Seven issues related to teaching and education Essay

Seven issues related to teaching and educationWe shall be addressing some sociological issues that are related to teaching and the global educational system. These issues are essential for the proper understanding of the factors responsible for the effective learning in classrooms.

The following shall be discussed in this paper.Do teachers like teaching?; Different ways of learning; Exceptional, gifted and talented learners; Student diversity; Social challenges come to school; Students’ life in school and at home; Curriculum standards and testing.1.      Do teachers like teaching?To answer this question, it is necessary to also take into consideration other details that could influence the decision to teach. People find themselves in the teaching profession for various reasons. These reasons could include the salary paycheck, love for the profession or simply because that is the only choice they have left, while some people teach mainly because they love interacting with children.            Though in the developing countries, most teachers did not join the teaching profession initially because of their affection for the job.

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However, most of them later found out that they have a soft spot for teaching. Very few teachers dreamt of becoming one from their childhood. It can be generally concluded however, that after being in the profession for a while, they tend to develop interest in it naturally.

            Teachers usually like it when they find out that what they teach in class is being understood by the students. It gives them extra motivation when they feel the students are following in class. What gives a teacher joy in teaching is noticing that their effort being put in is equivalent to the output of the students.            Generally, it can be concluded that most teachers love teaching and mostly remain in the profession for the love of it. Though, it is understandable that due to a relatively low monthly paycheck, most teachers did not want to go into the profession initially. Except those that have natural flairs for teaching, most teachers tend to love the profession after being in it for a while.

Teaching they say is addictive especially if the students being taught in class are encouraging.2.      The different ways of learning include the following?Learning itself requires skills and students need to understand what method really helps.            While some students learn directly from their teacher’s explanation, some do find it difficult to grasp everything their teachers discuss in class, thereby requiring personal study.

However, some students prefer group discussions where they can feel free to interact. Interacting through group discussions makes it easier to understand and pretty hard to forget what is being learnt in the process.            Another way students can learn is through paying attention to the explanations giving in class by their teachers. Some students are so bright that all they need is to listen attentively in class. This category of students only needs little hours for their own personal studies.

These are students considered to have magnetic brains. “These learners need to see the teacher’s body language and facial expression to fully understand the content of a lesson. They tend to prefer sitting at the front of the classroom to avoid visual obstructions” (Learning Styles Explained).            They do not allow themselves to be carried away in class and are always putting more interest in what their teacher discusses in class. They find it very hard to read on their own and understand without prior explanation from their teachers. We can conclude that they have magnetic brain but are not intelligent enough to figure out meanings from what is being read on their own.

“These are the copious note-takers (that is, in college; in earlier schooling, most Verbal’s needs are addressed in the classroom and they often seldom study and still manage decent grades) and will even copy their own notes over. These people are not the ones who put nasty yellow highlighter all over their books” (Spiller, 2007).            Moreover some learners understand better using visuals. They do so by drawing images. This enables them to create pictures and images in their brains for easy understanding. “They draw on the whiteboard while they talk, they make symbols for things on their notepads, they think in terms of a timeline rather than a list of dates, and they highlight salient bits in the books they read” (Spiller, 2007).3.

      Exceptional, gifted and talented learners:“Surprisingly, gifted students do not always do well in school, and they are not immune from behavior problems. They can become bored by classes that move too slowly, and it is not uncommon for teachers to label a disruptive gifted student as a troublemaker” (Identifying and Working with Children who are Gifted and Talented, 2001).There seems to be a popular belief that human beings are of the same nature and have the same learning abilities, such that the only major reason why some perform better than others is simply because they read more. I strongly disagree to this because I have noticed some students who take the pain to read overnight, but only learn little at the end of the day. Though, it is true that being gifted or being dull starts from childhood, a great deal of talents are embedded in some students than others. While most students might need to work extra hard to scale through in an examination, a few gifted ones only need to spend lesser hours.            To be considered talented, exceptional and gifted starts from childhood. It takes a lot of consistency to arrive at that exceptional status.

Those who are born with this gifted and exceptional nature still need to develop themselves in order to reach their full potential. They have to regularly task their brains, minds and imagination. Trying to figure out solutions to what seems impossible.            Being gifted and exceptional, means being overtly intelligent in what you do.

Students display such exceptionality in class to the exasperation of their teachers when they answer questions through deep reasoning. They have the ability to figure out solutions that are deep secrets to their classmates.            “These people seem to have an encyclopedic knowledge, because something their second grade teacher said is still vividly recollect-able. Aural students seldom understand that other people don’t have this magnificent memory and often assume that other people are either not as bright as they are or are deliberately placing obstacles into an obvious path. Aural students often studied hard, even in grammar school, but once they learn something, they own it forever” (Spiller, 2007).            Gifted students are born exceptional, even though they still need consistent personal development so as to be mentally fit. Just like a talented athlete needs to practice daily in order to maintain his level of performance and also attain the full potential his talent can get him to.4.

      Student diversity:Student diversity is a very vital issue in schools where there are various students who come from different cultural backgrounds. A class filled with students with diverse culture can pose certain threats on the effectiveness of a teacher, especially if such teacher is inexperienced.Such threats include varying beliefs.

Some of them come from countries where things are done separately in class and they find it difficult to adjust to their newly found lifestyle. A teacher must be able to keep all his/her culturally diverse students abreast with the norms of the school environs. The students should be informed about what they should expect.

They have to understand how certain reactions from their colleagues should not be taken seriously because some of them are not used to these reactions and may feel offended.“Certainly the many different points-of-view students bring to the classroom present a number of challenges for teachers. How can both curriculum and instruction be designed and presented to meet the needs of such diverse populations?” (Currence, 1997-2010).

However, the diversity they bring into the classroom environment is an added advantage. Students’ diversity is very essential, because it affords them the opportunity to learn from each other. Students tend to understand more about other cultures and this helps them in becoming well rounded in their learning.

Students in this type of classroom environment also learn to appreciate the beauty in other cultures.5.      Social challenges coming to school:            There are a lot of social challenges associated with coming to school. These challenges have adverse effects on the overall performances of the students. The various social challenges that could hinder learning in schools are ‘constant bullying from fellow students’, ‘difficulties in interacting with other students’ and many more.            Most new students find life very difficult in their new schools due to the unruly behaviors of their classmates toward them.

Most students in high schools take pleasure in bullying newcomers in an attempt to instill fear in them. They are like wrestlers trying to retain their belts. For high performance to be achieved by any student, he or she needs to be comfortable, relaxed and at ease in the newly found environment. Going through daily mental trauma caused by frequent bullying will only end up damaging the confidence of the student.

            Moreover, some students find it very hard to associate freely with their colleagues. Major researches have traced such inability to their home environment. Some of these students are faced with maltreatment from their parents or any other form of abuse. Inferiority complex is another issue that affects their interactions. These students usually keep to themselves and would rather hurt inside than become vulnerable by exposing their bordering issues to friends. These social challenges faced by students are reasons why the counseling units are very vital in every academic ground.

6.      Students’ life in school and at home:In a nutshell, a student’s life in school and at home simply means explaining the vast difference between the life that a student lives in school and at home. Can a difference really be spot? Do students behave differently when they get home?It is no more news that most parents are not aware of the behaviors their wards put up in school. Most students put up a very good attitude at home for the fear of their parents but when they get to their respective schools, they become so wild. They venture into immoral acts such as bullying, gambling, smoking, and harassing.

Most times, it is more difficult for students to misbehave at home due to the fact that they are under a much closer watch, unlike in school where there are a lot of hiding places.School affords the students more freedom to misbehave and if not properly monitored, they might get too carried away by such little freedom. This is why some children are hypo-quiet at home; such that when their friends pay them visits they find it hard to believe they’re seeing the same person. Some students are angels at home but turn into demons at school.

A school with less supervision tends to experience more of these destructive attitudes.7.      Curriculum standards and testing:      There is a general curriculum standard by the education board that needs to be followed by every school in a particular community. It serves as a guide for the teachers or a syllabus for the students’ academic grade level. Most times the academic board is saddled with the responsibility of the design of various subject topics expected to be taught the students per level.

This will ensure uniformity across all schools in the community.            “Teach to the Essential Learning Requirements (WA. state curriculum standards) at each grade level so that students will learn the skills and knowledge they need to accurately show what they know and can do” (Power, 1999 (Revised, 2001)).            On the other hand, curriculum testing is a method designed to assess and evaluate the level of understanding of students. Most schools practice curriculum testing because it is regarded as the only credible method for proper assessment.

However, past experience has shown that testing is not actually an accurate method for assessing a students’ understanding of a whole subject. For instance, a student who was very unserious with his studies until the final periods when testing was approaching. He simply ran out of time, such that he only succeeded in reading 50% of what was taught in the whole semester. When it was time for testing, he was so lucky that majority of the questions that came out only spanned the 50% he had read earlier. Whereas, some another student might completely read about 90% of a particular subject only to later find out that most of the questions from the test spanned through the minor 10% he failed to read. Then from this short illustration, who among the students is more intelligent? As a teacher “avoid any actions that would permit or encourage individuals or groups of students to receive scores that misrepresent their actual level of knowledge and skill” (Power, 1999 (Revised, 2001)).BibliographyCurrence, J. (1997-2010).

Student Diversity. Retrieved May 16, 2010, from Learner: http://www.learner.orgIdentifying and Working with Children who are Gifted and Talented. (2001).

Retrieved May 17, 2010, from The Exceptional Child: http://www.teachersandfamilies.comLearning Styles Explained. (n.d.). Retrieved May 17, 2010, from Ld Pride: http://www.

ldpride.netPower, M. A. (1999 (Revised, 2001)). Ethical Standards in Testing: Test Preparation and Administration.

Washington: WASHINGTON EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH ASSOCIATION.Spiller, M. (2007, February 10). The Five Ways of Learning . Retrieved May 17, 2010, from Melanie Spiller: http://www.MelanieSpiller.com.;

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