3/10/12

My Research Journey

As a young child I loved school.  I was always the first one in the house awake and ready to go.  I played school with my siblings, cousins and anyone else that stopped by the house.  Even today all my little cousins (the children of my former students/cousins) schedule time to come to my house because not only do I have a classroom set up but we often take field trips.  When I began teaching I loved everything about being in the classroom especially having fun with my students.  In my classroom I was sheltered from the negativity that may have come from other teachers who did not enjoy their job as much as I.  Now that I am in management it seems like a whole new world and I am surrounded by teachers who constantly need to be told what to do, when to do it and how.  It really drives me crazy because I don't understand how they can be in a classroom with all these wonderful young minds and not enjoy it. Thinking about my current place of employment and the teachers the I work with sent me down the path of wonderment as to the quality of the teacher.  More specifically I wanted to learn more about high quality teachers.  Teachers that do the job over and beyond the basics, that invest in the children as well as themselves and teachers that are truly advocates for the children.  With that in mind my main topic was simply teacher quality and I broke that down into the subtopics of 1)  qualities of a high quality teacher, 2) role of professional development and further education and 3) benefits of a high quality teacher for the children, the program and families.  Finally I chose one subtopic to focus on for this assignment and the winner is...(drumroll, please) the qualities of a high quality teacher.  It sounds weird to say it like that but in my research I am basically looking at a comparison of what makes a "good" teacher good.


The process:  I have to honestly say that when I saw the course title and the word research jumped out at me I was very anxious about it but as I've read through the textbook and the resources provided I am getting excited.  Part of the excitement, I know, is the topic that I have chosen because I think it is an important one and although I know we will not conduct an actual study in this course I am hoping to learn some things to make our program better.  With the exception of the work I have done so far in this course I do not have much experience with the stimulation process.  I remember a few assignments from my undergraduate education, child development and psychology courses that required research but I will still new to the field and did not have a goal other than to complete the course.  This time around I am more focused on the process involved and utilizing my new knowledge.  I am looking forward to the journey and as many of my classmates have shared we are all a little anxious about the journey but I think if we keep focused, positive and encourage each other we'll be fine.  As information is presented that I find helpful I will share it right here on my blog and I welcome everyone  to visit and share information as well.  I am excited to see what other topics my classmates will share.

1 comment:

  1. Hello LaTresa!

    I know exactly what you mean about teachers who don't seem to enjoy their job and how their dissatisfaction can become truly tiresome. We had one teacher who complained constantly and was never happy in her work. Her bad energy infected her whole classroom and manifested in behavior issues and lack of coping skills in the children. It was so very sad. My classroom was next door and so often the door into her classroom would open and a little child would be there asking to come and spend the morning in my class. I felt so sad for those kids, but this woman had "tenure" and although my co-teacher and I both spoke with the teacher and ultimately with management, nothing was ever done.

    It's such an interesting discussion--what makes a quality teacher. I always bristle when I hear someone say that quality is defined by a college degree. In my experience, this has not been the case. I have worked with teachers who never went to college but had a natural talent for teaching. They were among the finest teachers I know. On the other hand, I have worked with teachers who held advanced degrees, but lacked the passion and talent that good teaching demands. In fact, three of the least "qualified" teachers I have worked with all had degrees. I think the talent for teaching comes from inside us. Sure, a degree is great to have, and if one studies ECE, it should show a commitment to the field, but, in my opinion, true teaching talent outweighs all the degrees in the world.

    I enjoyed reading your blog and I look forward to reading more about your research--it's a great topic!

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