What do I believe to be my Challengers and how can I overcome these?
I believe my biggest challenge is being more of a friend towards the students than an authoritative figure. With the type of personality I have it is a challenge for me to be commanding when the time warrants it. Yes, I believe that it is good to be a friend of some sort to a degree. However, your role as a Professional Teacher is not to be their friend but to be the person that is in control of the learning environment whether that is the schools environment or the classroom environment.
Teaching in today’s world I believe has become a much more complex profession compared to the 20th Century. It is now far removed from a reliance on direct instruction, control and compliance. It requires significant levels of training, skills and experience that include networking and teamwork, flexible working arrangements, problem solving orientations, assisting students to have successful pathways, using information technologies as tools, and coping with constant uncertainty.
Teaching as a friend rather than being the teacher will definitely make those things hard to deal with. They say don't smile until term three. As for me, to gain respect from the students I believe that the classroom environment needs to be fun. A way for me to overcome this challenge is to make clear the boundaries of standard behaviour inside and outside of the classroom. Confidence is the KEY!!
What are my beliefs/thoughts on behaviour management?
Over the course of my study, I have never realised the variety of students we have within our school system. Students from a range of different cultures and societies, multi-racial families, families with same-sex attracted parents, families with limited financial means, students that come from an abusive background, students with disabilities or impairments. Catering for all of these individual needs is a big task. In an average sized class of twenty-eight students, most of these factors will be apparent in your classroom. If not in your classroom it will definitely be something to be made aware of throughout the school environment. Therefore we are aware of the fact that some students will be difficult to manage in terms of behaviour, other students will have mild behaviour and then there will be the occasional few that will always do the right thing.
I believe that it is important to understand a child’s background first before giving a child a specific punishment. Sometimes a suspension is necessary, other times for some students it is not because some students may come from a poor household and that is why they are the student that they have become. Some of these students only come to school to get away from their home life.
Sometimes you need to let kids be kids. Let them play and let them grow up. If you put forth a strong set of boundaries and you enforce that all the time, the students will then understand how far is too far. However, the Learning Manager needs to be confident and aware of all the factors that are going on around them. I believe that if the teacher talks to a student or two a day that does not relate to school, the students will then begin to trust the teacher and be comfortable to approach them in whatever means possible. This will limit the amount of behavioural problems inside and outside the classroom.
