Tags
Culture, Diversity, Education, Higher Education, Identity, K-12, pedagogy, Politics & Education, Public Education, Reflective Practice, Streams of consciousness, student centered approaches, Teacher Education
As an educator, who works with students who also wish to become educators, I have come to learn much from them as it relates to not only how they see the world but how I see their visions of it. Through this process, I have been challenged in ways that I would not have ever imagined. I have been made to ask myself questions such as:
- What do I really value in terms of education?
- How important is the content that I’m teaching compared to the process in which I want my students to undertake?
- How much of me do I really wish to share with them while providing the space for them to be who they are and need to become?
- Do I want them teaching the next generation of learners?
- Do I want them to make the same mistakes that I made when I was teaching as a public school teacher (1st grade and 3rd/4th grade)?
I find that these questions are always on my mind when I’m preparing lectures, class activities, and/or talking with them or others about them. This collection of questions are my basis for much that I do as an instructor and field experience coordinator. This collection has a vice grip on my consciousness in very interesting ways. These ways, I have decided to share in this new component of my blog.
In a similar fashion to what I ask of my students to do in the course that I teach regarding “Diversity”, I will also participate in by writing my very own reflections for whomever accesses this blog to read and make their own assessments. My reflections will be based on what occurs in my classes without providing details that easily identify anyone. Instead, I wish to take the overall thoughts that I have from those moments with my students and share them. While some may wonder what makes this different from the “Educational Trenches” section of my blog, I decided that I wanted to support that space for other educators as they and their stories were/are meant–to take center stage.
So with no further ado, my reflections on teaching and what my students teach me will start after completing my next classes which are not slated until this Wednesday in light of the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday. Until then…
Take care,
PSDW~
Patrick S. De Walt, M.B.A., Ph.D. 