On becoming, learning and teaching experts
WE’VE come a long way from the days when teachers merely pushed content from textbooks to our pupils. Teachers challenge today is on how to become teaching experts but learning experts as well.
Teachers need to keep growing in their knowledge not only in their field of specializations but also in the wide repertoire of teaching exemplars and strategies.
According to Charles Chew on his research on Transformative Professional Development, Teachers still need to have an art of teaching, which is unique to each individual/person. This is true because as an individual we have our own way of attaining our vision, objective and purpose in life but the most important thing is that we will be able to achieve this in the end.
Another challenge for us educators is on how to deal with Learners in the Digital Age or how to deal with the millennial as they say. We need to cope up with the current trends so that we can bridge the gap between us and with our learners. Teachers has to be experts in their field of specialization. This expectation from teachers hasn’t changed despite the changing Educational Programs. What has changed, though, are the LEARNERS. With the information readily available on the internet, students no longer come to class as a “Blank Sheet”. Pupils have lots of information and bits of knowledge of everything they see, read and watch.
What then is our role as teachers? It is us teachers who will connect the bits and pieces of information and knowledge of the children that they have in mind with the concepts and theories which are already proven true and correct. Another is to teach our learners that not all information in the internet are true and that a wise browser and user should know how to distinguish what is true from fake ones.
Educators need to break the gap and cross the bridge to be able to reach out to the digital learners. To be able to do this, it entails continuous learning and accept the fact that although we call ourselves experts there is still a need to learn, explore and change what is needed to be changed. Remember that “Learning does not stop, and change is not permanent”.
In conclusion, I would like to share these acronyms of which I think can be of help to us teachers. In order to keep learning and an expert in teaching, remember the 5 C’s…Curious- be aware of your ideas and be able to articulate them. Comprehendseek to understand these ideas and be able to articulate them to others. Convincedbelieve that you can adapt to new ideas to fit into your context and existing beliefs. Contextualizedsee these ideas as useful in helping you understand what you say and do. Changed practiceApply the new ideas to become a more skillful teacher. Prima T. Joseph