Good Morning,

 As part of a TESOL course I am doing with Brigham Young University Idaho, we have been asked to analyse and blog about an article written by John J Ivers called: "Is the Great American Teacher Dead? Principles to Resurrect Meaningful, Effective, and Consciousness Raising Instruction. 

 The full article can be viewed here:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1EEitbOSQLg27UTr0KcuyoN2yqi2BUIb-/view

 I do not reside in America, so I decided to change the question to "Are great teachers dead?" 
and I changed it even further, "Are there still passionate teachers out there?" 

 Because this is, after all, what makes great teachers: PASSION

  • They need to be passionate enough to turn their students onto learning. 
  • They need to be passionate enough about their craft that they are forever learning, refining and evolving. 
  • They need to be passionate enough to recognise each student as an individual learner and they need to be passionate enough to want the best for these learners. 
  • They need to be passionate enough to recognise their failings and grow and develop until those are strengths. 
  • They need to be passionate enough to love their students and love the subjects they are teaching. 
  • They need to be passionate enough that the students fall in love with their teaching methods and are sad to leave the class, but grateful for all they have learned.
After this very long article on such an intense subject, Ivers admits he has barely touched the surface of great teaching, but he does give a list of what he considers makes a great teacher. This list includes great teacher-student relationship- covered with a passionate teacher, good delivery- also covered by a passionate teacher, edifies rather than damages students self-concept- this is covered by a passionate teacher, clarification- this is covered by passionate teaching and the list goes on, but all of it is covered by a teacher who is driven to ensure their students, all of them, get the best teaching experience in their classroom, because of their passion.

There are plenty of brilliant, passionate teachers out there, but in South Africa, where I reside, unfortunately, there are far too few of them in the "no-fee" township schools. They are there to get their salary check and they are ever more burdened by the oversized classrooms of more than 40 learners in a class. They are faced with the daily realities of students hunger, no manners, lack of interest, that many have just given up being the passionate student teachers, they once were, 10 years ago.

For those in SA, who can afford to go the Model C (paying schools), there are many great, passionate teachers, who love teaching and getting their best from their students. So all is not lost in SA. 

No, I do not think the great teacher is dead. As we encourage each other to reach higher and be better, there will always be "the good", "the better" and "the best". We can only hope that as enlightened educators we can remain in and grow "the best"category of teachers.

In the below pic is a few of 2019 Shine Literacy Grade 3 Learners receiving their congratulation certificates on completing the year with very PASSIONATE volunteers, who work weekly with their learners, ensuring they are more than prepared to start writing exams in their second language, English, in Grade 4.






 Hugs
Mich

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

I got hacked!

 So, Tuesday 26 September 2023, saw me waging a two hour war with a hacker, trying to gain access to my Facebook account, and his eventual winning. So very frustrating. My fault, I stupidly shared a FB code, to another friend, who had been hacked, hereby giving the gremlin access to mine. Why, I cry in tears, so frustrated and sad to be losing about 15 years of history, as shared on the social media platform. With my holey memory, there were wonderful days when reminders of days past popped up. I am looking at this loss and thinking, what can I learn. There is a reason it is gone. What is it and how can I turn this into a positive? All I know right now is, I am missing it. Why? Not working, it was a touchpoint into the world outside my four walls here. Please note I did not say "the real world", because generally one cannot view what goes on there as real. But it is a welcome break from ones surrounding reality, when that reality is where you spend 24/24 hours, usually. The w...
Read more

Mashed!

Hands up....all those that think about doing something and then never, ever get around to doing it? Yes, my arm is up to... the one not typing. Since blogging started, I have wanted to start one, but life always got in the way! There were and are better things to do with my time. There really still are, BUT I want to write. No, I also need to write. I need to keep my mind busy and what better way than a public diary? I love the written word. At one stage in my life, I was consuming an average of a 350 page novel per week. After work! I think my problem with a blog post is WHAT DO I WRITE ABOUT? My life is way too boring and hum drum for the general public to care about. My opinions ....well as my handle "MISHMASH" foretells...I am a bit scatter brained.  One minute I am running down the pathway of lamenting about being a late starter in the blogging posts and the next I am baiting up the hill and staring into the deep crevices of my scattered mind! It is very easy to blame o...
Read more

TESOL Week 7 Culture and Psychology

Image
Of course, culture and psychology are closely entwined. Your make-up, which consists of your upbringing (culture) will define the way you operate in life. This includes your IQ (intelligence quotient), EQ (emotional intelligence), PQ (physical intelligence) and your SQ (spiritual intelligence). There is a new one which has been added AQ=adversity intelligence. Let me summarise the indicators of a clear mind, a whole person, a well-rounded individual: IQ= it is your intelligence test score, as per a written exam. EQ= it is a measure of your interpersonal and communication skills. PQ= Ability to listen, identify and respond to one's internal messages about your physical self wrt weight, fitness and diet. SQ= The ability to behave with wisdom and compassion while maintaining inner and outer peace. Now I could waffle on for hours about psychology and what makes one tick, but for the essence of this blog, I am focussing on CULTURE and one's psychology and how it would apply...
Read more