Dear
comrades,
I
like to think of myself as a student teacher, but the challenges are enormous.
Not long ago I shifted permanently from secondary school teaching to a
polytechnic based teaching system. I thought I may become a connoisseur, but,
unfortunately I realised that I am just an educational dinosaur. Teaching is an
adventure that will last a lifetime. The adventure that is not always smooth,
there are some hitches and unplanned side-trips, but we don’t have to change
our decisions. Much has changed for teachers, students, and schools during the
last decade in my country, but much has also remained the same. More problems
and challenges will be discussed under this heading. I will address the newest
trends in educational system in one country and compare it with the situation
in my country. Firsthand experience will be relayed from fresh student teachers
from around the globe and mirror to my comrades at home.
Pre-service
and new teachers in some schools were asked what they thought would be
important to say about teaching. Each of these teachers has something different
to say. But there is a common thread in their comments. Teaching is an act of
creativity. You need to learn what you can from college or university
professors and experienced teachers, but they do not have the magic bullets or
miraculous recipes for success. Ultimately you must find your own way as you
discover who you are as a teacher and as a person.
To
begin with, Debra Prevete is a mathematics teacher. She student taught at a
diverse high school after growing up in a relatively homogenous white
community. She stresses how as a beginning teacher she was always learning. She
wrote:
“When I began to discover my own ways to do
these things, I started to become a teacher. You cannot be someone else. You
have to be you.” I confess, I often wonder why we learn all of these methods
and strategies in college classes. I tried to incorporate them in my
mathematics classroom and they did not seem to work for me. Like others, I
needed to do “my own thing.” But at the same time, I recognised my thing was
actually a variation of things I learned from former teachers and professors.
As teachers, it is important to understand we have a lot more learning to do as
well. Our teaching will only improve if we work at it.”
What
makes a good teacher is not always the vast accumulation of knowledge, but it
revolves around his wisdom and CREATIVITY. Later in the following threads more
will be explored with regards to teacher, teaching and the teaching community.
It will be interesting to follow the remaining threads, they are beneficial.
Thread one of many, also from Teaching to Learn, Learning to
Teach, 2014
Abdullahi kaigama
The Federal Polytechnic,
Damaturu, Yobe state.
A Postgraduate Student,
Univertsiti Putra Malaysia (M.A. Applied Linguistics)
