Educating the educators
November 17, 2009
So I’m in my third year of a teaching degree. I’ve completed enough uni for me to graduate from something like science or arts. But because I’m studying Education I’ve 2 years left.
It is at this stage that the powers that be have decided to throw me out into prac. I failed my prac. I hated my prac. I’ll be doing another prac at the end of semester one 2010 to make up for this one that I failed. Then I’ll do another prac at the end of 2010 to make up for the prac I missed at the end of semester one 2010.
Basically I don’t know if I still want to be a teacher. I could get a degree in business? Learn about money and stuff. Then make a bunch of money. However, I do like the idea of lots of holidays, and recently it was said to me that: “There are only two professions worth doing in this world: nursing and teaching”. Maybe I should become a nurse…
But I’m let to feel a little let down. I mean it’s natural that I would want to blame someone for this. I don’t like failing. And I turn my anger to the University of Sydney Education department.
In my three years of study I’ve had one day’s worth of observation. That’s one, single, day. So out of six semesters I’ve observed actual teaching on one occasion. During that day I saw a top year 8 class in three periods.
With this hefty experience of the real world under my belt I travailed out into the real world of teaching and was promptly crushed. I really believe that the first prac should just be observing. Perhaps even put out with students doing their second or third prac to observe how they deal with classes. It’s so different to actually having your own class. It’s all the awful parts of teaching without any of the good bits. I saw no reward from my toils. Hours each night wasted as the kids just plain refused to learn.
I’m obviously doing something wrong. I need to figure out what. But kicking me out of my prac placement isn’t going to help me figure that out. Thanks a lot De La Salle Revesby Heights. Why don’t you go pray to St. John a bit more? I’m sure he’s heaps responsive to your prayers, being dead and all.
Anyway now I’m just getting bitter. As the great sage and poet Mandy Moore once sang in my favourite song from the film A Walk to Remember: “Someday we’ll know if love can move a mountain, Someday we’ll know why the sky is blue.”
*hugs*
In my first prac I got a week of observation and 3 weeks of actual teaching, plus 3 days of observation in first year.
Xxx
Hey Phil,
Im sorry to hear about your prac experience, that sucks, majorly. But I still have to disagree with you idea that this prac should be purely observation. Maybe it’s because I’ve been quite spoilt at my school, both in terms of the behaviour of the students and also in the support I’ve been given from the staff, but for me the last few weeks have easily been the single, best experience I have had at uni so far. I feel I have learnt more over the past 3 1/2 weeks than I have in the last 3 years at uni, and really been able to test myself and practice teaching styles in front of a class. Observing doesn’t have anywhere near the same value and help that teaching has been. But again as I said, my thoughts come from my experience at a lovely school, with no significant behavioural management issues and staff that have given me mountains of resources and help and support.
I agree with you in that I don’t think we are adequately prepared for this prac, but still, actually being able to teach and work with the students has been far more rewarding and useful than 4 weeks of observation would be, perhaps we should lobby the university to send us out to observe and possibly team teach in Year 2 of our course? And give us a bit more support in preparing for prac?
Anyway, hope things with prac resolve themselves next year and that your next experience is a more positive one! Teaching is great, so I hope next time you get a school that is much better suited to prac students, so you can have a good experience teaching too.
oh man, phil.