Embrace new perspectives .Be a lifelong learner as a teacher

 

Always a Life-Long Learner By Maia Reed-TEDx (Lakeland University)

Life-long learning is a must-have for teachers. It is a special gift one can give to him or herself. Let us get that straight. Being comfortable at the level you began your teaching journey is not a great decision. As soon as you make lifelong learning a primary factor in your life, you will soar.

This type of learning is beyond school, it is a conscious effort by one to improve. To stop learning is destructive to personal growth and development. As teachers, we cannot thrive in the profession without constantly learning.

Being a lifelong learner indicates that you love the profession and that you are ready to equip yourself for authentic teaching. Not being a lifelong learner can be disadvantageous to yourself and the learners you are handling. Therefore, make a conscious effort to become one. It is voluntary but, it is a necessity if you want to remain relevant in any profession, not just teaching. Find a positive way to foster continuous growth and development in your life. Do not be rigid, get out of your comfort zone.

Yes, we are busy, no doubt about that. Personal, family, work, all of those, but then special attention should be paid to personal growth and development through lifelong learning. It will be woefully inadequate to live a life devoid of learning as a teacher because, under the standard of teaching and learning, your skill will be inadequate when set against the demands of effective teaching.

Let us even look at the meaning of lifelong learning

According to Dictionary .com, lifelong learning is the 'provision or use of both formal and informal learning opportunities throughout people's lives in order to foster the continuous development and improvement of the knowledge and skills needed for employment and personal fulfillment'

Albert Einstein sees lifelong learning as life, no wonder he said in his quote,

"Once you stop learning, you start dying." This quote reflects the pressing need for lifelong learning in today's world. It goes beyond having degrees in formal school, it involves a personal decision to improve even outside the parameters of formal education

We are in the digital age, everything is changing and we have to build the skills and awareness that are required to adapt properly. That can only be achieved if we continue to learn and not quit.

Lifelong learning is a process that should continue throughout a lifetime. It does not have an expiry date as long as you are alive.

Remember, ''The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.'’-----Alvin Toffler

Thinking about the benefits of being a lifelong learner, here are some tips

Life-long learning helps to address your learning needs

It enables a teacher to be ready to meet the needs of the changing world.

It helps you to improve the quality of your life and self-worth.

Lifelong learning offers you the opportunity to explore, learn, and grow (it helps you to keep abreast).How do you feel when you know that you know? Confident right

With life-long learning, you acquire skills that will help you to adapt to the changing technology in your workplace. You can learn a skill or improve on the existing ones

It increases your employability and earns you more money

Wondering how to be a lifelong learner, check out the tips

This is a busy world, so we try to balance personal, work, family, social life and so on:

·    Know what works for you- Identify your learning style, and know the best time to study.

·    Create an workable time management table

·    Self-taught learning- whether reading from the book (print or e-books), listening to audio, video, and so on

·    Attend workshops, seminars, and trainings. Do not be a resistor

·    Collaborate with your colleagues, Do not be an island

·    Ask questions, it is amazing the kind of knowledge we gain when we ask questions

·    Visit credible sites and blog posts

·    Sign up for newsletters from credible educational institutions and sites

·    Belong to subject-based associations. For example, a biology teacher who belongs to the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT). Most of these organisations organise incredible workshops and professional development conferences that will add immensely to your growth

·    Get a Coach, Mentor, or Accountability partner

·    Go back to school if you need to

Any disadvantage of refusing to be a lifelong learner as a teacher? I only know a big  one, you will be obsolete with time and your services will no longer be needed.

Take ownership of your personal growth and development. Be determined . Do not waste time because the world is changing, and technology is advancing.

Additional resources

What is lifelong learning?

How to build lifelong learning skills for the 21st Century workplace

 

 

Beyond teaching part 2

 

 We all have learners from different backgrounds and cultures.Different abilities and learning styles.It is our duty as teachers to teach these learners authentically. To do this,we need to go beyond teaching. There are several actions we need to deploy in order to drive teaching to authentic level.

As an educator, I 've come to realise that teaching is beyond active teaching and learning skills. It is driven by hope, faith and hardwork. 

Hope is that positive expectations we have.That level that tells us that our learners are capable of achieving excellence even if we can't see nor feel it at present .

There is need to keep hope alive. Believe that your learners are capable of becoming and achieving something great. 

With hope,we are energised to keep working on our learners' progress.  There is nothing as dangerous as hopelessness. It is a killer.Hopelessness leads to condemnation of learners. It gives us that ability to tag our learners wrongly.Hopelessness prevents a teacher from seeing the brighter tomorrow in  learners .It makes a teacher to be judgemental and myopic to the light that our learners carry.

According to Desmond Tutu

Faith on the other hand ✋ is the assurance that what we hoped for in our learners, all our positive expectations are already here.With faith,we are convinced that learners are already doing well in all their endeavours irrespective. 

Hardwork is crucial in teaching and learning, there are many things to do.So many nitigrities to handle.

With Hardwork  hope and faith are kept alive.So a teacher who is not hardworking should better rethink his or her actions.Hardwork enables us to deploy all the active teaching and learning skills.Hard work helps us to give feedback and assess the works of our learners. The list is endless..........

Learners' academic excellence cannot happen accidentally, It comes with hardwork .Teachers have to play their role.

Like PELE said

We cannot afford to do the work  anyhow because we are raising future leaders.We need to be deliberate and intentional about hardwork because it is very essential. 

Finally,keep hope and faith alive.Do not kill them.

Watchout for our next episode next week.Bye

Creativity-One of the 4Cs

 

Using creativity to inspire learners is one of the greatest teaching skills. In creativity, learners are given the opportuning to practice what they have learned and use it in other contexts outside the classroom wall. It is far beyond memorization but involves deeper thinking and enhancement of skills using creative methods and techniques. It is driven by creative thinking and innovation. Innovative learning experiences enable learners to be deeply involved in the process as they learn to solve problems from different perspectives. Involving in the problem-solving process is crucial. This is because knowledge and learning experiences are widened because they now think beyond others. That is where the power lies. Creativity has been with man since time immemorial. I guess that is one of the reasons we are still here

What is creativity in Education, Click here –https://theeducationhub.org.nz/what-is-creativity-in-education/#:~:text=Creativity%20is%20the%20interaction%20between,as%20a%20tangible%20physical%20object).

Albert Einstein said” Creativity is seeing what others see and thinking what no one else ever thought

That means that creativity comes with a peculiar type of thinking that is beyond or outside the general thought. It is a must-have if we actually want authentic learning to take place.

Creative learning ushers learners to Creative thinking which gives them the room to find solutions and make a positive change.  What is the essence of thinking if we cannot use it to solve problems?

During creative learning, learners not only think but think strategically and focused because their aim will be to break the limitations as they explore ideas, and weigh options that will launch them to learning breakthroughs.

`Creativity is not a function of good grades, stating of facts, and even memorization as I‘ve said earlier. It is all about allowing learners to bring their creative thoughts to the table-.putting their thoughts into practice

 Teaching learners what to think is deeply rooted in our education system. The teacher stands in front of the classroom with her power to restrict learners from taking the responsibility of learning which we all know belongs to them. Learners will not have a choice but to absorb what they are given, and think about what they are given. That’s all. The system does not encourage creativity. Learners are not allowed to think freely. So, they will just settle with anything short of creativity. Some of our questioning methods are not even enough to promote creativity.

The main aim of creativity is to solve problems and cause a positive change.  Creativity may not be as big as the invention of the electric bulb by Thomas Edison at first. Learners can showcase creativity with something as small as drawing, painting, and some kind of simpler designs. With time it will boom, just keep inspiring your learners with every creative effort you have.

Want to know the benefits of creativity? Here are some tips

Used for problem-solving

Used to bring about positive change

Promotes innovation- learners thrive well in open-ended thinking

Learners learn to be more adaptable

It Increases productivity

It enhances growth, which means there is no one way to approach a challenge

Thinking about how to promote creativity in the classroom? Here are some tips

Be creative as a teacher. Learners watch you   because you are their living model

Sow the seed of creativity in them by giving them the chance to create

Ensure you ignite the curiosity of your learners with open-ended questions

Use project and research-based learning

Give them feedback about their work to encourage them and tell them you love their work(s) and why you love their work(s)

To learn more on this Click here-Creativity in Education

Critical Thinking Skill-Another one of the 4Cs

 

Brian Oshiro (TEDxXiguan)

Critical thinking is one of the 4Cs used to inspire learning. It is one of the most essential skills in teaching and learning. Critical thinking involves giving a deeper thought to learning. This skill is beyond knowledge absorption, memorization, recalling of facts, and interpretation of information. Critical thinking skills embrace deeper and more creative thoughts that will yield meaningful outputs. 

It is a skill not only applicable in teaching and learning but our everyday lives.

Our learners are neither containers nor knowledge-absorbing materials but rather active individuals capable of meaningful constructions. Therefore they should be taught and allowed to think critically while learning. It is a beautiful thing to allow learners to walk the process before arriving at the answer. Critical thinking skill is one of those skills that will authentically help learners navigate through the process of problem-solving. In a diverse world like ours, critical thinking is one of the skills that we can use to deal with the challenges that come with it.

From the perspective of Walden University, 'Critical thinking goes beyond memorization, encouraging students to connect the dots between concepts, solve problems, think creatively, and apply knowledge in new ways. Despite myths that critical thinking skills are only applicable to subjects like science and math, the reality is that these skills—which are based on the evaluation and application of knowledge—are not only vital for success in all subject areas but everyday life as well

Passive learning has lost its grip, and the era of active learning has come to stay. Our learners need to learn how to think and not what to think.

How then can Critical thinking be taught? Here are some tips

1. A teacher should have a wider knowledge of critical thinking skills and understand Bloom's taxonomy and hierarchical order before he or she can be able to teach the skill to the learners. If you do not have adequate knowledge of critical thinking skills (Lots –Lower Order Critical Thinking Skill and HOTS –Higher Order Critical Thinking Skill), you may not be able to create the right activities that can trigger and promote Critical thinking skills in learners.

2. Encourage learners to lead learning –This will enable you to relinquish the learning power to the learners and stand as a guide. When learners know that their opinion counts, they will learn to take charge by thinking deeply because the responsibility has been conferred on them to lead learning.

3. Use questioning skills–. Socrates emphasised the power behind questioning skills. Questioning skills evoke curiosity in learners. When learners are curious, their opinions are evoked and they begin to look for solutions as they try to solve problems. Open-ended questions are the best. Take time to build your questions, do not settle for state and list, Ask learners questions that will shift them from their comfort thinking zone such as remembering where they can only settle with memorization. Properly created questions with Bloom's taxonomy in mind are capable of pulling learners from lower to higher-order critical thinking skills.

4. Promote decision-making- Learners on the verge of making decisions weigh ideas and options to know which to arrive at.

5. Deploy collaborative learning- This type of learning exposes learners to constructive thought processes as they work together. It can be done through group work and discussion. Learners' thinking is expanded as they discover that there are many ways to solve a problem.

6. Encourage creativity-Spark deep thinking by giving learners what to create, it could be in the form of a project, making of models, presentation, writing, etc

For additional resources on how to teach critical thinking skills, click here-https://www.waldenu.edu/online-bachelors-programs/bs-in-elementary-education/resource/seven-ways-to-teach-critical-thinking-in-elementary-education  (Walden University)

Are there benefits of Critical thinking skills? Yes. Click here to learn more 👉THE IMPORTANCE OF CRITICAL THINKING IN EDUCATION  (Rahul Education)

Additional resources

Critical Thinking  (The Glossary of Education Reform)

Critical Thinking  (Centre for Teaching and Learning- Western University)

A deep dive into critical thinking (part 1) – what is it and how is it taught?  

(Cambridge University Press & Assessment)