As my pre-internship comes to a close, I would like to readdress to the three key points I discussed in my last post:
- What is the purpose of field experience (i.e. pre-internship practicum, internship, etc.)?
- What role does (or, should) a teacher education program play in the process of becoming a teacher?
- What do you already know now about being a mathematics teacher that is unlikely to change through your upcoming field experiences (i.e. fundamental beliefs, values, commitments, etc.)?
My initial responses have not altered very much due to my pre-internship experience. In fact, if anything this experienced has strengthened my beliefs stated before.
Field experiences give pre-service teachers the opportunity to teach in a real life setting, instead of in simulated environments where the audience is made up of fellow colleagues. This is where we are given the opportunity to “sink or swim”. Lessons will succeed and lessons will fail. It gives pre-interns and interns a chance to discover their own teaching style and to learn to juggle planning, teaching, and marking. This experience gives student teachers a chance to get a taste of what their future career will be like, and will help them to begin building skills critical to become a successful teacher.
Prior to my pre-internship I was not fully confident that I wanted to become a teacher. There were aspects of my post-secondary studies that I enjoyed, but other aspects I really disliked. I kept on asking myself if I really wanted to have a career in which I would still go home with homework, even though I was no longer a student. After this pre-internship experience, I have solidified my belief that teaching is what I love and that educating is what I want to do with my life! I had a great co-operating teacher who was willing to let me try anything I wanted in the classroom and who provided me with a great deal of feedback on my work. She “showed me the ropes” of teaching, marking, and planning so to speak. Without this experience, I would still be unsure as to whether or not I wanted to teach. I am unsure as to how this uncertainty would have affected my school work in my final year of studies, and whether or not I would only half-heartedly search for a job. As I stated, I am now fully confident that I want to become a teacher. I am willing to spend extra time and effort into planning, marking, and teaching if that is what it takes for my students to be successful. In other words, I loved my pre-internship experience so much that the “homework” that I took home with me in the form of marking and planning was definitely worth the reward that my students and I all received!
Teacher education programs should give pre-service teachers the knowledge and skills to be successful in the field. At the University of Regina, the Faculty of Education believes that this knowledge and these skills come from a mixture of both classroom and field experiences. I believe that teacher education programs should hire professors who have been teachers themselves, who can share their experiences with their students, and who can provide their students with the materials to be a successful educator. I also found the field experience components of my education program to be the most beneficial aspect of my studies. It gave me a chance to apply my knowledge learned from my university courses in a real setting. I think that teacher education programs should also help students connect with schools in the area in order for the pre-service teachers to start building connections and to provide them with field experience opportunities.
As I stated in my last post, very few of my beliefs will stay the same over time, and I believe that to be quite healthy. Nothing is ever set in stone, especially in the education system. There is no right way to teach anything, and therefore it is important for educators to have an open mind. The same beliefs which I stated previously are still the same beliefs that I hold and that I doubt will change.
1. It is the role of the teacher to develop the minds of today’s youth.
2. Teachers should act as role models for all students in the school.
3. Mathematics is a highly valued subject area because it is used daily all around us. This should be made evident to students.
4. All students learn at a different pace and it is the job of the teacher to ensure that students at each level are learning and that
all students achieve the outcomes mandated by the curriculum.
5. All students should be respected for who they are and the diversity that exists in the classroom should be appreciated.
Once again, I would like to note that these beliefs are more directed at any educator, and only the third point is specifically associated with Mathematics teachers. I chose this as my main five beliefs because to me they are fundamental to educating the youth of today. The fundamentals never change. The content in subjects may change over time and as humans develop intellectually, different teaching strategies and assessment methods will be discovered and studied, and no two classes that I teach will be the same. Once all of that is taken into account, the only beliefs that should be left are the ones that are grained into the education system. These beliefs are the ones that keep students at the centre of the education system.
Stemming from my opinion of the roles of teacher education programs and my own personal values and beliefs as a pre-service mathematics teacher, I would like to compare my reflection with the following quote:
“Working with pre-service teachers can be puzzling and surprising, particularly because they are students at the same time that they are learning to be teachers… I offer the following suggestions for teacher educators in assisting pre-service teachers to discover their teacher selves. It is important to help students identify inconsistencies between their beliefs and practices and to discover counter examples to strongly held beliefs. In addition, pre-service teachers must learn to assume personal responsibility for their actions and performance and not blame the students or others for their problems. To be a learner requires the consent of the learner (Loughran & Northfield, 1996). Therefore, it is essential that the learner is open to learning and seeing multiple perspectives. It is important that pre-service teachers acquire a discovery, problem-solving mode that allows them to inquire and examine their teaching and the students’ learning through reflection and inquiry. I have learned that for the inquiry–reflection cycle to successfully become a habit of mind, it is important to help students develop the following attitudes and dispositions essential for reflection: open-mindedness, responsibility, and wholeheartedness (Dewey, 1933).”
I truly believe that this quote matches perfectly with what I was describing above. By challenging pre-service educators to “identify inconsistencies between their beliefs and practices” and by demonstrating to these pre-service teachers that they must take “personal responsibility for their own actions and performance,” education professors are helping pre-service teachers develop the skills necessary to become a successful teacher. The professors are opening the eyes of their students and encouraging the students to challenge their practices using their personal beliefs.
I can finally see my own personal growth (especially in the area of open-mindedness) as I become closer to finishing the teacher education program. I am thankful for the professors who have encouraged me to have an open mind about education, who have demonstrated to me why it is vital to take responsibility for my own actions and performance (i.e. – do not blame the students if they do not succeed), and who have given me the opportunity to help me see for myself that teaching is a truly rewarding career that I will enjoy. I think that all teachers must realize that if a student is having difficulty understanding certain concepts, that it is not the student’s fault; instead, it is the teacher’s fault for not teaching the material in a way that makes sense to that individual. This is one reason why teachers should always use a variety of different methods while teaching the same content. Methods of instruction that work for one student will not necessarily work for the next student, and so on.
Quote taken from: Freese, A. (2006). Reframing one’s teaching: Discovering our teacher selves through reflection and inquiry. Teaching and Teacher Education, 22(1), 100-119.
