Education is multi-faceted and requires a clear vision and philosophy to reach its fullest potential. According to Jerome Bruner, "beliefs and assumptions about teaching, whether in a school or in any other context, are a direct reflection of the beliefs and assumptions the teacher holds about the learner." Therefore, it is important for a teacher to clearly articulate their educational mission and viewpoints about learning. Teachers need to take inventory of what they believe the purpose of education is, the role of teachers, how children learn, and classroom management in order to become effective teachers.

The primary purpose of schools is to prepare students for the future. By providing social institutions, in a safe nurturing environment, schools can cultivate intelligent problem solvers that encompass a common set of knowledge and skills. Schools have the responsibility to develop the whole child and encourage life long learners that are culturally literate, model citizens, and prepared for success in the real world.

Teachers play an enormous role in accomplishing the goals of schools. Teachers must have knowledge of the curriculum, pedagogy, child growth and development. In addition, teachers must be positive, confident, and creative facilitators that actively involve students in learning. Teachers need to be able to balance instruction, classroom management, assessment, and all given tasks in a developmentally appropriate manner. To achieve maximum results, teachers need to work collaboratively with professionals, paraprofessionals, parents, and the community. In order to model life long learning, dynamic teachers attend educational workshops, subscribe to educational journals, continue higher education, and are active members of teacher organizations.

Effective teachers recognize that students learn best in a child centered, positive, and stimulating environment that is designed to enhance self-esteem and self-confidence. Jean Piaget’s ideals support that children construct their own learning through authentic experiences from active learning in an enriched environment where students structure, organize, and restructure information through positive interactions with peers and adults. All students learn in a variety of ways using all of their senses. Young children continuously learn through both teacher directed and child selected activities. Play is instrumental to learning in children nine years of age and under because it gives students an authentic opportunity to explore, manipulate, and interact with their environment. Teachers must provide meaningful experiences, social interactions, and encourage experimentation to motivate students which will add to their understanding of the world.

A child’s success in school is directly related to parental involvement and is substantiated by Vygotsky’s studies on the impact of family and culture on children’s learning. Teachers must encourage partnerships with parents and families while maintaining sensitivity to their ever changing needs. Teachers can achieve this goal by having open lines of communication with the family. Parents and teachers need to join together to disseminate each other’s goals and visions for the child and work together by having conferences, sending written communications, and by providing frequent volunteer opportunities.

Children are unique individuals that have a variety of learning styles and talents. Teachers need to assess students’ prior knowledge and motivational interests while aligning that information with the school curriculum and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills during lesson planning. Effective teachers gather ideas from a variety of sources and brainstorm with other colleagues to create lessons that keep students actively involved while providing an appealing array of activities to meet the instructional needs of each student. Edgar Dale’s research, and subsequent development of his cone of experience, validates that children learn best when they are actively involved in the learning process and when experiences are concrete rather than abstract. When planning and teaching, teachers must make use of that research by planning hands on activities and provide follow up activities to reinforce the knowledge and skills presented. Lesson planning should also include a proper tool for assessment such as informal observation, tests, and hands on activities.

Exemplary teachers understand children’s different cultural backgrounds and take satisfaction in integrating those backgrounds into the curriculum. Integrated thematic units provide an excellent opportunity to combine student’s interests, mandated curriculum, and authentic experiences to assist in transfer of information between subjects. It is imperative for teachers to provide enrichment activities and be able to immediately modify lessons to meet the needs of the students. Modifications can range from providing information in a different format to help students restructure information to implementing individualized education plans. Educator Rita Dunn emphasizes that if a child cannot learn the way a teacher teaches, then the teacher must teach the way a child learns.

To accomplish the entire purpose of schools, it is important to develop the entire child, which necessitates character education. Although there are specific programs available to teach character, all teachers and schools should strive to model and teach moral values that universal to all cultures and religions even if a character education curriculum is not adopted. Teachers must focus on creating a classroom environment that fosters trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring, and citizenship. An education that does not include the values to become a productive and moral citizen fails both the child and society.

One of the most important characteristics of an effective teacher is the ability to create and maintain good classroom management. Teachers need to set high expectations for their students and prepare them to meet those expectations. The classroom should be well structured with clear, concise, and consistent rules and procedures. There should be a businesslike atmosphere with efficient routines and transitions. Teachers need to display, teach, and rehearse expected behaviors. Good classroom management leads to increased learning while minimizing discipline problems. Teachers can further reinforce positive behaviors by using frequent praise that accentuates positive behaviors and processes.

School configurations can vary greatly. There is not one particular type of school or classroom setting that is appropriate for all students. Individual school districts and communities must collaborate to implement the school setting that is best for their teachers and students. Classroom configurations can be molded to meet the needs of students. A self-contained classroom is ideal for early elementary grades because it allows teachers flexibility and the ability to integrate various subjects. A self-contained classroom has certain limitations and upper elementary grades might be better suited to departmentalize their classrooms. Departmentalization would allow teachers to specialize in a particular subject and guarantees that equal time will be spent in all subject areas. Departmentalization also allows teachers to have specialized classrooms with laboratories and technology.

Paul Hirst states that “being clear about what teaching is matters vitally because how teachers understand teaching very much affects what they actually do in the classroom.” By clearly communicating their educational philosophies, teachers convey to parents and colleagues their teaching goals and expectations. Identifying the mission of teaching will allow the potential and success of every child to be amplified.

Written by Amy Coronado
 

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