Currently, I am a student at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater pursuing my post baccalaureate degree in Art Education. The age group of students I would prefer to teach is high school. I have a B.A. in Communication Arts: Radio, TV & Film from UW-Madison. My dual degrees will help me teach students not only interested in fine art areas, but media and graphic design as well. I hope to incorporate my field experience from film sets into the classroom with group activities and exercises.
My high school English teacher was my most influential educator. His teaching style was interactive and he conveyed the course content into actual life situations and possibilities. He had students look at novels, films, and articles through multiple perspectives creating possibilities for new ideas. I was inspired by his class to go into the arts. From my English teacher and class I saw the type of teacher I hope to become, a teacher who not only knows the subject, but has a passion for it that can translate into everyday situations.
A good teacher should have many qualities such as listening, professionalism, empathy and patience as we discussed in class; however, I feel the most important ones are clarity, knowledge, passion, and ethics. Woolfolk (2014) states a good teacher has the following “characteristics” when teaching “clarity, warmth, and knowledge” (p.560). According to Woolfolk (2014) “clarity was the most promising” for student learning (560). Woolfolk (2014) elaborates on successful teachers as having “pedagogical content knowledge” and being “reflective” (p. 560). Fraser (2016) expresses pedagogical content with high importance, “knowing a subject is essential, but knowing how to communicate that subject to sometimes fidgety young children or bored adolescents is also essential” (p. 31). Another aspect of a good teacher is ethics. Fraser (2016) states “teachers need to be deeply ethical professionals who reflect their ethical commitment to their students in the way they do their work” (p. 32). According to Foley (2016) “effective teachers are passionate about educating students,” he continues with the notion that teachers need to regulate their classrooms by being in control of them (para. 1).
In comparing the two video clips, the first video clip from Dead Poets Society seems more effective because the teacher is keeping his students engaged, seems to have knowledge on the subject of poetry, along with excitement. He is interacting with his students while the economics teacher does not show interest and is not engaging his students. He repeatedly asks for anybody to respond while no one answers and appears to be indifferent to it. He keeps on going with the students not paying attention.
In my future role as a teacher I hope to be more like the teacher in the Dead Poets Society clip. My goal is to engage my students in learning with clarity, knowledge, excitement and professionalism.
References
Foley, D. (n.d.). 6 Classroom Management Tips Every Teacher Can Use. Retrieved from http://www.nea.org/tools/51721.htm
Fraser, James W. (2016). Teach: A Question of Teaching (2nd ed.). New York: Routledge.
Woolfolk, A. E. (2014). Educational Psychology: Active Learning Edition (12th ed.). Boston: Pearson.