The debate over whether teaching is an art or a science is one that I find to be very interesting. Throughout my educational history I have had teachers who should have chosen other career paths and some who their passion was evident. I personally feel that teaching is more of an art. Even if you give someone all kinds of tips, theories, ideas, etc., that is not going to make them a great teacher. It is very important to know those things, but knowing them isn't enough. Dr. Glassman has mentioned several times throughout the semester that none of us are going to be fully prepared to teach until we step into the classroom and experience it. Even then as he pointed out today is that no two years will be the same. Each school year is different because of the kinds of students and chemistry that are in our classrooms along with all the changes in education laws every year it seems. So one year might be fantastic and the next turns out mediocre. Good teachers though learn from their mistakes and are always implementing new ideas.
This brings up another topic of discussion from today's class. Dr. Glassman was saying how he is completely unorganized and something along the lines of should teachers be allowed to have the freedom to be themselves? My response to that is that I think teachers should show their personality and character through their lesson plans and classroom activities. They can be themselves, but they still need to be somewhat organized and professional. I think it is really important for students definitely in elementary, but also for middle and high school to have structure. I would rather have a teacher who is super passionate about the subject matter and is a little disorganized than a teacher who is super organized, but not passionate, although having a teacher who is both would be the best. I think it also depends on the subject. In this class, it would be completely pointless to have tests and quizzes. The blog is a great way to express our thoughts/feelings/ideas in a nonthreatening way. I can honestly say this is one of the most thought provoking classes I have had in college. Even if I decide not to teach, I still learned a lot of important information.
One more related topic I have been thinking about is do I think people are born to teach? Yeah I suppose, some people I think just have great skills needed in teaching. This doesn't mean though that one cannot learn to teach and be successful as Shaun Johnson points out in his blog Teaching as an Art Form. The link for that is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/shaun-johnson/teaching-as-an-art-form_b_826567.html. I think that people who didn't decide to become a teacher until later on in life can be just as great a teacher as one who had wanted to be an educator since day one. Anyone have a different opinion?
I agree with you - good teachers are ones that are passionate about learning and about the subject they're teaching. It's not a science where you can use a formula that will produce good teaching.
ReplyDeleteI think great teaching comes from both being an art form and a science, having to pick between the two would be really hard for me. I definitely agree that certain aspects are an art form and that you can not just have a formula that will produce good teachers but i do think some parts of it are a science. The parts of teaching that I think are a science come down to the things like lesson plans, calming kids down, and the things teachers learn when they go back to like enrichment type things. The reason why I think these are more like a science is because there is a formula that everyone uses to enhance there teaching ways, but the art form comes in when they actually build upon this and put it to use in a classroom.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you as well. I think that from any teacher who has experienced a classroom they will say all these things: not one class is alike, you must stay true to yourself in teaching, and you also must allow yourself time to get comfortable in the classroom and finding out how you teach best. So in this respect, it is most definitely an art. However, I do agree that a teacher must be organized. It is so frustrating as a student to be in a class that you really want to succeed in, but the teacher is so disorganized that it becomes an obstacle in learning and it ultimately makes the classroom unproductive at times.
ReplyDeleteI definitely think it's a mixture of both. I think most teachers (especially great teachers) have similar traits/characteristics that make them great teachers....but I don't think it's this "cookie cutter perfect"/science formula of how to be a good teacher. Like Mr. Glassman as told us before about what he learned from working at the HS in NY...each teacher needs to figure out who they are in the classroom and then own it. If they are quiet...be quiet. If they are loud...be loud. If they are comical....crack jokes. Something that may work for me in my classroom might not work for someone else in their classroom. ...And that is okay! That's what makes teaching interesting!
ReplyDeleteI need find this article from the Washington Post that I found interesting and thought you all might too. http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/wp/2012/11/13/are-teachers-born-not-made/ It talks about the ideas of teachers being born and raised (rather than trained). Basically, the article says that teachers are born but are then groomed into being better teachers and taught how to use their skills/characteristics in the classroom.