be able to teach after all. Then later on of course there was much preparation, referring books, discussing with colleagues/friends. I created work-sheets which served me well during the classes.
I have found over the years that students listened better to teachers if they showed compassion, were attentive to their problems and were related to them at different levels; eg. playing games with them, laughing, joking, participating along with them in dramas, music etc. So it has been my endevour to cultivate this multi-level relation as far as my talents, interests allowed me.
In this school, it has been more of a straight jacket demanour than work at another school previously. My personal feeling is that when a teacher is allowed almost limitless freedom in his/her work, the quality of teaching is far richer and deeper than that is possible with rules and regulations and other such fetters around. But I also understand institutional limitations.
So to have quality time inside the class I have tried to relate to students outside class!

Teaching practice according to the context

Hi PPSE buddies,

I would love to share with you how the varied experiences in my teaching profession changed the context of my teaching.
It all began in 1998 when I felt very deeply about the children I met at Ashankura BEL Special School. It was a chance encounter as I had no idea I was to meet and work with them. That was the turning point in my life, wherein I joined special education.
I worked as a special educator in two different schools with varied cultural and economic backgrounds.
Here’s where I learnt the importance of context in relation to content. The planning of curriculum to these students had to be done very carefully taking into consideration the age, abilities and their needs. This helped me to closely monitor the process of learning and its outcome.
For example my students in Kingstree Senior High School were in the age group of 18 years and above, here I had to have a curriculum which comprised of academics and work based learning programs going hand in hand. As the students were graduating they had to have the experiences relating to work to earn their livelihood along with academics. Here I am expressing the context in a larger frame.
Again in Aditi the context is entirely different. As students whom I am dealing with are preparing more in academics wherein they are facing challenges and need intervention.
Again keeping in mind their necessities I am planning my teaching accordingly.
I am certain that I will be learning more in adapting my teaching practices contextually as
the years go by.

Rehana Nasser