A Good Teacher

A good teacher is one who recognizes the gifts of all students, artfully invites students to a practice of inquiry and reflection regardless of their age and regardless of the content, and creates and supports a hospitable environment in which students can grow and learn.

First, a good teacher knows that every student is "gifted" in their own way.  I believe this is fundamental to good teaching.  In other words, there is not a hierarchy of intelligence with some students at the "top" and others relegated to the "bottom."  It is the moral responsibility of the teacher to discover each student as a unique member of a diverse community of learners.

Second, a good teacher is one who helps students arrive at new understandings by asking themselves questions and taking time to reflect on new information and activities.  A good teacher provides the student with experiences and information which lead the student to ask questions which then lead to learning and growth.  I believe that this can be done at any age level and with any content.

Finally, a good teacher creates a culture of hospitality for students to learn and grow.  This means that the learning environment should be without fear, which is not to say without risk taking.  Children can be encouraged to take risks essential to learning if the environment they are in does not promote fear.

My Beliefs

Equality:  every person deserves to be treated as equally valuable to every other person

autonomy:  every person deserves to own their own process of learning

dignity:  every person deserves to be treated as an intelligent, thinking, capable human being

care:  as human beings, we all have a responsibility to care for each other and nurture

fear and anything that creates fear is morally and developmentally damaging and therefore wrong


Practice with T2P statement from week 4

If students are enabled to become teacher/collaborators in the classroom

then their self-determination is promoted

because they will be required to make decisions about the importance of information, they will need to develop competence in the content they are teaching, and they will build relationships with other students.  It is fundamental to this process that students feel safe and comfortable with the task of teaching/collaborating.  Otherwise, the exercise will only create fear and lead to a loss of autonomy.  Therefore, making small groups for teaching experiences, and having the teaching take place in the context of collaborating, as well as ensuring student comfort with the task is absolutely necessary.

evidence Vicki Davis video clip

moral implications I believe that students bring a level of competence to many areas which competence can be tapped for themselves and others in the learning process.  Furthermore, students must feel their autonomy in order to learn because real learning requires that meaningful choice are made by the learner.

  

revised moral implications I believe that students deserve to be treated with dignity simply by virtue of being human.  This means that students have the right to be treated as intelligent and capable beings.  Furthermore, students have the right to own their own learning process.  This is part of their fundamental human right to autonomy.  The right to autonomy is particularly important for children because they are often in a position of relative powerlessness in their relationships.  Adults therefore, have an extra moral responsibility to preserve students' autonomy in their interactions with them.