There are various things in the teaching profession that never seem to get resolved or go away. I will start by mentioning bureaucracy, bureaucracy, bureaucracy. It is is what has destroyed many school districts and the lives of many students. Government officials always have their ideas of how schools should function. However, they are never in office long enough to support their projects or just want to make decisions that will make them look good in the eyes of the voters. Too often these decisions are not the right ones for the teachers and the students. Teachers have to understand that they are the ones making the difference in the students' lives. They have to realize that politicians are not looked up to as teachers are.
Adding to this, teachers must also understand that they will have to grapple with colleagues. Adults are the ones who many times make the teaching profession hard to handle. There might be a miserable administrator who likes to see his/her subordinates feel miserable also. There might be colleagues who do everything in their power to make their colleagues go through a tough time when they go to work. The ultimate understanding that teachers must have is that they chose a profession that is never boring. They are in a rewarding profession and they must understand that they are the only role model that many students might have. Teachers must understand that students all have different backgrounds and that each is unique. As educators, we play a very important role in the lives of all students. Whether they understand it presently or ten years later.
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3 comments:
You absolutely correct, teachers are in a profession that never is boring. I feel that understanding the students is a little different than enduring understanding however. I think the text was referencing the why students learn. They need to make the connections from knowledge. We as teachers/designers of instruction need to help then with the understanding so that the students can make connections themselves.
I have to agree with you Luis. Mary had mentioned this in her blog and you touched upon it yourself. Students have to have some enduring knowledge ten years from now, from the teachers they have.
Teachers are role models, and for some students the only role models they may have in their lives. Teachers can have an enduring impact.
I think that politics plays a big role in how schools function. Being able to navigate that and not allow it to affect your work or your students is a big challenge that the profession faces.
Luis, I strongly agree that being a teacher is never boring and can be very rewarding. I think that as a teacher we do need try our best to understand where our students are coming from. We need to understand their situations at home and the cultural background they descend from. Sometimes we sit there and do not understand what these students deal with when they leave our classrooms, but we really need to remind ourselves that not all of our students leave and go to homes that are as safe and caring as the classrooms that we provide. If we can remember that then maybe we can understand behaviors and academic abilities.
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