Teacher's Reflection Series 2: Foundations of Education

 


As a young teacher, I still consider myself as a learner. I would like to compare myself to a preschooler, filled with curiosity, and still fumbling with the classroom world. I am still familiarizing myself with the actual realm of teaching and learning. As I absorb new experiences, I admittedly make mistakes and am still in need of mentorship. Fortunately, my experienced co-teachers, who serve as my role models ensure me that I am not alone with my journey towards becoming a better educator.

Relearning the foundations of education has helped me grasp a deeper understanding of the teaching-learning process. During my six months of teaching, my mistakes were due to my lack of confidence in my skills as a teacher. Seeing again the importance of understanding growth, development, and maturation, and the role of teachers has been enlightening. When I finally return to teaching after I finish this course, I feel positive that I will have acquired more skills to enhance my teaching methods.

The foundations of education have made a great contribution to the present-day learning environment. Thoroughly understanding how learners learn allows me, as a teacher to create an effective and conducive learning space. With behaviorism, I can encourage positive behavior through positive reinforcement. With constructivism, I can construct instructional materials that enable learners to work independently. There are many other educational psychologies and philosophies that when properly applied in the classroom can create a harmonious and meaningful learning experience. I treat them as building blocks that I can combine, arrange, and manipulate as I slowly learn to manage the classroom.

Considering the growth, maturation, and development of my learners helped me realize the kind of teacher I needed when I was younger. Children of different ages require different levels of instruction as they gradually acquire learning skills through each stage of their lives. I cannot expect a preschooler to learn about proper grammar or critique a literary selection, nor engage them in world issues and expect them to make informed decisions regarding these subjects. Piaget’s cognitive theory debunks the belief that adults and children think alike. Kohlberg’s theory helps me understand that an individual’s morality is based on the input of the adults or the society around them but it can evolve through time and experience. Erikson’s psychosocial theory allows me to carefully guide my students through realizing their true identities.

The same as the patience given to preschoolers who understandably still have much to learn, I must also be patient with myself. As an inexperienced teacher, I will encounter heaps of challenges along the way and I am aware of the mistakes I might commit. Development takes time as learners also channel through different paces of their lives. I must take great care in addressing their needs and allow them to become independent to unlock their fullest potential.

The teacher, the learner, and the learning process play different roles and none is greater than the other. They cannot exist without the other as teachers serve as guides while the learner takes on the responsibility of participating and acquiring the knowledge. The learning process is a contribution of both roles: input from the teacher and output from the learner. Each element is vital and influences one another in mutual exchanges.

I have great belief in the learner-centered approach for I am a facilitator of learning and I believe that children learn best when they are provided with opportunities for discovery and experiential learning. After all, in order for them to become successful learners, they must be inquisitive, take initiative, be confident, be inventive, and be reflective. Just like preschoolers, may both teachers and learners always be filled with determination and wonder.

Words and Art by: Kate Borlasa

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