reflections: a personal challenge

Stirring up the dust is a personal challenge. It is my personal challenge, as an early years teacher, to engage daily in the reflective process of teaching. Whether it be a reflection on my day or a reflection of my thoughts and ideas, my challenge is to document the reflective process in order to shed light on my experiences, explore my beliefs and value systems and to ultimately learn, grow and develop into the best teacher that I can be.

Friday, July 1, 2011


The idea for this challenge of mine came from a book source detailing the need for teachers to engage in the process of critical reflection. In Rick Churchill et al's book, Teaching: Making a difference, a chapter is dedicated to the theory of teaching practice. This chapter struck a chord inside as it made me reflect upon my own attitudes, beliefs and ideas and encouraged me to confront myself and my teaching practices.

Teaching is a dynamic job with many variables to consider. There have been numerous occasions where I have heard that (particularly being an early years teacher) the job must be akin to babysitting. This could not be further from the truth. So much goes into the planning of a day, week, month and year. Teachers must be adapative and flexible to the situations that arise in a classroom on any given day. The teachers I know and work with are all dedicated to providing the best for their students and demonstrate this on various levels - from the academic to the social and emotional well-being of each individual.

A classroom is an energetic hub of wonder, discovery and creativity. Teachers work hard at managing learning environments, planning activities, and accomodating needs. A typical day, for me, goes by in a flash. Younger children particularly need your focus and attention throughout the entire day. It is therefore critical that time is dedicated  to reflecting upon your day.

This blog challenge is dedicated to reflecting upon either days in the classroom (what I did, why I did it, what worked/what didn't, and how I could do things differently) or thoughts and ideas inspired by books, articles, media, art, science or general experiences.

I have chosen to begin this challenge during my summer holiday break. Teaching is not something that stops or is put on hold whilst on holiday. Teachers are lifelong learners and therefore the work never stops. We are constantly encouraged and/or inspired on a daily basis. This may be at the conscious or sub-conscious level of thought.

So, with that said. My first entry is complete. The documentation of my own reflective process starts now!


References

Churchill, R. et al (2011). Teaching: Making a difference. John Wiley & Sons: Milton, QLD
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