It is the supreme art of the teacher to awaken joy in creative expression and knowledge.
~Albert Einstein~
Thursday, December 12, 2013
Sunday, December 8, 2013
When Finals Week Hits
So it is almost finals week!
Which means I am writing this post when I should be writing a ten page research paper! I like to think of this as my warm up, because I need to get the juices flowing somehow! What better way to begin than to rant about issues that I see in the world of education!
The prevalence of ignorance regarding special education astounds me, especially among future educators. Understandably I don't always blame an ignorant person, because I know that in our society you can live your whole life without encountering a person with a disability for an extended period of time, or the people that you know with disabilities may only have mild or moderate disabilities. But, I have to ask, how can we teach students if we don't know our students individually, and how can we teach students with disabilities unless we read about those disabilities and how they can manifest themselves in our students? This is one of the biggest frustrations I have experienced: working with teachers and fellow students who have no idea how to treat a student with a disability. Not that I am an expert, I know that you can study special education your whole life and still feel as though you are a novice, but a teacher should at least try to gain some understanding of disabilities. If nothing else, gain a sense of what that student needs to reach their own personal goals. Throwing your hands up in the air and saying, "I don't know," just causes the student to mimic that apathetic attitude and expect failure throughout their life.
Another shocking attitude that I encounter would have to be apathy. I am genuinely shocked by how many students who are going to be teachers do the bare minimum; do you not realize that everything we are learning impacts our future careers, and that these are life lessons, not just grades? I am astounded that these teacher students then actually have the opportunity to educate others when they refuse to learn themselves. We must be students of our students, lifelong learners who foster environments that create more lifelong learners. I recently read an amazing blog post { http://lindanathan.com/2013/12/03/asking-the-hard-questions/ } that has caused me to think of teachers are artists. This has truly inspired me to look at education in a new light. But I ask, how can teachers be artists if they harness an attitude of apathy? Artists are passionate, insatiable seekers of truth and meaning. There is not room for apathy from teachers if we are to truly be an artist.
How can we change this? I just hope that one day I will be able to ignite passion in my students for learning, and I hope that fellow educators feel the same way.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats
Which means I am writing this post when I should be writing a ten page research paper! I like to think of this as my warm up, because I need to get the juices flowing somehow! What better way to begin than to rant about issues that I see in the world of education!
The prevalence of ignorance regarding special education astounds me, especially among future educators. Understandably I don't always blame an ignorant person, because I know that in our society you can live your whole life without encountering a person with a disability for an extended period of time, or the people that you know with disabilities may only have mild or moderate disabilities. But, I have to ask, how can we teach students if we don't know our students individually, and how can we teach students with disabilities unless we read about those disabilities and how they can manifest themselves in our students? This is one of the biggest frustrations I have experienced: working with teachers and fellow students who have no idea how to treat a student with a disability. Not that I am an expert, I know that you can study special education your whole life and still feel as though you are a novice, but a teacher should at least try to gain some understanding of disabilities. If nothing else, gain a sense of what that student needs to reach their own personal goals. Throwing your hands up in the air and saying, "I don't know," just causes the student to mimic that apathetic attitude and expect failure throughout their life.
Another shocking attitude that I encounter would have to be apathy. I am genuinely shocked by how many students who are going to be teachers do the bare minimum; do you not realize that everything we are learning impacts our future careers, and that these are life lessons, not just grades? I am astounded that these teacher students then actually have the opportunity to educate others when they refuse to learn themselves. We must be students of our students, lifelong learners who foster environments that create more lifelong learners. I recently read an amazing blog post { http://lindanathan.com/2013/12/03/asking-the-hard-questions/ } that has caused me to think of teachers are artists. This has truly inspired me to look at education in a new light. But I ask, how can teachers be artists if they harness an attitude of apathy? Artists are passionate, insatiable seekers of truth and meaning. There is not room for apathy from teachers if we are to truly be an artist.
How can we change this? I just hope that one day I will be able to ignite passion in my students for learning, and I hope that fellow educators feel the same way.
"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." - William Butler Yeats
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