In my Practicum in Teaching class, we were asked to complete this questionnaire to see what Teaching Model are you mostly inclined to apply in the classroom… Teachers, please feel free to assess yourselves and find out if you are more of a behaviorist, cognitivist, or humanist…

Questionnaire: www.employees.csbsju.edu/esass/learningratingscale.htm

The results of my survey….
B= 43
C= 46
H= 44

The results actually show very little difference among the three teaching models. In my opinion, each teaching model has its own set of advantages that is worth applying. Among the three, I scored highest in Cognitivism. Cognitivists emphasize on an individual’s internal learning process and how it is affected as interactions with the environment occur. I believe that each learner has this innate capacity to learn.  Being a teacher, I belong to the learner’s environment. With much help and proper intervention, I can do so much in helping the child enrich his or her everyday learning experiences in school.

Where would you like to teach- public or private school?
Right now, I am very comfortable teaching in a private school setting. Somehow, the system is more structured, there are many opportunities for growth and advancement, and the training is rigid. Honestly, my opinion is largely affected by the situation of our public school system in the Philippines. Tales of frustration and despair of public school teachers continue to haunt us everyday. Maybe I choose to stay in my comfort zone… or maybe, I myself feel that I am not emotionally and psychologically equip to face the brutal facts of poverty and oppression. I am convinced that Abraham Maslow’s theory holds true- it would be difficult to enrich the child’s mind with learning experiences if the stomach is yearning for food and nourishment. More so, given limited teaching resources, extra large class sizes, and political and governmental conflicts, who would be enticed to teach, if not maybe for the pure reason of nobility and genuine kindness? Actually, from my above viewpoint, I sincerely admire the courage of our public school teachers.  Indeed, despite the circumstances, we still have in our midst, a number of brave souls who continue to dream and believe that they can make a difference.
Given the opportunity, I would like to try teaching in a public school.  But until I am ready, I think I am to stay where I am right now.  Maybe one day, I will be given the chance to do my own share of public service.

What subject would you like to teach?
I love reading good books `and in the same manner, I love teaching young children the basic rudiments of reading.  Though not all kinder children finish the school year with established reading skills, the fact that they become avid visitors of the library is enough for me.  It is for this matter that I feel a certain inclination for Reading and probably English subjects. I feel that I will be most effective teaching them.
Also for this school year, I might be given some teaching loads in high school.  In high school, I might teach Basic Statistics.  Given the opportunity to teach in the higher levels, I opt to concentrate on subjects that I have had much exposure to- such as Psychology, Human Behavior in Organizations, Psychology, etc.

What grade/year level would you like to teach?
For the longest time, I have been a teacher to children as young as 4 years old.  They say teaching little kids helps you keep that child like spirit in you. With this experience, I can say that the last 7 years of my teaching career have been indeed incredible. But something happened that made me think of opening my options to other career opportunities. I was once told that preschool teachers will not be able to effectively teach high school or college students. I feel disappointed when some people say that teaching preschool is as easy as 1 2 3.  In my opinion, teaching in preschool, gradeschool, highschool, and college can be entirely different from each other.  However, this difference is not because one is easier to handle than the other.  Each designation has its own difficulties and challenges to face. To make the long story short, I have challenged myself and these people that we, too, can be equipped to teach higher levels. So, right now, I am psyching myself up for a possible teaching opportunity in High school.  However, honestly, in terms of preference, preschool will always be my first and true love! It has always been a pleasure thinking of activities that would be engaging and interesting for kids. As we know, preschoolers have limited attention span.  That is why presenting lessons in the context of playing is exciting and very much intellectually stimulating.

Which would you like to teach- heterogenous/homogenous?
In Brightwoods, we consider homogeneity in terms of cognitive ability as an important factor when we do class sectioning. Somehow, grouping children by ability makes teaching easier for the teacher- he or she would know what strategies would be most effective when delivering the lesson, he or she would know how much degree of intervention or follow-up discussion is needed, he or she would know what to expect from the students.  In the case of students, low performers will not be demotivated when grouped with other children of the same capacity.  Similarly, high performers will be challenged when in the presence of other bright students.  But of course, there are disadvantages to this kind of set up.  Some parents may complain if their children are not included in the ‘star section’ and in the same manner, may perceive their child to be a slow learner if grouped in the ‘poor section’.  This dilemma may be resolved upon communicating to the parents the real reason behind this action. However, not all may understand. For me, I do not mind teaching a homogenous or a heterogenous group of students. I enjoy the ease of teaching ‘star students’ and in the same manner, I am open to the challenge of educating diverse learners. The teacher of a heterogenous group should be prepared to meet the individual needs of each learner.  One strategy might not work well for everybody.  Hence, the teacher should have intervention plans ready.  Time should be allotted for ability grouping, where individualized needs could be better addressed.

Are the reasons for your choices connected to any particular belief you hold about teaching-learning process? About students? About yourself? If yes, what is such belief?
I believe that my choices are affected by my inclination to see the teaching-learning process more from a constructivist’s perspective.  Constructivists claim that learning is at its peak when students actively participate in problem-solving and critical thinking through activities that they find relevant in their lives. In preschool, this is very much evident in the way we construct our daily lesson plans.  During discussions, you would see how creative children’s responses can be. They are fond of creating their own interpretations based from their experiences.  In school, they learn to accommodate and assimilate new learning to their existing ‘schemas’.  During this process, the teacher’s role becomes significant.  The teacher should carefully facilitate the learning experiences so it becomes more of a self-discovery and not spoonfeeding.  More so, the teacher also plays a significant role in ensuring that children attain their optimal learning performance. If the educator knows each and every child’s strengths and weaknesses, then he or she can devise tactics to increase the possibility of success for each learner.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, August 5th, 2008 at 10:15 am and is filed under Teacher Talk. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.