Personal Pedagogy
- May 29, 2015
- 2 min read
In becoming who we are as teachers, we draw upon the core beliefs and values that we have developed through interactions with others at home, at school and in a social environment. I believe that people receive and process both knowledge and experiences in their own individual way and must make meaning of this knowledge and experiences for themselves.
Our ability to reflect and critically evaluate our responses and our students' responses to knowledge and experience enables us to refine the type of teacher we are and to develop our own personal teaching theory. I hope you enjoy learning about my pedagogical position, developed through the discussion of education, schooling and learning.
Throughout my entire schooling, I was always handed the knowledge and was expected to regurgitate and remember it all. Who were they kidding, that is not effective teaching or learning, and how could teachers feel satisfied at the end of the day that they had effectively taught a lesson. Upon reflecting on my micro teaching, professional experience and through extensive literature research, I have come to the conclusion that in my teaching practice I would like to take a constructivist approach. I want to thoroughly engage my students and help them to find and make meaning of their knowledge. All students have their own individual "virtual schoolbag" and "funds of knowledge", all of which need to be individually appreciated and reflected throughout the classroom.
Kincheloe states that ‘Critical Pedagogy mandates that schools don’t hurt students—good schools don’t blame students for their failures or strip students of the forms of knowledge they bring to the classroom’ (2008, p. 13). This relates back to the “virtual schoolbag” and “funds of knowledge” theory. When students reflect upon an experience, due to their virtual schoolbag, that is the knowledge that they made meaning of, and a critical theorist or pedagog will appreciate that knowledge and explore its meaning.
The professional literature that I have reflected upon, (Thomson, Kincheloe, Hinchey, Hill, Dewey and the State and National documents) although the list is not extensive, I have made meaning of them; I have turned the information into knowledge, knowledge that will be reflected throughout my teaching and within my classroom.
References:
- Kincheloe, J. 2008, ‘Critical Pedagogy Primer’, 2nded, Peter Lang Pibl Inc., New York, Accessed 29/05/15, http://web.b.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=a044c36e-dcc2-45bf-9b82-6250094e3879%40sessionmgr112&vid=3&hid=125
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