My Educational Gurus

Welcome back!

I have told you a little bit about my  personal life in my last post, but in this post you’ll find out more about my educational life. Also, the things that inspire me, and the theories that I try to follow.

First and foremost, The person that inspires me to be a teacher, was one of my former teachers. My second grade teacher made one of the biggest impacts in my life, and ultimately made me want to have the same impact on others. When I was a senior in high school, I had the opportunity to go back to her classroom every day, as a teacher’s assistant. Since then, she has become somewhat of a mentor to me. I have contacted her throughout my college career, for insights and interviews. She has given me so many opportunities, and I can never thank her enough.

The main pedagogy that has been shaping my path is Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. I believe this is one of the most important aspects in learning. The basic needs of a child need to be met constantly, in order for a child to be able to learn. This is a hard subject to tackle in the education classroom, because a teacher can not go home and take care of a student. However, I intend to do my best to meet these needs in the classroom; to the best of my ability. For example, I remember reading about a teacher who had a student that was not able to get enough food at home. So, the teacher brought breakfast for that student in the mornings, and even helped the family with groceries occasionally. It is important for these needs to be met. A child simply can not focus on things like adding two numbers, when their stomach is growling all day. The question is, how do we help these students without crossing boundaries in their home life? (see bottom for article about this subject)

As for my current learning, the people teaching me the “how” and “why” of early childhood education, are my college professors. Most of these professors have had many years of experience in this field, and a few are still practicing this craft. They have all gone above and beyond in every class with sharing their insights, experience, and giving advice. I feel what I have learned the most in class is from the personal experiences that my professors have shared, and I am excited to continue to learn more. However, there are others who speak the truth, and share insights with me.

The most truth I have experienced was when I spent the year with my second grade teacher. I got a “behind the scenes” look at teaching everyday with her, and she spoke a lot of helpful “truths” about the things I went on to learn in college. On the other hand, the person that shares insights with me the most is my best friend/roommate. We are both early childhood educations majors, and while we are both undergraduate students, we have been studying the same things. We are both in the same place in our studies, and do most things together. All of our classes are the same, so we often do homework and study together. Often, we have discussions about what we learn, and challenge each other’s thinking. 

There are so many components that go int o my thought process of teaching, and this just breaks the surface. I am forever grateful to all of the people mentioned in this post, and hope to continue learning from them in the future.

Source:

Kroth, Michael. “Maslow—Move Aside! A Heuristical Motivation Model for Leaders in Career and Technical Education.” Journal of Industrial Teacher Education, vol. 44, no. 2, 2007.