Conceptual Framework NarrativeHumanity and Teacher Education |
Knowing what is important to our students as individuals, we can more readily help them find connections between the lives they live and the subjects we teach. - Laurent Daloz During her presentation in the Fall 2006 Doctoral Seminar, Priscilla Norton emphasized the importance to know thyself on our quest to be scholars. In knowing thyself, we learn about our attributes as well as our flaws. To begin a conversation on the concepts that have influenced my thinking about teacher education, it is important to reveal a psychological concept that shapes my behavior as a teacher and learner. Six years ago I was diagnosed as a codependent. Simply defined, a codependent person exerts unreasonable and sometimes inappropriate amounts of energy into caring for dependents. Some of the symptoms include controlling behavior, a fear of play and recreation, perfectionism, and caretaking behavior. Codependency has been popularized by self-help books and therapist over the last thirty years and remains a controversial diagnosis. Afterall, we may all have a bit of codependency in us. The difference lies in the extent to which the behavior affects relationships with people and self-esteem. I had never heard of codependency before and it took some time in therapy to face the facts. Only through deep introspection did I finally realize I needed to take action to break the cycles and habits of this disorder. In recovery I took negative behaviors and turned them into positive ones. Controlling behavior can be directed inward and manifested as developing a plan of action for pursuing goals. In my case, I chose to complete my Master's degree, pursue my doctorate, and begin a new career in education. It was Vygotsky who ultimately convinced me that play had a very important role in development and learning. It didn't matter to me that he was talking about child development. I believe this is true for learners of all ages and so I gave myself permission to have fun with my graduate work and subsequently more typical recreational activities. Perfectionism took on a new face as motivation to do high quality work and continues now as providing the highest quality education I can give to my students. In their need to take care of another, a codependent learns to walk in the shoes of the dependent to meet that person's every need and expectation. This of course can be taken too far but with recovery, a codependent can learn healthy expressions of caretaking. I directed my nurturing skills towards promoting intellectual growth in students. This has greatly influenced my teaching philosophy of offering individualized attention to each student. I deliberately put energy into getting to know my students as individuals to appreciate the struggles and successes they are experiencing in their practice, to empathize with them. In this way I can better help them improve their practice and ultimately, the learning of their own students. In essence, I try to walk in the shoes of my students to understand how I can foster their professional growth and share with them the empowerment that comes through learning. Coursework
in International Education has informed my sense of humanity
and education as well. By exploring issues in International Education,
I have been introduced to concepts of tolerance, social justice,
human rights, citizenship,
and
peace
education. In a world where immigration, religious conflicts, terrorism,
and genocide are major issues, where technology is shaping our
abilities to interact with each other globally, learning concepts in
International
Education are important for teachers. As educators an understanding
of the world around us allows us to be empathetic towards our students.
Increasingly, our student populations include those from unstable regions. |