How do teachers teach? It's a question that I think a lot of non-educators don't really ask themselves. For many, thinking back to their own days of school in which their teachers showed up talked for a while and left. This view of teaching is incredibly tempting because we never SEE teacher plan, we only see them perform. But not only is that a question that the average person should ask themselves it is a question that I ask myself every time I plan a lesson. "How do I teach?"
When thinking about how I teach I think first about what I want to teach. Am I trying to encourage my students to make a change in the world around them? Am trying to reinforce writing or reading skills that they've been working on for weeks? Maybe I just want them to enjoy a good book. Whatever the reason the way that I view what I am trying to teach affects the way that I teach and even what theories I access.
For the teaching go getter there are literally hundreds of different theory books about education that one can read. These books seem to have an answer to every question a teacher might have about educating. Each starts with a preface about how all other theory is too far removed from the classroom but their theory is different. The mentality that each of these books operate on is I think one of the most problematic aspects of educating educators today.
Whether asked for by professors before licensure or by administrators after it, theory is the greatest indicator of a great teacher. If you can quote the likes of Kumashiro or similar theorists you are viewed as capable. This focus on theory in both universities and as a means to asses teachers changes the focus of how theory is used.
In our educational system theory is treated as a magical bandaid to problems in the classroom. If you are finding yourself struggling somehow, teachers are made to think that there is a theory for that problem and if you only use that theory your problem will disappear. But the fact is that the solution to our problems in the classroom is to know your students. Of course theory in context has the potential to help teachers find a solution to those problems, but it is knowing what our students need that allows us to use and more importantly adapt a theory to solve our dilemma.
When thinking about how I teach I think first about what I want to teach. Am I trying to encourage my students to make a change in the world around them? Am trying to reinforce writing or reading skills that they've been working on for weeks? Maybe I just want them to enjoy a good book. Whatever the reason the way that I view what I am trying to teach affects the way that I teach and even what theories I access.
For the teaching go getter there are literally hundreds of different theory books about education that one can read. These books seem to have an answer to every question a teacher might have about educating. Each starts with a preface about how all other theory is too far removed from the classroom but their theory is different. The mentality that each of these books operate on is I think one of the most problematic aspects of educating educators today.
Whether asked for by professors before licensure or by administrators after it, theory is the greatest indicator of a great teacher. If you can quote the likes of Kumashiro or similar theorists you are viewed as capable. This focus on theory in both universities and as a means to asses teachers changes the focus of how theory is used.
In our educational system theory is treated as a magical bandaid to problems in the classroom. If you are finding yourself struggling somehow, teachers are made to think that there is a theory for that problem and if you only use that theory your problem will disappear. But the fact is that the solution to our problems in the classroom is to know your students. Of course theory in context has the potential to help teachers find a solution to those problems, but it is knowing what our students need that allows us to use and more importantly adapt a theory to solve our dilemma.
I wonder if you could clarify what you mean by "theory"? Are you talking about any abstraction that's meant to analyze and determine potential outcomes? I don't know that theories are merely meant to solve problems--I think they also seek to address and define situations, contexts, and behaviors.
ReplyDeleteIn fact--your claim about "knowing students" is a kind of theorization. Who gets to say what students need, and how do we know that? Are personal needs emotional needs? What are learning needs? Who gets to determine them? As soon as we start to discuss these questions, and put them in the framework of a larger conversation, we're. . .theorizing about practice! (dun dun dun--to borrow Alex's phrase. . .)