Dear Knowledge Producers:
One of the first questions I ask a group of education students is about their intentions. Please review the questions below and post your response on this blog:
1. Why are you becoming a teacher? When did you first know that you will become a teacher? What grade level(s) do you want to teach? Why? Where do you want to teach? Why?
2. Why did you get involved with Dr. Stuart's project, "Youth as Knowledge Producers"? How has your involvement in this program helped you achieve your goals of becoming a teacher?
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14 comments:
from my first early ages i wanted to be a teacher but as i grow up and learn more i wanted to be auditor after matric my marks were great i could be an auditor but than.i realise that i can make much of an different if i was a teacher altough i still dream of being an auditor in future but after my teaching; Londeka Phoswa
At first i was forced by my parnts to become a teacher and my my inner self is still telling me that this profession is just a stepping stone to another level, but at the same time i am much happier to lend knowledge to learners.Now the question that hits me most is " is this a blessing in disguise?" am saying this because there more and more i go to the teaching practicum i realise that there is a need for me to be out there and "teach to see change"
why i joined the research on " youth as knowledge producers"
At the begining it was not explained fully as to what are ecxacly required to do in the reserch itself when we were called in. but as we attened the sessions that were set weekly i realised that i was not lost at all, actually i was in the right place at the right time, because we used to explore many different ways which are relating directly to the youth and children of which we can use when we teach the children of today especially in matters that are affecting them directly and their society.
i want to go impact the underdeveloped places, because they do not have good and enough teac hers. i want to be a role model to many learners so that they can thing of themselves that they can make something in the future.
i want to teach grade 10, 11 and 12. because i have seen that the is a need that learners have to be oriented to the world market. learners need guidance about which career to choose, how they have to handle themselves in the society that is facing different demands- socially economically and politically. therefore i have seen the need of going to get trained to delivered this knowledge to the unpriviledged communities.
i want to teach in rural areas.
it is because i want to contribute in the development of the poor societies. i want to cultivate the knowledge that the learners have and also make the learners see themselves as worthy of living good lives like those who live in the urban/ township areas.
I am basically from rural areas, where subjects like mathematics and science have limited teachers and resources. so i felt i could make a difference by becoming a teacher and help those ambitious children who think of becoming great scientists one day. it was also some sort of a caliing because i've spent my little life explaining an helping people understand andf reach new levels of knowledge.
2. A taecher is a life long learner so being involved in the YAKP is one of the ways of extending my knowledge, acquiring new strategies to teach and acquiring all the skills the teacher needs to stand in front of childern and deliver fruitful lessons. I also joined to be aware of different ways we can use to taech or send messages about hiv/ aids.through this project i've learnt strategies like using video cameras, collage pictures, hip hop and freezing theatre to deliver messages.so joining YAKPS is a means of developing knowledge not only about being a teacher but an active member of society.
why am i becoming a teacher? wow what a question, this will take all o0f your time so just sit back, relax and read. when i was in school we (me and my friends) use to say we are all going to become accountants when we finished matric only to find out that there was only one guy who is currently doing it and we all diverted to different fields. how does this link to the question asked? In school i joined them in saying that we will be accountants because i wanted to be part of the group, but my wish was to become a teacher. In 2005 i got a chance to be involved in a love Life team which was teaching school children about life skills and motivation. That is where i developed more of this love of teaching. i then looked at my community and i saw that there many people disliking school.that was because there were not so many role models in my community then i decided that in order to make a difference in my community i must become a teacher because a teacher is able to influence many lives of people and become a role model in many. the reason that made me to become a teacher is that i want to be a role model in my community and make a positive impact in lives of my young people in my community. I think i have answered the first and second question,now i will go to the third question. what grade levels do i want to teach, i want to be a high school teacher, because that is where most people leak direction in life when they are in high schools (i.e.teenagers). i want to teach in a public school or in any school bacause i believe that everyone needs my help and my advices.
i just joined this group today a friend told me about it and sked me to join them so that we can all shere information throughout the world..
I want to contribute in the development my community and my country. Teaching unquestionable to me is the right platform to do that by facilitating youngones from the state of not knowing to the state of knowing. Since I was a kid I admired my teachers as a result I got inspired to became a teacher. I want to teach grade 7 to grade 12 beacuse I think it's a phase where children loose direction and dertimination about their lives. I don't want to move away from my local community because the expireances from there have conditioned me thus teaching there will be fruitfull for others.
I got involve with the project because my past expierance and the way I view issues is acknowledge and discussed. This project had equiped me with teaching approches in relation to my personal ideas and with ideas of teaching in general.
To become a teacher it means working with community and that was my first inspiration of become a teacher since I was comming from rural and I see the need of making difference in my community. And I also saw that a lot of people are not willing to become teachers and then I think for the young one who will grow without getting great education then I saw that I must become a teacher.
Us as knowlegde produce I think it will help us to communicate well and able to put our ideas at any time we like. It also show the advancement. As we going to be teachers it will also make our woork to be easy because we can now communicate using it and get some information.
Why I wanted to became a teacher?
My love for children and teaching the subject I know and love best spured me on the want to make a difference.
Why I am involved in Youth As Knowledge Producers?
As Administrator for YAKP I am preveleged to be apart of a Project that is core of what I believe and know that the little I do will help amke a difference in many lives. My role is mostly administrative keeping the project flowing as the Management TEAM meet and instruct me to communicate with the TEAM Members and Students and organize Workshops, Training, Field Trips and computize feedback so that records can be made for the future. Sometimes I get a chance to use media equipment to do such recording which I enjoy and know will help a visual record and memory for others to remember what they have learnt or been able to be apart of.
My choice of becoming a teacher was inspired by my passion of working with people.At high school i was assiting my fellow learners with their school work.I strongly believe that i was born to make an impact in other people's lives so i gap every opportunity to assist other people.
Why teach young people? Is there any other profession that so priviledges us to work alongside people who are inspired and full of hope that they can make an impact on the world? Teaching offers the potential to help others identify and achieve their goals while at the same time refecting on and getting to know oneself better. I became wedded to teaching as I realised this and that whilst teaching, I would never be bored or without goals and that I could contribute in some small way to the kind of people that inhabit our society.
The pre-service teachers that have joined Youth as Knowledge Producers have inspired me with their willingness to try out new teaching methods and apply them out in real classrooms. As I listen to them reflecting on how they experienced their first teaching of arts-based methods I realised the importance for teachers to have the space and time to think back over what they do. These are teachers who are going to make a difference to the way HIV is addressed in the classroom in all its complexity.
When you become a teacher, you must confront yourself - the identities you've negotiated as a learner and as a member of various communities, cultures, societies and their institutions. The art of teaching and the unique social function of teachers requires an awareness of the community issues around them, including the ones they co-create. The comments posted here reflect the experiences of nine pre-service teachers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal who intend to teach in rural communities in the greater vicinity of Durban, South Africa. Jean directs the project students speak of in their postings and has provided the students a unique space for gaining arts-based methods to address HIV & AIDS education in their future classrooms.
Well,becoming a teacher was not my intention. When i was in grade 12 i battled with chosing a proffession, so i ended up chosing teaching. I've been to schools for the pass 2 years and i must "i love working with kids".I do not regret my decision,it was the best decision ever. Seeing those little smiles and hearing the questions that they asked just completed my life. The best thing about becoming a teacher is that you make a difference in your learners life, however i just feel that teaching is not enough. I want to do more than just teaching.Do you have any ideas of what i can do?
Sometimes I wonder if we know when we start if we know why we are becoming teachers. When I first learning to be a teacher, it was an issue of pragmatics. I decided that I better know something about teaching if my PHD was going to be in teaching, curriculum, and change. I fell into it. Today, as a university professor, I still think of myself as more of a teacher than as anything else. When people ask me what I do, I tell them I teach.
But that's just my two cents. John, I hope all is well and that you are learning as much about yourself as you are about your new colleagues. And, I hope your new colleagues find power in your interchanges.
And post more about what you are doing. Those of us stuck half way around the world are really interested.
Peace,
rg
Marie Gironda, University High School, Newark, NJ USA
I have been teaching for 36 years in a secondary school, and I knew I wanted to be a teacher since I was five years old. I came home from school one day and told my mother, "I want to be a teacher just like Mrs. Meaney." Ever since that day, the classroom has been my second home, and the only reward I need is the recognition on my students' faces when they understand a new concept or conceive a unique analytical idea. I will be honored and thrilled to be part of the "Youth as knowledge producers" project sponsored by Professor Pascarella, and I will be happy to offer any advice, teaching ideas, or support required. Very soon, members from my Future Educators Association will be posting their blogs here, and hopefully, we can create a communication across the Atlantic Ocean. Peace. Marie
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