Week+1

=Week 1 - Understanding Education =

Hi all,

Taking you back to week one, I thought it was pretty inspiring. All of our teachers seem so enthusiastic about making us enjoy what we do (will be doing soon). Hopefully that excitement will come through us and into the kids. The video that we watched in the lecture was great. Sir Ken Robinson had some really funny stories that proved that we will never know what to expect from the kids we teach. He talked about not dampening their creativity. The story he told about the little girl who couldn't stop moving was a real eye opener, she became a world renowned choreographer. He continued on from that thought to discuss how it seems that all over the world, maths/science is seen to be at the top of the hierarchy of subjects. I certainly experienced this in my high school and to a lesser extent my primary school. Maybe teachers are too focused on making sure kids get a good enter score or get into the right schools rather than ensuring a well rounded child who can express themselves artistically or mathematically or physically or however they choose. Robinson finishes his talk with reminding us that we are teaching children who will live in a world that we cannot imagine yet. The reading by 'Beare' is a really imaginative way of repeating this idea. It really opened my eyes to the fact that we need to prepare these children for amazing possibilities. These are facts that we probably know but don't really think about much. The article highlights the importance of teaching environmental awareness, current technology, and above all moral values. Coming back to the idea of creativity and being creative in the classroom, this seems to be the key to what makes a good teacher and what keeps most children interested for most of the time. The reading from 'White' was an interesting take on making future teachers like ourselves think outside the box. White created a space for student teachers to get together and create an operatic performance. They came up with the story-line, words, plot, everything themselves. Through this mode of learning/teaching, the student teachers learnt that for everyone to come together as a group they had to build on each others strengths and face their own fears. They later reflected that they were learning by making mistakes and picking themselves up again. This is why getting children actively involved in creative activities. Whether it be in maths (such as the leap frog game we learnt last week), science experiments, or playing a game of sport outside, if children are involved they have a chance to enhance their creativity in all areas of their class. I hope I have written enough. Lets get this discussion going. Annalei O'Connor