Week Four Reflection

I would like to take this time to reflect on a few posts I have read from fellow educators in this course. Since beginning this masters course at the start of this year, I have had the same thoughts that Murra Mumma addressed in her Ponderings as teachers into the future post. As a primary school educator I have often thought about what my role will be as a teacher in the future. I too wonder how I will keep up with the rapidly changing learning environment and creation of new technologies. The role of the teacher has already changed throughout time to take on different and new roles as a facilitator and collaborator of learning through the constructivist learning and teaching theory (Taber, 2011). I would like to think that there will always be a place and need for a teacher in the classroom, whether that be a physical or virtual space. When I think about all the external factors (to actual teaching and learning) that occur during the school day, I can safely say that this role could not be replaced by a computer or operating system. Friendships, emotions, relationships and personalities encompass the dynamics of a learning environment where educational and psychosocial development intertwine. However, I can see the potential for the role as a teacher to evolve within systems such as the flipped or blended classroom which you can read about here. I mentioned in another post the concept and theory of connectivism and the ability for learners of all ages to learn on the go, 24/7 (Wong, 2012). I believe this theory will continue to give rise to new ways of teaching, learning and assessment and the structure of the physical classroom.

I would be very interested to hear about how secondary or higher education educators view would differ to a primary teacher’s (me) opinion of how the role of the teacher could change in the future.  

I also agree with Sharonngl in her post about teachers needing to use their fliters and skills of tagging, bookmarking and pinning on programs such as Pinterst to keep up to date with new ideas and technologies. I also think it will be initiatives such as NGL that will allow teachers to connect with other experts (educators, web designers, researchers, academics), research, ideas, resources and programs to ensure they keep up to date and continue to learn about ways in which technology can support and enhance education.

I would also like to reflect on Teachfacilitatelearngrow’s post about taking a step back from it all to reflect and refresh. I find that with teaching my year fours, talking to parents, planning and assessment, completing this masters course, living 40 minutes away from where I work, running a household and connecting with family and friends, I am exhausted (I realise that sounds like I am complaining but I really do love all of these things). It is essential for me and I am sure many others, to take some time for ourselves to reflect and refresh. That is why I am really enjoying the learner part of this blog as it is in a way, forcing me to do something for myself. I genuinely look forward to my 20-30 minute block a night where I get to focus on myself and improve my flexibility, strength and balance. I also love reading about how others are going with this course and hearing their ideas about the topics we are learning about. I am looking forward to being a passenger on Charm’s Chicken mission, Murra Mumma’s sauekraut journey (I am really keen to find out more about the health benefits), I am even looking forward to looking into Alex Gilbey’s and Lisa’s (Student reflection) coding and javascript learning goals.

Thanks for reading this long post, I look forward to hearing your thoughts on these ideas.

Bec

References

Taber, K. S. (2011) Guiding the practice of constructivist teaching, Teacher Development: An international journal of teachers’ professional development, 15(1), 117-122, DOI: 10.1080/13664530.2011.555229

Wong, L.-H. (2012), A learner-centric view of mobile seamless learning. British Journal of Educational Technology, 43: E19–E23. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8535.2011.01245.x