The Decision to Become a Teacher - Resume/CV Example

INTERVIEWING: TEACHING PROFESSION Author’s name Institution’s name INTERVIEWING: TEACHING PROFESSION Introduction Teachers should uphold and have belief in the activities and processes put forward to change the behavior of students desirable. The need for facilitating and promoting the behavioral changes is essential and is promoted by subject matter mastery and important teaching techniques. It is for this reason that I conducted this interview on one of the people in the profession of teaching. Mr. Wayne is a Grade 8 Secondary level teacher at Mount Lawley Senior High School. He has a fifteen-year experience in the teaching profession teaching applied sciences and has been a class teacher for eight different classes. The school had a population of about 800 students as at the year 2016. Summary of Interview Questions and Answers Why did you decide to become a teacher?  What was your motivation and what attributes do you think are important for a teacher to exhibit to be effective?  I wanted to be a teacher so that I could mold young generations and make a positive change in their lives. There is no important and better job in the society that could help in creating a difference in the future of students. The education system has already helped me as a person through implanting knowledge and values and I feel that by becoming a teacher I get to pay back to the education system. Moreover, at the same time, I fulfill my wish to make a positive change in the lives of many. Interacting with the young students at both the recreational and educational level with the aim of making positive contributions to both their educational and personal life is exciting and this was the main motivation behind my choice of profession. For any teacher to be effective they must possess some essential attributes. One is that a teacher has to be organized and well prepared. Through having a plan and preparing well for the lessons a teacher becomes effective. Another attribute is clarity and this can help explain complex issues in a simple manner that makes it easy for students to understand. Teachers also need to be patient through providing students with enough time to understand concepts. Fairness is also key to any good teacher. With all these attributes, the teaching profession becomes easy and the teachers become effective. What is your philosophy of education?  What is the role of the teacher and the students? It is my belief that education provides a unique experience to all students that take part in it and thus teachers should consider teaching to be a lifestyle rather than a paying job. My goal is to ensure that students are challenged and grow to their full potential as I watch and guide them. One of the keys to achieving this is group work as it changes the class atmosphere and as students help one another they are able to change and influence each other mostly in a positive way. I believe that in classrooms students should have the freedom just as in mine and this enables creativity and expression. Besides it allows for the students to pick out their strengths and weaknesses through experimentation with what they like and dislike. When it comes to teacher and student roles, there are clear definitions. The roles of teacher extend beyond standing in front of the classroom but to help the students apply concepts of their specific fields, mentor the students, manage the classroom environment, and work well with all education stakeholders including parents and other staff to ensure the betterment of education. Students, on the other hand, need to be active participants through following instructions from their teachers to ensure that they better their own lives. What are your learning goals for your students?  How do you effectively meet their needs?  Learning goals are essential and the foundation to lessons and depend on the discipline. My learning goals include essential questions students need to answer at the end of each chapter, application of instrumentation and important techniques in problem-solving, application of analytical skills and critical thinking in data interpretation, and finally, clearly demonstrate visual, written, and oral skills in presentation as methods of communicating what they know. To meet students’ needs, I provide factual information to the students through well-prepared notes, classroom activities such as multiple assessment forms, provision of other resources such as web links, and collaboration with other stakeholders such as parents, my colleagues, and guardians. What do you believe are the most effective methods for teaching? Teaching is not easy, as many perceive it to be and thus there are certain effective teaching methods. First is Interest and explanation where the teacher creates explanations that are interesting to the students and thus allows them to easily understand. Having goals and setting intellectual standards to the students is another effective strategy. Finally, teachers should use appropriate methods of assessment and feedback that allows the students to provide different ways of subject mastery. What is your comfort level with technology and how do you integrate it into your lesson planning? Despite its disadvantages to the young generation, technology is an essential aspect in promoting education. I am well ad versant with technology since I possess a laptop and smartphone. Besides, I have accounts on almost all social media platforms. I use technology in lesson planning both to aid me as a teacher and students. Using MS Word and Excel I develop my lesson plans and personal timetable. I use PowerPoint and the projector to teach sometimes. The class also has a class email that I use to send soft copy notes. Finally, I provide students with extra resources such links and web pages that provide extra information and articles. How do academic standards drive your instruction?  Do you feel a need to teach to the test?  Why or why not?   It is essential to follow the academic standards of education including curriculum. Today the main teaching goal has been to produce high student scores. However, I believe that student development is not only based on tests. My instructions to students are however still based on the academic preset standards mainly the curriculum. Yes, there is need to teach to the test since the tests measure the knowledge and skills expected of the students and us as teachers prepare the students by imparting the skills and knowledge to them. What types of assessment do you use in your classroom?  Can you give me an example of a formative and summative assessment?  The basic types of assessments used are formative and summative assessments but mostly I employ summative assessments. Formative assessments basically provide an understanding about the student to both the teacher and student at levels where adjustments can still be made. An example of a formative assessment is record keeping by the student to check progress. Summative assessments are periodically provided to students in an attempt to determine what the students know at the particular point of time. Two examples of summative assessments are the end of unit tests and end of the semester or term tests. How do you incorporate elements of multicultural education in your classroom?  Can you provide a specific example?  Multicultural education is essential in all classrooms to strengthen intercultural awareness and teaching the students different perspectives of historical evidence. In my class, I ensure that I integrate a reading list that is diverse and giving the students projects that are multicultural and requires them to select the ones that are out of their own background. How do you effectively manage a classroom?  What is most challenging about issues related to discipline and classroom management? Classroom management and discipline is essential and in managing classrooms. The methods of management I use include having student-centered lessons, referring troubled students to school counselors, and enforcing punishments to students that do not follow instructions. This is to provide an example to other students and thus manage the class discipline. It is, however, challenging to enforce discipline in the classroom as a management method. One of the challenges is that some school administrations and parents do not support the punishment method as a way of classroom management. Besides, some students have a background where they have not been raised properly and thus behavioral change becomes a difficult task. How do you foster a positive relationship with students, parents, and the community?  The relationships between all education stakeholders including parents, students, and the community are essential. Some important methods I use include parent-teacher organizations, parent conferences, and ensuring forums and meeting sat the community level through the school community councils. What are the best and worst parts of the teaching profession?  What concerns might you have for the future of our education system?   Being a teacher just like any other profession has its best and worst. Nothing beats interacting and building good relationships with the students and working with a large group of people in the education sector. It is satisfying and rewarding to watch your students grow and succeed in life. However, some worst aspects include watching even one of your students failing and not improving. Besides the commitment involved can be sometimes tiresome both physically and emotionally. The future of education is not bright since today many of the teachers just join the profession to earn money and do not have the interest of the students at heart. Moreover, the growth of technology is eliminating the real relationships with the students as it has been projected that teaching will be done through conferencing in the future and even recording lessons and letting the students listen to it without a physical appearance. As you have gained experience, has your philosophy of education changed? As I have grown in the teaching profession off course, my philosophy of education has changed but it has changed positively. Analysis Some of the main education issues include motivations, philosophy of Learning, embracing diversity, using standards and assessments to drive instruction, implementing technology, contemporary concerns, and discipline management. Based on the answers of Mr. Wayne it is evident that some scholars support some of the answers while some are not. Multicultural education is essential in the classroom, the methods used by Mr. Wayne are essential in achieving the goals of multicultural education including the creation of a safe learning environment, and ensuring there is no discrimination of any kind in the classroom (Black et al., 2003). Concerning technological implementation, Mr. Wayne was on point as the world is changing and the need to use technology in the classroom is important as it enhances education in a positive way. Motivations for becoming a teacher are clearly supported by most of those in the profession and the philosophy of learning and education. The philosophy of providing positive changes to the lives of the students through subject mastery and making use of different teaching methods that are appropriately selected (Danielson, 1996). Based on using standards and assessments to drive instruction, all teachers have to follow the preset professional standards since they form what can be referred to as the constitution in education (Black et al., 2003). However, apart from these education standards, teachers can add their own ways as long as they ensure success just as Mr. Wayne explained. His explanation on the need to teach to the test is a perfect way that shows what the duties and responsibilities of both the teachers and the students when it comes to taking and passing these tests (Danielson, 1996). Many teachers, however, disagree with the pressure that teaching to the test brings to them as this forces them to look for easy ways such as poor awarding of marks. Classroom management in relation to discipline is essential for every teacher to the student respecting him or her and the teacher, on the other hand, respecting the students. Mr. Wayne mentioned some important challenges that many of the teachers face in trying to ensure discipline and management in the classroom. The interference from parents and school management in this issue is believed is the main challenge as seen from many teacher reviews (Danielson, 1996). Finally, contemporary future concerns in the education discipline are clear and Mr. Wayne clearly stated them. With the issue of technology as influencing the important student-teacher relationship being a major one (Suzanne et al., 2016). There is need to moderate the way technology will be incorporated into education with a focus on maintaining the student-teacher relationship that is essential in the positive development of the students. Conclusion My career goals as a future teacher are quality education to the students to ensure positive developmental growth. In order to achieve this, there is need to employ effective teaching techniques and collaborate with all stakeholders in the education sector not only in my country but also globally. Through this research, I have been able to expand my knowledge on education and further enhance my motivations to being a teacher. Mr. Wayne surprised me in the information about future concerns in the education sector. While we are still young in the profession, I believe that most of us who choose the education profession still have the interest of the students at heart and believe in the success of achieving our career goals. I believe my attributes of patience, humor, and good organization skills makes me a good fit to the education profession (Suzanne et al., 2016). My concern for education, however, is the poor payments for the teachers, especially in public schools. Many believe that money should not be an issue but it is a motivating factor to ensure success. Teaching and education in general as a profession is exciting and involving and the joy of witnessing success is the best feeling since having a positive influence on an individual's life is satisfactory. Just imagine how Obama’s teachers at all education levels feel. References Black, P., Harrison, C., Lee, C., Marshall, B., & Wiliam, D. (2003). Assessment for Learning: Putting it into practice. Berkshire, England: Open University Press. Danielson, C. (1996). Enhancing professional practice: A framework for teaching. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.  Suzanne L., Lynda F., Patricia H. & Richard N. (2016). Introduction to Education: Choosing to Teach. Read More