Hans
Humberto Oviedo Gómez
Reflective
Teaching Course
M.
A. Edgar Alirio Insuasty
Neiva, September 30th,
2015
Conceptualizing my
Teaching Acts
What do you usually do as a teacher? With what kind of
rationale?
The first thing I do to
develop my lessons is to plan what I am going to teach. Planning is the first
and one of the most important steps in the learning-teaching gear. After
planning the activities, based on methodology, activities, policies, along with
others, there is a clear important of preparing, design and organizing the
class itself. From my perspective, when all the materials and class are ready,
the second and most important step and action is being prepared. Teacher should
be prepared to face students and face the possible difficulties in the classroom.
After developing the class, there is always something to improve, in this
sense, there is a clear need to review and re-review the class in terms of
reflecting upon the lessons. This reflection has to be done to improve and to
empower ourselves in our teaching practices.
What is your mind engagement like in the professional
exercise of teaching?
I personally think
having the ability to reflect on the experiences is the clue to success. From
my view, teachers should be open-minded reflective educators, then flexibility
provides us with the necessary tools to be adapted to any circumstance in
action. Throughout my personal experience as teacher, I have had the
possibility to change and re-shape my way of teaching according to the strengths
and difficulties I face in the classroom. In sum, although I did not know it
was reflecting teaching I realized about the importance of being reflective, reflecting
on my experiences.
How would you characterize your professional, personal
and experiential knowledge of teaching?
I am in the process of
learning to be a good teacher. Although my experience is not too long, I have
had the opportunity to work in different educative fields, from public and
private institutions, to university and schools settings. This experience have
given me some important characteristics regarding my teaching beliefs. The
importance of being sociable and friendly with my students, peers and in
general, with the community I belong to. I relate myself as an open-minded
person, ready to learn and ready to teach. As mentioned in my teaching
metaphor, this profession is one of the most demanding jobs but at the same
time one of the most grateful ones. My students are part of my life, each one of
them plays a particular role in my life and have shaped the way I am to some
extent. These guys, are the basis of my teaching principles and the main actors
in my profession.
How do you see the relationship between theory,
research and practice?
I think each one of these
elements is part of a whole gear. Theory provides us with the specific tools to
be used in terms of methodologies, concepts and literature. Meanwhile, thanks
to the new vision I have due to the M.A. programme, research is the most
important aspect to be applied, then research is the only way in which teachers
consciously reflect upon their practices trying to look for improvements in
their contexts. Finally, practice is the complement for the last two
components. Practice is part of the action, it is where all of us are immersed
and whre educators have the power to change the world. To conclude, just with
practice from theory and research, the cycle of teaching takes importance.
To what extent is there a cause-effect relationship
between teaching and learning?
From my view, there is always
a cause-effect in the relationship between teaching and learning. Learning is the process in
which learners (no matter the genre or age) acquire information (data or
experiences) from different internal or external patterns. While teaching is a
process happening in all contexts and with the people around us. Formal teaching
is a task trusted on teachers, the filed in which educators are part of. In the
same line of thought, I would conclude there is a clear and strong relationship
between both concepts, learning and teaching are linked together to guarantee a
success in both.
Dear Hans,
ReplyDeleteI see you are a reflective practitioner, you are concern on key issues regarding your teaching intervention. I really admire your determination and skills as a teacher (master).
PS: I like your pictures, they really fit your thoughts.
Hi there!
ReplyDeleteThanks for commenting my friend.