What is the future of education?

How has your experience of school shaped you as a learner, and as an adult?

I went to an ordinary government school, it was not fancy and did not provide many opportunities. However, there were passionate teachers that made a difference. In some ways, I think my school would have ticked all the boxes for an Ofsted inspection. But I would not class it as a ‘good school’, compared to some of the amazing schools that I have taught at. It was not learner-centered and did not create an easy learning environment.

In retrospect, my schooling career made me strong and able to work independently. I sought out my own opportunities and learnt that I am responsible for my own learning. Those passionate teachers inspired me to be a teacher.

This has impacted me as an adult because I don’t blame the schooling system for any of my shortfalls. As a teacher, I have realized that a good school is not necessarily about latest technology and fancy equipment. A good school has good teachers who are willing to work hard and go the extra mile.

In what ways do you think your own schooling could have been improved, and what priorities do you think are the most important for schools today?

A school should cater for all learners, not just the top achievers or the sport stars. I believe it should craft an atmosphere of positivity, so that learners want to go to school, and connect with their teachers and peers. It has been debated recently that students are losing the ability to think for themselves and solve problems. I think the schooling system is partially to blame. Schools place too much emphasis on achieving favorable exam results, and not on critical thinking skills. We are too quick to show the model solution, and don’t have time to let the learners figure it out themselves.

I think schools should focus on developing leaders, problem-solvers and thinkers. Students who can engage with their peers and solve problems together.

Reflections from week 2: Intelligence.

During your own education, how has your “intelligence” been assessed?

I have never participated in any type of formalized IQ test. I never taken an aptitude test neither. After reading the article by Sandra Leaton Gray, I am almost glad. These tests sound very stressful, and can lead to erroneous results that could set you up for life.

I would say that my intelligence has been tested by formal assessments at school and university. I know there is a lot of controversy surrounding formalized testing, and it perhaps also has its downfalls. Never the less, this is the only formal way my intelligence has been tested.

Informally, my intelligence is tested daily by my two-year-old.

How has this affected the educational opportunities you have been given?

Based on my grade 12 results, I was given a scholarship to study a BSc. I was also accepted for Medicine. I think this has had a great effect on my studies. Just knowing that I was intelligent enough to be a doctor, should I have chosen so.

What judgments have people made about you that have been affected by an assessment of your “intelligence”?

People always assume that I am very clever. I am a Scientist, after all. Then when they get to know me, they will see that I am not ‘street smart’, and definitely had to study very hard to achieve the results that I did. I can not do mental arithmetic, I cannot memorize facts easily and have never been able to complete a rubric cube. I do not know my left from my right, and cannot follow direction for toffee.

In a way, there assumption that I am intelligent has often been in my favor. And my motto when I first started teaching was ‘fake it until you make it’. I might not always understand something at first, but I am a hard-worker. I will put the effort in until I become a master. I am the poster-child for ‘deliberate practice.

Do you consider yourself to be a “learner”? why?

YES, yes and again yes.

Quoting from the interview with Prof Gordon Stobard, an expert learner has a ‘more flexible and stronger mental framework to make sense of stuff’. They see the bigger picture.

I like to think this description suits me. I am a life-time learner. After teaching for 9 years, I went to teach in an affluent private school and realized I knew nothing about teaching. After one year, my HOD said she wished there were my teachers as open-minded and willing to learn from their mistakes as me. That is the best compliment I have received in my entire career.

So yes, I am learning all the time. As a teacher, a mother, a wife, and now an expat. I live to learn and improve my existence.

Reflections from week 3: What makes a good teacher

At the beginning of this week I picked out three teachers that stood out for me. I now understand better why they made an impression on me.

Mrs Liebenberg, my high school biology teacher did not have fast knowledge or a string of fancy degrees. She cared about her students. All of them, the failures and the achievers. She took time to get to know her classes, and each student. She also told us about her life. This made her more ‘human’, and we could connect with her. She was fair in her grading, but always strict with her deliverables. I remember always making an effort to do her homework because I didn’t that to disappoint her.

Reflecting back to the resources from this week, I see now she had the most important trait. She cared.

Undoubtedly, Mrs Liebenberg was loved by all, as she treated everyone equally and made an effort to get to know all her students.

My Master’s supervisors also stand out for me as good teachers. Theresa Bird fits the same mold as Mrs Liibenberg, she cared about my problems and made an effort to help solve them. Prof Mary Scholes inspired me. She was passionate about her subject, and had a way of explaining even the most complex topics. She would often tell her own life stories when she was explaining things, and this made the subject more tangible. Everyone would agree that these women are good teachers.

After reading about the three discourses of a god teacher from Prof Alex Moore, I can also understand why certain teachers came across as ‘bad teachers’. They were competent in their craft (they knew their subject), but did not care about their students.

As a teacher, I hope to be remembered by my students as being kind and caring. They might not remember Newton’s Laws but they might remember that they had a good teacher.

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