Very much enjoyed conducting a professional development session with my colleagues at school today.
I got to circulate around the room and listen to other people who've chosen the same profession as I have discuss some deep thoughts regarding pedagogy and methodology in order to improve the lives of young people.
To put that another way, we talked about how to be better teachers, and that talk was not "fluffy" or "feel-good" stuff, nor was it full of buzzwords devoid of meaning but which look good on a Google Slides presentation. We talked about implementation of strategies designed to increase our effectiveness. We talked about specific and technical changes we could make to some of our practice to help students master material and skills.
There's this common and pernicious belief that teaching is something anyone could do--that it's not a highly developed skill with multiple aspects, but rather a kind of glorified babysitting job.
These people with whom I work are not only passionate folks who have dedicated their professional lives to the betterment of others, but are also highly skilled, intelligent and thoughtful artisans who know what they're doing. Teaching is somewhere between art and science, existing in the nebulous interstice where talent and training combine. Not anyone can be a teacher, and not any teacher can be a great one. It takes some qualities inherent in a person, like patience and selflessness, but also requires training in pedagogy and methodology.
I am proud to call all my colleagues in teaching brothers and sisters.
Be seeing you!
I got to circulate around the room and listen to other people who've chosen the same profession as I have discuss some deep thoughts regarding pedagogy and methodology in order to improve the lives of young people.
To put that another way, we talked about how to be better teachers, and that talk was not "fluffy" or "feel-good" stuff, nor was it full of buzzwords devoid of meaning but which look good on a Google Slides presentation. We talked about implementation of strategies designed to increase our effectiveness. We talked about specific and technical changes we could make to some of our practice to help students master material and skills.
There's this common and pernicious belief that teaching is something anyone could do--that it's not a highly developed skill with multiple aspects, but rather a kind of glorified babysitting job.
These people with whom I work are not only passionate folks who have dedicated their professional lives to the betterment of others, but are also highly skilled, intelligent and thoughtful artisans who know what they're doing. Teaching is somewhere between art and science, existing in the nebulous interstice where talent and training combine. Not anyone can be a teacher, and not any teacher can be a great one. It takes some qualities inherent in a person, like patience and selflessness, but also requires training in pedagogy and methodology.
I am proud to call all my colleagues in teaching brothers and sisters.
Be seeing you!
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