I have recently blogged about online pieces that have helped with my inquiry. However, I still felt like something is missing and I need to physically go through books and discover what I wanted to learn.
I headed straight to the teaching section at Middlesex Library, and simply said to myself 'Pick up the book titles that capture your attention and make you want to know what is inside'. I started to pull a few out with titles about children, primary education, becoming an effective teacher, creative curriculum, behaviour management, learning teaching from teachers,effective teaching, teaching children and inspiring primary school teaching. Before I new it ideas were swirling around in my mind, I took a few books away and sat and jotted ideas that came to mind as I flicked through the books. I looked at the contents page and picked out chapters that interested me, I have mentioned a few below.
Contents/Chapters from different books that interested me:
- Characteristics of effective teachers
-Effective teaching
-The teacher-student relationship
-Becoming a teacher
-Developing your your teaching skills
-Approaches to learning and teaching
- What makes a teacher a 'good' teacher
I came across this 'The best classroom practice does not assume that teaching and learning necessarily co-exist; it starts from the needs of the learner.' (Brighouse,1996,P.9) This interested me because before this I had been solely focused on what makes a good teacher, I was searching for bullet points and a list that gave me the answers. This lead me to realise the importance of the student teacher relationship, but also an effective teacher is one that can differentiated their teaching to suit the learner. This made me question what different learners are there (similar to module 1) but more importantly how children in particular learn. This lead me on to take books off the shelf about how children learn, accelerated learning in the classroom and visible learning and the science of how we learn.
Contents/chapters from a variety of books that interested me:
- Memory and how it develops- What is accelerated learning?
- Models of learning
- How knowledge is stored in the mind
- Different types of learners
-Learning styles
-Teacher student relationship
I then put back the books that weren't working out for me, they had good substance but I was looking for something more.I continued this process of sourcing books scanning through and returning ones that weren't helping. I have narrowed my book choices down and this is when I started to find substance, theories, examples that helped me to answer questions I want answered. I felt like I was taking huge steps in my inquiry and starting to build something I really wanted to know more about. Below are some quotes and parts of books that interested me and have lead my inquiry further.
Becoming An Effective Teacher- Paul Stephens and Tim Crawley- 1994
'Its important however, to recognise that effective teaching can never just be about impressive documentation. Being an effective teacher is judged ultimately in terms of imparting knowledge and values that students can comprehend and relate to.' (Stephens, Crawley, 1994, P.10)
Teaching children 3-11- Anne D. Cockburn and Graham Hanscomb - 3rd edition 2012
This book has a section devoted to 'Becoming a 'good' teacher' I originally thought this section of the book was going to tell me what a 'Good' teacher is and how to achieve this. It didn't, instead it gave me an example of how a teacher became good in their eyes through an experience. I believe it is how someone makes you feel that you remember forever. I will be sending out questionnaires I believe they are going to show a real insight to what people deem as a 'good' teacher or 'effective teaching practice'.
Inspiring Primary school teaching- Denis Hayes- 2006
On P.20 he talks about the characteristics of effective teacher the key questions he answers in this chapter are below.
- What is effective teaching?
- How do pupils characterise a 'good' teacher?
- How important is passion in teaching?
- How do teachers inspire pupils?
- What is effective pedagogy ?
These questions that have been answered in this book, this has helped me further along in my inquiry. Im now questioning what is effective teaching rather than what is good teaching. He also differentiates between an effective and an efficient teacher. " There is a difference between being an efficient teacher and a good or effective one. While a efficient teacher is diligent, well organised and able to teach in such a way that learning targets are met and pupils achieve was can be reasonable expected of them, an effective teacher possesses all of those qualities plus an ability to inspire and inculcate in a pupils love of learning." (Hayes, 2006, P.20) This made me consider experiences i have had with teachers. I discover that some were organised and efficient, but they didn't make me POP with excitement and inspire me to learn. Do teachers learn how to do that with experience? Can it be taught? This comes back to the student teacher relationship, why do other teachers have more of an effect on you? Is it because they understand what type of learner you are, and they can relate to you?
Teaching children to learn -Robert Fisher- 1995
Below I have taken a photo from P.92 of this book. This photo show a students prospective of how to be a good teacher. After going through bullet points and paragraphs of how to be a 'good' teacher it is refreshing to see that the simplest things to children make you a 'good' teacher.
( Fisher, 1996,P.92)
After exploring a vast amount of books I left the library with 12 to continue reading. I feel strongly that my journey in module two has leaped forward after feeling very stuck. I now feel I want to look into...
What makes an effective teacher?
Different learning styles and how children learn?
Student teacher relationships (inspired by what I have found in the library and also the video of Rita Piearson -ted talk that I mentioned in a previous blog)
What it takes to be an effective primary school teacher and do they have to take into account the different learning styles?
To be an effective primary school teacher I have learnt that you need to be organised,efficient, passionate and that 'good' practice will always be different- it depends on the needs of the learner in front of you.
Bibliography
BRIGHOUSE.T (1996) Accelerated learning in the classroom Network education Press: Stafford
STEPHENS.P and CRAWLEY.T (1994) Becoming an effective teacher Stanley Thornes : Cheltenham
COCKBURN.A and HANSCOMB.G (2012) Teaching children 3-11 years a students guide 3ED: Sage
HAYES.D (2006)Inspiring Primary School Teaching Learning matters: Exeter
FISHER.R (1995) Teaching children to learn Nelson Thornes: Cheltenham
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