“His goal of education was that its goal should not be
efficiency and power but a search for knowledge and understanding. Someone
looking for perfection and power should not go into the profession of teaching.
Things go wrong all the time, classes go off track and there are power
struggles in the classroom. This is what is beautiful about teaching, not one
day is alike and the teacher grows and learns every day as much as the students
do. Knowledge and understanding are the goals good teachers have for their students.
Every student is different and not every student learns the same way or at the
same pace and this is a challenge for teachers because their pedagogies change
and having one set method does not work. Teachers have to change to accommodate
their student’s needs. The quote about Socrates hits the nail on the head and
made me think about the goal of education and the roles of the teacher in the
classroom. I’m not sure if I agree with Confucius’ view of the role of teachers
to answer questions. While I agree this is an important aspect for a teacher I
would think it is more important to evoke the students, give them all the
support and knowledge they need so they can find the answers themselves and have
the teacher as an aid if they get off track.
Communication is an essential role in the classroom.
Teachers have to know their students and learn how to communicate the best way
to them to aid in their learning. If there is no communication in the classroom
no one is learning anything. Culture can be a communication barrier and it is
the teacher’s role to both understand the student’s culture and teach the student’s
about culture as well. This can be done by having an ongoing conversation about
the student’s personal culture. By talking to each individual student regularly
about their culture this aids in understanding and also helps preserve the
culture in the student. By continually talking about the student’s culture it
makes the student more proud and less apprehensive about being different.
“Culture is a total way of life for a particular group of
people.” Wintergerst explains that culture is life for a group of people. I’ve
never experienced living in one culture and being moved into another but I could
only imagine how difficult and challenging it would be. Not only do these
students feel pressure to fit in and do well in school they also have to learn
a new culture. This can be a confusing time for these students and by referring
and talking about culture and language constantly students gain a better
understanding and become more comfortable with it.
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