September 21: Entrance Slip
The reason I want to become a teacher is to make a difference in people's lives in the hope that some of the unfairness and inequalities in our society would cease to exist. I've always hoped that the idea of reflective thinking would help achieve this goal. The article argues that we, as teachers, should always practice reflective teaching. After all, if we don't practice the values that composes reflective thinking in our daily teaching, how can the students understand the value of reflective thinking?
One particular point that connects with me is on responsibility. We are always subjected to the result and consequences of our actions, regardless of our willingness to be responsible. Since I was a kid, I've felt the lack of responsibility showed by the others, and feeling over-responsible on every little thing happened in life. The burden of self-responsible was so strong that I was hesitant to take action. Only until the past year did I gradually understand the balance between thinking and action. This is again another point that was mentioned in the essay, that there is indeed overthinking. After all, taking action to change is the only way to realize the responsibility felt by myself.
I don't believe that the age of the article reduces the value in its existence, because self-reflection suits oneself for the ever changing society.
The article makes me wonder about why we were not asked to draft a teaching philosophy prior to the start of the teaching program. I completed a small program on teaching skills during my graduate school years, in which a teaching philosophy was a requirement. Are we reading this article as part of the inquiry course in order to form a teaching philosophy in the next year? As the article describes that we are always changing our teaching styles as part of the reflective thinking, I will most likely have a different teaching philosophy that is different from the existing one. Excellent.
One particular point that connects with me is on responsibility. We are always subjected to the result and consequences of our actions, regardless of our willingness to be responsible. Since I was a kid, I've felt the lack of responsibility showed by the others, and feeling over-responsible on every little thing happened in life. The burden of self-responsible was so strong that I was hesitant to take action. Only until the past year did I gradually understand the balance between thinking and action. This is again another point that was mentioned in the essay, that there is indeed overthinking. After all, taking action to change is the only way to realize the responsibility felt by myself.
I don't believe that the age of the article reduces the value in its existence, because self-reflection suits oneself for the ever changing society.
The article makes me wonder about why we were not asked to draft a teaching philosophy prior to the start of the teaching program. I completed a small program on teaching skills during my graduate school years, in which a teaching philosophy was a requirement. Are we reading this article as part of the inquiry course in order to form a teaching philosophy in the next year? As the article describes that we are always changing our teaching styles as part of the reflective thinking, I will most likely have a different teaching philosophy that is different from the existing one. Excellent.
What a fascinating and important commentary, Albert. Your commitment to social justice and responsibility is really inspiring! We will be working toward a personal educational philosophy in all the BEd programs through the year, but as you note, philosophies do change and develop, and words can't always capture the whole picture. We will talk more about this in class today --thanks!
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