Introduction to Teaching Paper

Prompt 1 

My current view of learning is that it is a diverse aspect that is influenced by multifaceted elements. In a given setting, for example, learners have different learning needs, which affects their reception of the message conveyed by the tutor or the ability to probe what they are taught. Dynamics can also be witnessed on how personal behavior, traits and characteristics affect knowledge acquisition. There are, for example, learners who are stimulated by the environment, while there are those who have to engage with others in a group for their approaches to learning to be sparked. 

One of the most critical convictions I have identified is that all learners are different, and hence, learning has to be diversified for the needs of the learners to be fully met. Regarding this, teaching and learning can be viewed as intertwined elements that have to be strategized around for their benefits to be realized. With the learning dynamics, diversified teaching, including challenging students to discover, guiding them to acquiring fundamental knowledge, and ensuring self-efficacy, should be explored. At the same time, the environment should be tailored in a way that reinforces learning. For learners to flourish, the environment should flash with their most immediate learning needs. It should strengthen social and emotional development. I am also convinced that each element in one’s environment is vital in reinforcing learning. Whether the physical environment, peers, teachers or students, all these help learners uniquely understand what they are taught. Others probe them to think beyond the obvious, hence, reinforce discovery. 

One of the most important conclusions I have drawn from the course is the need for a collaborative and diversified approach to teaching. Students are unique; hence, teaching should not follow traditional techniques. It should be contributed towards by teachers, peers and the environment in which a learner grow. Additionally, since learning is a continuous process, it is possible that through teaching, teachers and peers, in turn, learn from their subject. I have also discovered that learning happens in different contexts and does not have to be confined to a classroom. For individuals who prefer learning from practical undertakings other than theoretical content, the natural environment is a fundamental element that reinforces learning.

Since learning can be a two-way process. With regards to this, one of the questions that I have picked for further exploration is the diversified ways learners can continue being active learners while at the same time positively reinforcing knowledge acquisition by those they interact with, for example, teachers and their fellow peers. Another related question is the different approaches instituted in a learning environment to encourage learners to employ both passive and active learning techniques. Since one of the aims of learning is making a person better informed, the main question is how learners needs can be solved to the maximum, regardless of their learning techniques.

Prompt 2 

One of the experiences that stands out is the relation between student’s mental health and their ability to learn. In my teaching experience, I have realized that learning only occurs when learners are settled and are not destructed by undertakings in their immediate environment. Issues in their families are likely to negatively affect their ability to concentrate or their morale to learn. Such students are challenging to engage with, and some fear to probe the knowledge acquisition process. Regardless of the method used in teaching, mentally distracted students are hard to convince or instill knowledge. Different cases exemplify the above experience. I realized that students who experience abuse or its direct or indirect effects are often demotivated and fear engaging with others in different learning settings. A small trigger could negatively affect them emotionally, throw them off-balance and make them difficult to engage with. Regardless, I have realized that as a teacher, the segregation of such students should never happen. Just because their mental instability influences their learning needs, they should not be treated differently, but their learning difficulties strategically approached. 

Another significant connection between the course content and my practicum placement experience is that learners are different. They have different learning needs; hence, teaching should not be mainstream. This is mainly because such needs change from time to time depending on influencing environmental factors. Even though in different institutions, the roles of the students mainly involve knowledge acquisition, one of my realization while practically interacting with students is that regardless of students’ capabilities or learning difficulties, each of them is unique and hence, there should not be any room for assumptions. In one of the classes I taught, I realized that I have active and passive learners, had students good in logics but had difficulties in expressing themselves. I also had some who were significantly distressed and distracted with what was happening in their social lives and had extremely good students in all areas. As a teacher, the different elements of peer learning became more evident. I realized that peers can engage with others to positively influence information processing among themselves, knowledge acquisition, and can act as models to their peers. This experience reinforced my understanding that sometimes, the role of teachers is not teaching but facilitating the learning process. This was impacted by the fact that it was possible for cross-learning to take place on strategically grouping students who were gifted differently. With such an experience, I have come to understand that in learning and teaching are not only intertwined but they can be informed by previous undertakings. I have realized that it is possible to transfer knowledge from the course fully and at the same time enrich students because of the interconnection between what happens in the real world and what is taught in high learning institutions.