Showing sincere interest in the way we teach

In one of my teacher’s reflections, she spoke about her excitement in her teaching that overcame her illness. From this, I highlighted two points on how she showed sincere interest in her students and that she displayed that interest in the way she teaches. To me, both these points are important as it helps us teachers build our bridge to the students for better learning.

We often participated in many activities for a week with our students. Using the example of our outdoor learning experience, where we have some time in between to sit and talk and interact. I had expected groups of students to gather, talk with each other. What I did not expect were the consistent and persistent groups of students around certain teachers. Of hand I asked the students why this teacher caught and kept their attention, they did not say they like the teacher, but said was because he is “interesting”, was “funny”, and “had cool stuff to share with me.” In another word, the teacher was interested in the students.

In expanding the above point on showing interest and showing in the way we teach, it need to start with a conversation and such conversation must be with and about the class of 40 students we are engaging – with the purpose of “first seeking to understand”. This has to begin by listening, so that we are aware of what they want to learn, explore and understand, which the teacher did through her students’’ feedback and journaling. As a result, the teacher can then use words that are built around the students’ needs and concerns, and the students – as with hearing their own name – will tend to pay more attention and so be more engaged.

In this way, teacher and students talk to each other rather than over or around each other. Ideas, feelings and teaching in both directions can then flow, and such connections will definitely better learners as well as teachers.

Learning to Ask

I could not have made this decision, with all its school leaders and middle managers around during the validation meeting, without the team leader who’s honest, open questions created a space that invited me to speak and allowed me to hear it.

Such questioning may sound easy. But many people, including myself, have trouble framing questions that are not advice in disguise. “Have you thought about seeing an expert on the matter?” which I cite as not an honest, open question.. The reason I think so is because the question serves my needs, not yours, pressing others towards my version of your problem and its solution instead of evoking your true thoughts. I think I will need to learn how to ask questions that make the other, especially the shy ones to speak up, not shut up.

So, what do I gather are the marks of an honest, open question? An honest question, as I understand is one I can ask without possibly being able to say to myself. “I know the right answer to this question, and I sure hope you give it to me” – which is of course what I am doing above when I asked you to see an expert. And this is a dishonest question because of my assuming that I know what you need, which was to seek advice from experts.

So what will be an honest question? – for example, “Have you ever had an experience that felt like your current situation? or “Did you learn from your prior experience that you feel is useful to you now?” – But why are these honest questions? This is because there is no way for me to imagine what the “right answer” might be. In this way, people are more willing to speak its truth in response to questions like these because they harbor no hidden agenda.

Such questioning can then be led on with an open question that expands rather than restricts the area of exploration, one that does not push towards a particular way of framing a situation. “How do you feel about the experience you just described?” is an example of an open question while question such as “Why do you seem so sad?” is not.

Often I hear of advice given “to use the language the speaker use”. I however, believe otherwise and will not just use the language the speaker uses. Instead, I try to pay close attention not only to the words spoken, but also the body language which may be more telling, so that I can ask questions that invite them to probe what they may already know but have not yet fully explained. For example, “What did you mean when you said that you felt….” might help you discover other feelings - if they are there and if they are really to name them.

In my own struggle to learn to ask honest, open questions, I find it helpful to bear in mind that the best way to make sure that my questions will welcome others to answer is to ask them with an honest, open way. And the best way to cultivate this way is to remind myself regularly to be “non-assuming” of others so that others will trust you and so be more forthcoming.

What are considered games?

Little children love games, and can make them out of anything. Last weekend I was having my breakfast when my younger kid came around and I fed him a spoon of porridge. As he first walks away, I asked, “another spoon of porridge?” He laughs and came back, taking a mouthful of porridge. Then, he began to walk, this time slowly and slowly away. Every time he moved away, I would say “another?” and he would laugh coming back for another mouthful of porridge. This dragged out a long while till I finished my bowl of porridge.

A lot of games little children play begin as if by accident. One day, my younger kid came home with his older brother. First, the older brother would turn on the light in the rooms, then my younger kid would turn it off so as to turn it on. Soon, the two boys would have their “game” going, which lasted for some time till we stopped them telling them it is wrong for wasting electricity.

But thinking about it, even in a more narrow sense games like the latter case, all these may be educational. How? They give the child a stronger feeling of cause and effect, of one thing leading to another. Also, like the latter case, they help the child to feel that he makes a difference, (bringing light to the house) that he can have some effect on the world around him. How exciting it must be for my younger kid, playing a game with an adult (me) or his older brother, to feel that by doing a certain thing, and that he can make that other do something, and he can keep it on as he likes.

The greatest difference between what the kids and adult consider as game is that most of the children once finding them fun, enjoyable, readily accepts it while most adults, in particular if they have never played such games, totally reject it.

Teaching and Learning “The beginner expert”

When my kid was about five years old, he was the younger of my two kids in which the brother is starting to be able to do math and is proud of it. Yet the family was very relaxed about math and none of the children had been pushed into worksheets, drills and practice and nobody was pushing my younger kid. So I was taken aback when one Sunday, out of the blue, he said to me, rather aggressively, “I can do math!” I said in surprised, “Well, sure, I never said you could not.” There was no point in challenging him. Clearly, it was humiliating to him that he could not something that everyone around him – as far as he knew, the whole world – could do. Why add to his humiliation?

This reminded me of something that my younger kid did, when about two years old. I saw him playing Lego bricks. He was picking up handfuls of the bricks and building in his own way, drunk with excitement and joy. I could see that he was getting his own pleasure out of them, taking in information about them through his eyes and his own hands, gradually exploring their possibilities. At the time, I felt I had to start him off “learning” something, seeing that his building was “going nowhere”. So, in what I supposed was my low-pressure way, without even saying, I took some bricks and began to make a pattern of them, thinking that he will soon imitate me. I proudly built a low structure, and I thought my kid would imitate successfully. When I finished, I looked at him. He looked at me for a while, expressionless. Then, without saying a word, he came over and with knocked the little building over. Amazed, we just looked at each other. Stupidly, I persisted, and build another structure. Again, he destroyed it, looking not angry but determined. Then, I left, but later when I came back, I saw my little boy playing with the bricks his own way.

I know that our kids can be greatly inspired and helped to learn by others who can do better than the kid – especially of teachers. But, these two events made me realized that we ought to remind ourselves now and then that sometimes adults can be altogether too much an expert. I must have this awareness that sometimes my showing in my superior knowledge and competence, our children’s ignorance and clumsiness are often painful to them, and I must be careful not to rub their noses in their own weakness.

I suppose just as true of teachers. One of the reasons why our students learn well from their peers and seniors may be, not just that the other understands the subject nor can speak “the student” language, but that the other is more a helpful “expert” to the student. No doubt it is exciting and inspiring for our students. But with day to day classroom examples, “being the expert” all the time is probably less useful to students than someone whom the student see “as slightly better than he can.” That they can learn from someone who is ranked like beginners themselves in learning.

Stops – A necessity in school

Friday was a very busy day for me. With back to back lessons, student exam registration, cohort matters and especially still recovering from the “bug”, my first thought being so busy was “That is not possible! How to stop when there is so much to do?” And if I want to be good at this, is there even much more that needs to be done? Certainty, there are many teachers who felt this way.

Fortunately for me, I was “stopped” by 3 meaningful events in school which helped me to end the day more energetic than when I started in the morning. The first was by my students, who “stopped” my lesson so as to celebrate my birthday. Their sincere actions made me turn a tiring day into beautiful banquet of life experience. Their actions of songs and a “bear” propelled me to wanting to spend more of my time to prepare for my students’ tomorrow and I know that I will enjoy those spend time. Their well-wishing cards expressing their thoughts and appreciations had brought me a high sense of job satisfaction.

The second “stop” was by fellow teachers who also devoted a few moments also to celebrate my birthday with me, enjoying each other’s company. These two teachers have worked with me for just two months now and have made my life easier. I know that I would need to thank them more often. I promised myself that I would endeavor to employ techniques to understand, shape and support help my teachers develop professionally – to be partners, collaborative effort to make a critical difference for our students. Finally, I was “stopped” by my fellow management members who celebrated 3 fellow members birthday. Such support and shared celebrations culture which is been cultivated is something which I value. It speaks of an inclusion and moral culture.

After all these “stops”, I came to consider how fortunate I was to be doing just what I am today – with my students, my fellow teachers and my fellow committee members. And having such thoughts had made me realized that even my business, the challenges faced and frustrations are actually gifts because they acts as fuel to propel me to improve myself in at least some way.

Teaching in our Hearts

After 7 years of trying to learn my art of teaching, every class comes down to this: my students and I, face to face engaged in an exchange – communication. The techniques I have mastered do not disappear, but I know that neither do they suffice. I have to continually apply the techniques, reflect and change. Face to face with my students, only one resource is at my immediate command, my identity, my sense of this “I” who teaches – without which I am not sure if my students will learn – this is what I know as important.

In every class I teach, my ability to connect with my students, and so to connect them to the subject, depends less on the methods I use but more on the degree to which I know and willing to make it available. My evidence for this claim comes, in part, from years of asking students to tell me about their good teachers. In every story I heard, they would share one trait, a strong sense of identity together with the teaching. “ Mr Ang is really there when he teaches”, a student tell me “Ms Ng has such enthusiasm for her subject”

I believe that as teachers, there is no way to separate ourselves, the subject we are teaching and the students whom we are teaching. They are joined and undivided whole. The connections made are held not by my methods but in our hearts – the place where our minds, our body and our hearts will converge in each of us.

As such, the ability to connect to our students can be showed in many forms as there are many forms of personality. Two great teachers stand out from my own experience at NIE and during my masters course. They differ radially from each other in technique, but both were grifted at connecting students, teacher and subject in a common point of learning.

One did not know the meaning of silence and often lectured incessantly while we listen. Indeed he became so engaged with his materials –through stories from his own lives and great thinkers that we too become stimulated to learn. The other assigned lots of reading and when we gathered around, encouraged by her brilliant guidance, started doing the readings, making comments and asking questions, proving herself to be interactive.

These two great teachers were polar opposites in substance and in style. But both created the connectedness, the point of learning, which is essential to teaching and learning. They did so by trusting and teaching from their own identity and integrity that is the centre of all good work – and by using the different techniques that allowed them to show to us students rather than conceal who they were.

These two great teachers had inspired and provided me with profound gift which I would never forget. It is not only about techniques, but how I would grow in bring forth myself and amplify the same gift which I have received onto my students.

Above shows photo of my class of 4E3 celebrating my Birthday with me.

Teacher Learning

I cannot help agreeing with the many pointers both teachers provided in their respective reflections. The teachers’ reflections suggested teacher learning be in a community to learn to teach that enable the teachers to develop understandings about teaching, learning and more importantly about their students, and that the teachers know how to use this knowledge. Practices that allow the teachers to act on their own intentions and beliefs and supporting their effort in enabling student to learn. I draw from these pointers in offering my own belief in describing teacher learning.

It is important that as teachers, we ourselves have a sense of where we are going and then how we are going to get our students there. One such practice I find useful to help teachers is reflecting on their work, which will help guide their practice and direct their own learning. Why is it important? My reason is that as a teacher, I need to know what is possible and desirable in teaching first before I am able to decide and direct my own learning and practice. In addition, through such practice, I am able to connect important values which I hold dearly to actualizing it in the classroom practice.

Teachers with deep knowledge or understanding of their subject and making the content accessible rely greatly on an understanding of their students. Both teachers had emphasized the importance of knowing the students well and practiced gathering information after each topic/lesson. I also took up such a practice as I believe that effective communication rests upon such understanding of students’ thinking, experiences and development.

To put these understanding into action in the classroom, teachers then develop tools such as instructional approaches namely differentiated learning and other strategies. Such tools will help teachers to work smarter and to realize their intentions in practice – which is to enable learning for all students.

With these understanding and tools, the teacher is now armed with a beginning repertoire of classroom skills to help the teacher to promote student learning.