What are your beliefs as a teacher?

Neeraja Raghavan

In our last exchange, we examined the prior concepts and beliefs that children come with when we engage with them in our classrooms. So I thought an appropriate extension of that paper would be to read about the beliefs and values that we – teachers – come with when we enter our classrooms! Unlike our previous installments in this series, you will find in this one a set of very do-able exercises which are guaranteed to help you reflect on your teaching practice.

This time, I went through a chapter of a book and it made very interesting reading indeed. The author begins by posing a provocative question: by asking whether a teacher should randomly select her instructional strategy and mode of assessment, or if there should be some deliberate thought behind this choice. He then goes on to point out that there are certain underlying beliefs and values that determine even these so-called ‘random’ choices that teachers make, and leads the reader through a systematic route of examining (and enquiring into) these values and beliefs. He assures the reader that if an honest self assessment is conducted, as suggested, this will pave the way for the development of clear targeted objectives.

Just for fun, I too, joined the exercise. I invite you to try it as I enjoyed it greatly.

To begin with, he jolts the reader’s attention by stating a vital research finding as below:
The greatest academic growth is not dependent upon students’ gender, race, or socioeconomic status. Rather, the teacher’s effectiveness is the single greatest determinant of student success (Darling-Hammond, 2000).

So if you ever had any doubts about the power that we wield as teachers, Darling-Hammond’s research study sets those doubts at rest!

The author then goes on to use a lovely analogy for describing perspectives: altitudes! Imagine yourself climbing a high mountain – the mountain of your perspectives! The more overarching the perspective, the higher will be your altitude. Thus, he places values at 30,000 feet above sea level, core ideas at 10,000 feet, with interactions, relationships and learning on ground, i.e., sea level.

Reproduced below is his table:
Perspectives That Inform Your Values and Practices (Ref. Chapter 1, Succeeding with Inquiry in Science and Math Classrooms by Jeff C. Marshall)

He then nudges the readers to take a moment to write out their own teaching philosophy in one or two sentences. I found this to be tough – but very fulfilling – to do. He points out that this should be a dynamic statement which will evolve as we do, as teachers.

Now, if you are bewildered and are looking for guidance as to how to go about this sort of articulation, he cleverly adds:
If you are like most readers, you might now begin to peek ahead to see what the “right” answer is. After all, our educational upbringing has taught us to look for the single right answer instead of seeking thoughtful, unique solutions.

I couldn’t help chuckling as I read this: for this rings so true especially in our Indian scenario, where most of us are so conditioned to look for the ‘right answer’!

He then takes us down to the next notch, and asks us to review what is truly important. By this, what he means is:
The 8 to 10 things that you want your students to know or be able to do by the end of the year.

Now I found this very difficult to put down. On the surface, it seems as if the prescribed syllabus will dictate this. However, teachers know only too well that present day syllabi are often too heavy (especially in the senior classes) and frequently necessitate focusing (by the teacher) on some portions of it over others.

What determines this selection? Is it the types of questions expected in the end-of-year examination? Or is it the inherent importance in the selected topics: for living everyday life?

Perforce, while answering this question posed by the author, I found myself examining the intrinsic worth of whatever I had thus far deemed to be ‘important’ and ‘worth teaching/learning’.

How do you find this exercise? I will be curious to know.

Here, the author cites certain research studies which showed that exemplary teachers view standards as guidelines or frameworks to aid their teaching practice, whereas other teachers regard them as obstacles. I took this to mean that the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. In other words, if a teacher regards the prescribed syllabus as a guideline rather than a millstone around her neck, it will make for that much more enjoyable teaching and learning! Needless to say, the teacher needs wholehearted support from the management of the school to hold this view.

The author then goes on to ask when our students have been the most successful. As I thought about this, I realized that this brought to the fore my own definition of ‘success’ and made me re-examine my usual route of planning a lesson, implementing it and then assessing student understanding. The author suggests that we go about it in a slightly different fashion, viz.

• First, identifying the core ideas in whatever we are going to teach.
• Then, listing out the main concepts within these core ideas, which we expect the student to master by the end of the lesson.
• Then designing our assessment method for gauging whether or not the above has truly been mastered.
• After all of the above, the author suggests that the lesson be planned keeping in mind this method of assessment.

This turned on its head my usual route of lesson planning. Does it do the same to yours? After all, we are all so used to the PLAN-IMPLEMENT-ASSESS route, that this sequence seems to be back to front, almost, doesn’t it? And yet, it does make a lot of sense!

As the author points out, the first method assumes that the end-of-lesson assessment is the appropriate method for gauging achievement of objectives, while the suggested sequence above does not make any such assumption. Instead, it nudges the teacher to revisit the learning objectives and think them through in the light of a valid assessment methodology. By doing so, the teacher stays aligned with what (s)he values as critical learning, instead of merely going along with what the writers of the textbook deemed to be of value. It is here that the teacher’s own values come bobbing up! The author then proceeds to invite the reader to take a look at how students are involved in the classroom transaction, by scrutinizing aspects like the following: determine the percentage of time students typically spend doing (1) individual work, (2) small-group work, and (3) whole-group work. The author calls the resulting pie-chart a General Classroom Organization Chart. Further, he invites the teacher to also examine the learning environment by noting down: portions of time typically spent on (1) teacher presentation; (2) class discussion; (3) group projects, labs, and explorations; and (4) individual work.

To be honest, I have not yet tried this exercise. But I can immediately see the immense value in it. It might help if I have an observer sit in on my class and make this apportioning, so as to keep the assessment objective. Would you like to try this as well? He ends the chapter by inviting the reader to take a look at instructional strategies, and gives a suggested list of such strategies for the teacher to run through and mark against. Just how this will connect to a teacher’s underlying beliefs, I leave it to you to decipher!

Overall, I found this chapter to be a good stimulus to reflect on my own teaching practice. If you would like to bring the essence of this chapter into your classroom, do try out the extracts that are given below.

Now bring it into the classroom!
Articulate your teaching philosophy in one or two clear sentences. (You may need to write more than one draft.)

List the 8 to 10 core ideas that you want your students to master by the end of the school year. Which are the most important? Which are the least important? (How) Can you cut down on the time spent on the less important ideas and increase the amount of time that you will spend in teaching the more important ideas?

Draw your General Organization Chart as well as Learning Environment Chart. Seek the help of an impartial observer if you are unable to do this yourself.

Now step back and examine both these charts. What do they tell you about your teaching and learning environment? Do they represent an ideal scenario? How can you make the environment better?

Try filling in the Teaching Approaches table in the original paper – see the box: TIP: Teaching Approaches in the link http://www.ascd.org/publications/books/113008/chapters/What-Are-Your-Values,-Practices,-and-Actions-as-a-Teacher%C2%A2.aspx

Now go back to the first statement of your teaching philosophy. Re-examine whether or not your charts and teaching approaches are in alignment with your philosophy.

Please do share your responses to these suggestions at thinkingteacher22@gmail.com



References

1. Jeff C. Marshall (ASCD publication) Succeeding with Inquiry in Science and Math Classrooms Chapter 1. What Are Your Values, Practices, and Actions as a Teacher?
2. Linda Darling-Hammond (2000) Teacher Quality and Student Achievement: A Review of State Policy Evidence Education Policy Analysis Archives, Vol 8(1) pp. 1-44

The author is Founder Director of Thinking Teacher (www.thinkingteacher.in), an organization that networks with teachers across the country. Thinking Teacher aims to awaken and nurture the reflective practitioner within each teacher. By taking (action) research out of the classroom, Thinking Teacher develops the (action) researcher in the teacher. And then, by bringing research into the classroom – as in this series – Thinking Teacher’s goal is to help build deep inquiry and rich learning into the teaching process. The author can be reached at neeraja@thinkingteacher.in.

Deepening conceptual understanding, teachers in response…

Whenever I have taught a lesson in the form of a story, I have found that if I relate it with real life or bring in examples from everyday life, it really helps students understand the concept. Let me narrate an experience. In one of my 10th grade classes, I started a chapter with a story about Kabir but without taking his name. I narrated all that he went through in life and how he must have felt living in a society divided on religion and which practiced discrimination. I asked them questions like, ‘what would you have done’ or ‘how would you have grown under such circumstances’. This is how we spent an entire class, just discussing Kabir without even taking his name. Kids talked about many stories and acts of kindness that they had seen or heard of. It was only at the end of that session that I revealed the name of the poet/saint we were discussing.

When I gave them a test related to the topic, I figured that they had written and understood more about Kabir’s personal life (as this part of the lesson was in the form of a story) than about his poetry.

While I was happy that learning had happened, my purpose was only half achieved as the students couldn’t answer questions about his poetry. The reasons I thought were –

• The lesson had not been appropriately planned to cater to each child’s need.
• I taught Kabir’s poetry like I would any other poetry, so the impact that the story of his life had did not spill over into the study of his writing work.
• I should have planned from the children’s point of view and not as per my own interest.

Hook
With junior classes (3 to 5) I plan to have songs, funny poems, role play, flash cards and different activities to keep them involved. How one plans to ‘hook’ their students will depend on the topics to be taught. Most of the time, I employ conversations, question and answers, or I even enact in the class.

Chunk
I feel it is very important to divide a chapter into chunks to balance the information, otherwise it becomes too much for the child. For juniors, I start grammar from gender(ling) and number (vachan) and bring them up to the tenses. I begin the tenses with the simple present and present continuous and only then move to the simple past and past continuous.

Giving information in the right dose helps each child digest and grasp well. Although at the end one has to be able to reconnect all the concepts so as to effect an overall understanding, otherwise, it will become a mess and they will forget everything. So the time frame is also important.

With seniors, I once taught them one huge chapter in three big chunks, because I felt that if I divide it further it will lose its essence. Each chunk was taught as a different unit, so the amount of energy and time that went into each chunk was more or less equal. All basic language teaching rules were followed: reading, clarifying difficult words, dictation, etc., with some chart work to support them with the last and the next chunk. Dividing a chapter does require a lot of hard work and preparation from the teacher. I found the question and answer and discussion methods to be very effective tools to connect all the loops.

Allowing their ideas
In a country like India, where several languages thrive, Hindi (my subject) may not often be language of expression, so I have to work hard to get my students to express themselves in a language that may be difficult for them. But I have also had students who have been up to the challenge. I have always tried to create an atmosphere where we are all learning better. A teacher is guiding and at the same time exploring her own knowledge. We should all facilitate the unfolding of new ideas without judging each other.



Helping them to see the current reality and beliefs they already have
I have come across children having ideas about gender, caste and religion. As a teacher, I never tried to address these issues directly. But I have tried (indirectly) teaching them, telling them stories or planning group activities to help them truly understand these ideas. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. I don’t try to impose anything on their tender minds.

Can you provide your students with a new context or situation in which they can apply this learning so that they now have to think through the problem on their own?

According to me, the whole purpose of education is awareness. Making them aware about a place, people, surroundings and self inquiry is an important part of this whole learning exercise. Yes, definitely, it will help the child to understand on his/her own and understand more clearly. Every time I teach I always keep in mind what is necessary and what is to be left out. I try to bring in what worked and leave out what was not effective. I provide my students the space to come up with their own ideas and encourage self inquiry to get them to understand the concept so as to learn together more effectively.
Swathi Gautam
The Peepal Grove School, Chittoor, Andhra Pradesh

Before starting a new lesson I always discuss the topic with my students. These discussions are lively and act as a hook to the lesson they will next be learning.

By connecting the chapters in their textbooks to everyday life and learning I help my students form information chunks and find connections between them. This helps them remember their lessons.

I try and create a friendly atmosphere in class so that my students are not afraid to answer, discuss, and comment on the lesson being learnt.

Also in order to give my students new experiences and spaces to learn I not only am watching videos by physics experts but also a TV serial called Science of Stupid.
Nusrat
Kendriya Vidyalaya, Chandrapur

I learned this lesson over a period of time that learning is all about sharing with open heart and objectivity. It is about sitting together and creating an environment of listening and accepting others’ ideas. I teach chemistry and I know the power of effective questioning. To me the most important rule of teaching is knowing my students and leading them to the solution by letting them explore on their own without deviating from the goal. For this, the teacher must be well equipped with knowledge, understanding and application skills. The teacher should also know when she should hold her students’ hands and when she should let go. A teacher should never give up on her students. I try and understand each of my students’ strengths and weaknesses and thereby work out how to react to each of them. This is how I believe I have come to earn the love and respect of all my students.
Asia Khawar
Fauji Fertilizer company FFC Grammar School, Sindh, Pakistan

As a teacher there have been many instances where I have been really satisfied after teaching a concept but later found out that my students didn’t understand the lesson as well as I thought they did. I particularly recall an instance of having taught parts of the flower to class six students.

Before beginning the lesson when I asked the students what they knew about the parts of a flower, most said they had already learnt the topic and therefore did not pay as much attention during the lesson. (This I found out later when trying to understand what had gone wrong with the lesson plan.)

The scientific names of the parts of the flower were new and confusing to the children and they couldn’t relate a live flower with the diagram in their book.

I found out about these problems only after I gave them a worksheet to answer based on the lesson. So I went back to the drawing board and we did the entire lesson again. A real challenge for the students was relating a real 3d flower to the 2d image of the same in their textbooks. We recalled the the learnt concepts during informal situations in the playground or the dining hall. These chunks of information helped relate to the topic in the class.

The construction of working models helped the children clear the concepts.
Ratna Singamsetty
The Peepal Grove School, Andhra Pradesh

July 2017, Research in Action