Blog Entry #8

3 Things I learned

I never really thought of teachers being considered as a discourse. In all the education courses I have taken so far, we have talked about several different discourses – but never about teaching being a discourse itself. In Krista Yerke’s journal, Exploring Teacher Identity, she mentions that teaching is a discourse as there is a way to professionally dress, there are rules that we must follow, and there is teaching lingo that teachers use. Even just entering the education program here at the U of R, we are already exposed to the lingo used in teaching and are encouraged to make reflections and think critically regarding the teaching identity.

Another thing I learned and found shocking is the idea of teachers not being able to have self-regulation. The reading on Teachers and the Teaching Profession mentions that it was not until 1987 that the idea of teachers being self-regulating was introduces in Canada, with B.C. being the first province to start. Since this movement, it has allowed teachers today to have more freedom and have a personal life and identity. Although we have more rights and freedom now, I found it frustrating that people had to fight for the right to be able to be self-regulating as I believe that all people should have the right to self autonomy. Unfortunately, even today, in 2018, people still complain and talk about how teachers dress, how they style or dye their hair, causing teachers to be scared to be true to themselves – which still goes against the idea of teachers being self-regulating professionals.

The fact that professionals start in classrooms with teachers teaching them, makes it confusing that people still think that teaching is not a “real profession”. Although teachers are more highly valued now, there are still some beliefs of teachers being on the lower part of the professional scale that remain. Even people I know have regarded as teaching as “the easy way out”, an “easy profession”, or even a “backup plan”  or “second option” if their original career plans don’t work out. Another phrase that I have heard in the past was “those who can’t do, teach”. Just because teaching is compared to other professions such as medicine and law, does not make teaching less of a profession.

2 Connections

In Krista Yerkes’ journalshe states “I have discovered that what has shaped me, as a teacher are things from my past, things that are going on in my present, and thoughts of the future.” I believe that this is one of the quotes I connected with the most over the course of the semester. Although I am not yet a teacher, some of the main points in my life that have influenced me into pursuing a career in education were my past teachers. In addition, things going on in the present are helping me take the steps I need to become a teacher, and the thoughts of the future is what pushes me to keep working as hard as I can to reach my ultimate goal.

Pam states in her article that “there is a need to position the work of teachers as extending beyond the classroom and situate teachers’ role in education within the broader context of schooling” and “Public education needs teachers who able to not only shine in the categories mentioned within the classroom but are also able to undertake the demands of partnership with other professionals.” A connection a made with these statements are the CBSL placements that we have in this course. Through these placements, we are able to work with professionals and people from our community. By doing this, I believe that we are gaining hands-on learning that can help us in our future work as educators. Furthermore, I believe that it also goes back to Bronfenbrenner’s ecological theory of how everyone and their environments are connected and these people and environments influence how individuals grow and develop. With that,  I believe that our CBSL placements will help us as grow and develop in our teaching and teaching philosophies.

1 Question

Even years after teachers were granted the right to self-regulate and be able to live better personal lives outside of school, teachers are often still being judged off of things that happen outside of the classroom or in their personal lives. This may be the main reason as to why teachers often take the extra step in updating their privacy settings or even changing their names on social media. With that, my question is why is it “weird” or “different” seeing a teacher outside of school settings, but it isn’t when you see any other professionals (such as doctors, dentists, etc.) outside of their professional setting? In other words, why is it that teachers seem to be the professionals that are judged off of their personal lives?

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