At the beginning or at the end: My personal educational history

Living Democracy » Principals » LEARNING » Action » At the beginning or at the end: My personal educational history

This activity can work as the first activity of the whole series presented here, or as a concluding one, at the end of the series. The only thing that does changes the debriefing which occurs either as a starting or a closing discussion of Action.

Learning objectives	To identify personal links, pros and cons about education
Tasks	Teachers explore, identify and discuss how they have learned throughout their lives, what they keep learning, what their interests and their special skills are, etc.
Resources	Worksheet from Living Democracy, Vol. I, page 60
Methods	Individual work, plenary discussion

Distribute a personal copy of the worksheet to every teacher.
Provide a time frame of several days for the teachers to work with it individually and set a date for a general discussion.
At the set date and time, the teachers meet to share and discuss their findings. They can either first work in groups and then meet in the plenary meeting, or begin to discuss their findings in a plenary meeting. The following points may be raised:
- Learning and training needs, e.g. academic expertise, teaching methods, understanding processes of learning
- Comparing and discussing the teaching guidelines that teachers adhere to
- Measures to reduce stress and improve efficiency in daily work
- Discussing the significance of learning and teaching and the connection to school life as a whole.

Depending on the context, this session serves to plan further action, by drawing on the materials in this sequence, or evaluating the actions taken so far, and to considering further steps.

Worksheet

(from Living Democracy, Vol. I, Educating for democracy, p. 60)
http://living-democracy.com/textbooks/volume-1/part-2/unit-1/chapter-2/lesson-2-2/

How to take my teaching skills and knowledge into account

What general experience, skills and knowledge do I have?

To what extent is my knowledge incomplete – referring to subject matter content, objectives, suitable teaching methods and the processes of learning?

In which fields do I wish to further educate myself (general knowledge, teaching methods, professional skills, personal qualities, routine, etc.)?

Which concept of human nature serves as my general guideline?

What is the theoretical framework, or the simplified version of a theory, that guides my work as a teacher?

How would I describe and classify my relationship to my students?

Where are my personal limits concerning working hours, stress, etc.? How do I make use of my personal working capacity?

How can I reduce my workload by better planning in terms of my work and other activities?

How do I use and maximize my time budget, how do I deal with sources of personal stress?