A friend of mine who is currently studying to
become a teacher in Vienna recently sent me this playlist of TED talks, all
from different (mostly high-school) teachers talking about teaching, different
teaching methods and what they think is important when working as an educator. I
found some of the things those teachers had to say to be quite interesting, so
I thought I'd share the playlist on my blog and summarise some the talks I
liked the most. Maybe you'll find them as interesting as I did. Now, I'm not
going to summarise all eight talks, so if you'd like to watch those I'm not
mentioning here (or if you'd like to watch those I am mentioning for yourselves,
which I encourage you to do, even if it's just for listening practice or
something, because they are actually quite good talks!), you can do so here: http://www.ted.com/playlists/182/talks_from_inspiring_teachers#
Talks:
1. Rita Pierson - Connect with and encourage your students!
Rita Pierson, who has been an educator for 40
years, talks about the value and importance of human connections and
relationships. I really like her approach to teaching kids because she tries to
encourage kids as good as she can. She raises the question of how to raise a
children's self esteem and their academic achievement at the same time. There's
an example in the talk where Mrs. Pierson says, that she once wrote +2 and a
smiley face on the test of a kid who had gotten 18 out of 20 questions wrong,
because, as she puts it, "Minus 18 sucks all the life out of you. plus 2
says I ain't all bad!". School can be discouraging at times, so I think
the way she's trying to focus on the positives is really admirable. At the end
of her talk, Mrs. Pierson says, "Every child deserves a champion. An adult
who will never give up on them. Who understands the power of connection and
insists that they become the best that they can possibly be." I think
that's a really nice thought.
2. Christopher Emdin - Engage your audience!
Christopher Emdin's talk is about engaging the
people you are trying to teach. He says that the skills taught to aspiring
teachers at university are not necessarily the skills that a good teacher
needs. In his opinion (and I agree with him on that) learning how to engage an
audience, how to be a good storyteller, how to make people interested in what
you're saying is by far more important and effective than many of the teaching
strategies taught to future educators at university. He also says that you are
more likely to learn those skills at rap concerts or in black churches, than
you are at university.
3. Tyler DeWitt - Make your lessons fun and use understandable language! (especially in science classes...)
In the third talk a science teacher called
Tyler DeWitt talks about how science
text books are written in a way that makes it almost impossible for kids to
understand, let alone memorise, the stuff they are supposed to study. He says
it's more important that students understand the content of their textbooks,
than for that content to be explained in a scientifically completely accurate
way. According to him, not having completely accurate knowledge of a subject will
not lessen students' chances to ever be successful in science, but not
understanding what they're taught in class and, as a consequence, learning to
hate the subject, will! I think he does make a valuable point there. If you're
taught science in a logical and easily understandable way and you find that the
subject interests you, you can still continue studying it and learn everything
the scientifically correct and accurate way at university. As far as
high-school education is concerned, a basic understanding for the subject, in
my opinion, is far more important.
6. Ramsey Musallam - Curiosity comes first!
Ramsey Musallam says he has 3 basic rules for
he tries to incorporate in his teaching:
1. Curiosity comes first!
2. Embrace the mess!
3. Practise reflection!
The first of those rules is the one that he
highlights most in his talk. He says that "student questions are the seed
of real learning" and that one of the most important - if not the most
important - things a teacher has to do is to spark the students' curiosity and to
encourage them to ask questions.
What I think makes a good teacher:
I think it's hard to say what exactly it is
that makes someone a good teacher. There are really strict teachers, that you
curse throughout your time in school, but then, in hindsight, appreciate a lot,
because they managed to teach you things in a way that you understood and
remembered them or because they taught you stuff you actually needed later in
life. There are teachers that are really nice and everybody likes, but their
teaching just might not be as effective. There are also teachers who you don't
like AND teach ineffectively, but we won't talk about those now... The point
is, there is no recipe to the perfect teacher, but I think there are three very
important things a good educator should have.
Fairness
Nothing will make students lose respect for
their teacher faster than said teacher treating them or some of their
classmates unfairly. Taking private problems out on students, having
favourites, letting whether they like a student or not affect grades, etc.,
are, in my opinion absolute no-goes for teachers. And yes, teachers aren't
robots, we are all human, sometimes your mood affects the way you treat others,
I am aware of that! But there are teachers who are able to mask their moods
better than others, who at least try to treat their students in a fair way. And
I think students respect those kind of teachers a great deal more than someone
who lets their private life affect the way he or she treats students or is just
generally unfair.
Competence
I think enthusiasm and understanding for their
subject is crucial to a teacher's teaching abilities. Students always, ALWAYS
notice if the teacher does not actually like their subject; from my experience
the best teachers tend to be those who don't just rattle off the lesson they
prepared the night before, but actually have more than just superficial
knowledge on a subject. Those who genuinely like and are interested in the
subject they teach and who therefore have no problem answering more in-depth
questions students may ask, because they actually enjoy informing themselves,
keeping updated and reading up on their subject. If a teacher is bored by or
doesn't actually know all that much about their subject, that will affect their
lessons. And not in a positive way. It usually makes students less willing to
pay attention or study for that subject. And understandably so, because if even
the teacher is bored out of his or her mind by the subject, why should they bother?
A teensy little bit of enthusiasm on the
teacher's part doesn't hurt... They don't have to overdo it (in fact, overdoing
it might have the opposite effect of what they're trying to achieve...), but from
what I've experienced it sure does help if teachers are passionate honestly
enthusiastic about their subject and teaching it to others.
Willingness
As a teacher you should be able to work with the
people you are trying to teach. If you don't like children, don't become a
school teacher. If you can't deal with teaching other adults, well, why make
that your job. I can't really speak for adult education here, I don't know too
much about that yet, but in school I've come across so many teachers who don't
seem like they even want to stand in front of a class and try to deliver
information. If you're just gonna be miserable and get frustrated with your
students as soon as someone doesn't understand something and dares to ask a
question, then, I'm sorry, but you've got the wrong job. Willingness to teach
other people is immensely important for a teacher (duh!) and just like
enthusiasm, if you lack it, students will be able to pick up on that, no matter
how hard you try to disguise it!
But that's just my opinion... I think the only
thing we can be certain of is, that, contrary to popular belief, being a
teacher can be damn fucking hard!
