Being a Teacher
Dr Dennis Francis
Commonwealth Education Trust
Foundations of Teaching for
Learning
Course 2: Being a Teacher
Week 2: Myself and my learning
Lecture 2.1 Thinking about who I am
What have I learned?
About myself?
About myself as a teacher?
About myself as a colleague?
About myself as a learner?
Below the waterline
“You spend a lot of time trying to follow, to
conform to the policies, rules and procedures.
It might be unwise not. But at the same time
you try to hold to what you believe and what
you think is most important for your students and for you – but it is not always easy. Not
easy but important for your own self esteem”
(Teacher, Zimbabwe elementary school)
The ‘deep structures’
Rules
Beliefs
Policies Procedures
Conventions
Values Attitudes
Expectations
Somatic
Bodily senses
Rhythm and musicality
Gesture
Communication
Mythic
Story
metaphor
binary opposites
joking and humour
sense of mystery
games, drama, play
Five ways
of being
Romantic
Extremes limits
of reality
heroes
wonder
collections
hobbies
idealism
Kieran Egan, 1999
Philosophic
Drive for generality
lure of certainty
schemes
theory
search for truth
search for authority
Ironic
Testing limits of
theory
Doubt
Context
Mythic
Story
Metaphor
Binary opposites
As a teacher
How often do I
draw on this way
of being?
Joking and humour
Sense of mystery
Games, drama, play
For myself?
For my students?
Romantic
Extremes
Heroes and villains
Wonder
As a teacher
How often do I
draw on this way
of being?
Idealism
Collections
Hobbies
For myself?
For my students?
Philosophic
Drive for generality
Lure of certainty
Schemes
As a teacher
How often do I
draw on this way
of being?
Theory
Search for truth
Search for authority
For myself?
For my students?
Ironic
Doubt
Uncertainty
Scepticism
Testing theory
As a teacher
How often do I
draw on this way
of being?
For myself?
For my students?
Releasing the energy
How do I/we……
…..find ways to release the creative energy of
students, for this is the force that fosters
experimentation and that breathes life,
excitement, and enthusiasm into the learning
environment for students and for their teachers
(Mitchell and Sackney, 207 p. 87)
Self belief and self efficacy
When teachers have a high sense of self-efficacy they are
more creative in their work, intensify their efforts when their
performances fall short of their goals and persist longer.
Teachers’ sense of self-efficacy can thus influence the learning
and motivation of students, even if students are unmotivated
or considered difficult. Most studies have found a positive
relation between teachers’ efficacy beliefs and several student
cognitive outcomes, such as achievement in core academic
subjects and performance and skills
(Scheerens, 2010: 28)
Seeing, touching and hearing
“At first we were focused on teaching like just talking.
Now our headteacher has provided us with many
teaching-learning materials. Now we use a lot more
materials for all subjects. Students are also excited
because they can see, touch, and hear. Based on this
now teachers also have become more creative, we are
drawing on our own, and also students are helping us.
This has brought their skills out”
(Basic school teacher, Ghana)
Managing the tension
The external policy world
The internal world of the
classroom
See think wonder
I see
I think
I wonder
Foundations of Teaching for
Learning
Course 2: Being a Teacher
Week 2: Myself and my learning
Lecture 2.1 Thinking about who I am
Being a Teacher
Dr Dennis Francis
Commonwealth Education Trust