This point to discuss has two core questions:
1-) Do you feel that pre-service teachers (or student-teachers) are properly prepared for facing the challenge of being in charge of a classroom?
2-)What do you believe about one out of seven students* that expresses not to agree to feel properly prepared for being in a classroom? *Students that participated in a survey that gave shape to the Statement of the Problem of the dissertation this blog belongs to.
There is a fact. you are never ready. Basically the attitude is your saviour. But we are fully prepared in theory to chose and implement in the classroom. You prepare yourself when you plan, when you meet your students, is a process. You go step by step.
ResponderEliminarIn terms of information, we are completely ready. In terms of practice, we are too! We just need to think about our own learning process and being aware of those aspects we enjoyed or dislike to implement or change in our own classes.
I consider that experience is what let us feel the confidence we want in anything. So I totally agree with the idea of the process pre-service teachershave to go through to feel teachers. However, I think that this process could start some time before the practicum itself where assessment is done. I consider that the university could provide those opportunities to the student-teachers.
ResponderEliminarI have heard some of my favorite teachers saying things like:
ResponderEliminar-"I have always felt some anxiety when I teach."
- "No matter how much experience you have, you're never ready"
Teaching is an everchanging profession, because we teach HUMANS. No matter how hard you try, you will never find two people who think, learn, speak, see things the same way. It means there's no way to feel ready, and that's what makes teaching interesting!
I consider myself ready in term of theory and knowledge because I’ve been studying along these years. But the real thing here is that at the moment we cross the door in a classroom, we are going to face people that could have another lifestyle, or problems or even their mood may be completely different. So, you never feel ready because you are facing new things every day and you never know how they will react. I think that even the best experienced teachers never are ready to do it.
ResponderEliminarRegarding the first question, I agree with some of the previous comments. For a long time we may feel like we're not ready, but I've been performing in stages in front of small and big audiences since I'm 3 years old and I've never had the occasion of not feeling nervous before a performance. It didn't matter if I was with a group of people or doing a solo, I would always feel nerves & that is OK, that's part of getting involved with something important or something that we care for. I believe that getting nervous is a key ingredient. However, we must not confuse those nerves with feeling nervous because we're not prepared or we do no know what to do. If I feel that pre-service teachers (or student-teachers) of my bachelor are properly prepared for facing the challenge of being in charge of a classroom? I believe that after the practicum we are. I believe that when we get to the practicum's first semester (the observation stage), we're prepared in many aspects, but classroom management is definitely not our forte.
ResponderEliminar1. I don’t think so because of the experience. It definitely depends on the population either kids or adolescents or even university students. I think that in order for them to be prepared, more practicums should be done (throughout semesters), so when we get to our professional practicum it would be easier to handle different problems and situations.
ResponderEliminar2. I think that in this particular case, this student is using learning styles and strategies that are not useful for them. He might need to figure it out what is the best way to study, he can ask the teacher and get to a conclusion of what is going on, it might be something pedagogical or social, affective, among others.
I think that we are not ready because we may know some things about teaching theory but, we do not have the experience of being in a classroom where we have to use different strategies for the students to learn. When I did my first microteaching I was so nervous because I knew that anything could happen during the lesson, I was worried about discipline or the lack of participation, and even though I had prepared my class, I could not have control over those situations so I learned other strategies from my experience that day. Therefore, those strategies are what we learn when we are in the context and not when we read articles or teaching books.
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