Teachers are gardeners (Sir Ken Robinson)
I have taught for about 19 years in all. Then I moved to teacher education and curriculum development. Though an ex-student of mine said recently, “You are still teaching. Only your audience is different”, I would agree that I am still continuing to build further clarity on the same.
For
me the basis of classroom environment is what Sir Ken Robinson (2008) says, “Teachers
are gardeners”. The understanding and implementation of the meaning of this
sentence is the whole process of education for me. “What kind of an environment
can we create that allows students to grow naturally to the best they can do in
my subject?” This was and is the burning question.
The
heart of my classroom intention comes from ‘joy of learning’. Everything else moves around it. Once the students have
learnt the art of joyful learning, the rest flows in synchronicity with it.
What is joy? “According to my
Random House dictionary, joy means,
"The emotion of great delight or happiness caused by something good or
satisfying."” (Wolk, 2008)
To bring it into action, I would definitely focus on the following elements for Maths classes in middle school:
Connect Maths with arts
Kochar (2013) gives a way to connect Maths with art
using a project. I found that arts brought the element of fear associated with
Maths to be diffused. The students who were not comfortable with the subject
found arts to be a good ‘hook’ to be connected to the subject and enjoy it.
Hence now I always talk about bringing in arts in Maths classes using projects
such as these or using simply including coloured work in the notebooks. We
don’t have to have black and white notebooks alone right?
Maths classes ought to also echo with singing, dancing
and drama. A number of other strategies are also given by Kochar (2019) on
bringing arts, music and language in the Maths classes.
Four Settings
Actually “you can't just stop
teaching to observe your class but take a step back whenever possible and
record what you see”, (Young, 2004), and for this variation of settings comes
in very handy. I would vary between (a) I teach, (b) Students work in groups,
(c) Students work in pairs and (d) Students work alone. Except for the 1st,
the rest allow me to step back and observe the students.
Group work goes a long way to bring in an
atmosphere of harmony in the classes, if used effectively. The grouping needs
to be done based on the psychology of the group itself. And it must not be
imposed. I would motivate students to be open to different settings by
connecting it to real life skills. I’d say, ‘You need both skills – working in
a team and working alone – for an effective existence’. It always worked!
Finally, as I matured, I realised that we can have
variation of seating within the group itself and my classes had students
choosing on daily basis if they preferred to work alone or in a group. That is
when I felt that we had ‘arrived’.
Connection
Brene Brown defines connection as:
"Connection
is the energy that is created between people when they feel seen,
heard and valued, when they can give and receive without judgement. Belonging
is the innate human desire to be part of something larger than us.” (IG, 2013)
There are 3
words that help build the connect with the students in any situation and these
are: (a) sorry, (b) thank you and (c) please. This is my experience. No one is
perfect. We make mistakes. But the one thing that connected me with students again
and again was my capacity to say ‘I am sorry’.
The other way to make connections
deeper are ‘awareness and reflection’. To be aware of what is coming in the way
of connecting with students and to systematically eliminate it using
reflections. An evening quiet time helps for the same. Teachers need to learn
to meditate. Choe (n.d.) “Ultimately, once I became a
positive teacher, my classroom became a positive one, too”. Awareness and
reflection teaches us that the problem is within us and the solution too.
Connection helps
the students feel safe and that impacts the classroom management. “Classroom management is about setting an orderly and safe space so
that the kids can learn what it is that you want them to learn”, (Ernst &
Wegdham, 2011).
Organization
“Stay organized inside and out.
Keep your student files, assignments, lesson plans and administrative paperwork
in order”, (Cini, 2017, p.3.).
One of my students said to his mum, ‘I have never seen
Monica Ma’am not ready. No matter what happens in the class, she is always
prepared and knows how to manage it’. He was astounded at the level of
organization he saw in me and it made a huge impact on him. With experience,
while lesson planning one learns to be able to project all the difficulties
that the lesson might throw up for a particular class. To be well organised
does not just mean to be ready with material etc but also to be ready for the
unpredictable.
Communication
In the beginning years of teaching, I was ‘popular among students and
unpopular among staff’. It ran for quite some time. It was only later that I
realised the power of having clear communication channels with parents,
colleagues and finally management. Teaching can be hard, stressful and
exhausting. Having people that you can communicate your difficulties to can
provide a good cushion in times of distress. Cini (2017, p.4) says, “It is
essential to have clear and consistent lines of communication with your
administration, colleagues, students and parents”.
I often found that stress of dealing with adults poured out on students.
Since students are vulnerable and cannot always fight back, it was easy to let
loose, but it left me in very poor spirits. When I strengthened the channels
with adults around me, it helped me to conduct classes much better.
In conclusion, over the years I learnt to focus on classroom environment
than individual students or the subject. And that made teaching most rewarding
as a profession or vocation!
References
- Choe, Y. (n.d.). Becoming a positive teacher. Retrieved from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol4/405-newvoices.aspx
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