November 13, 2008

• Thoughts on Identity, Teaching, & Learning
  
  Facing different persons each day and each moment allows or forces you to transform or fade into a new or different identity.
  
  

  
  Recently, I fade in and fade out of two identities quite often: a teacher identity and a student identity.
  
  These fading ins and outs invite me to stand back and take a look at myself from different viewpoints.
  
  And as these two identities happen to be complementary of each other, I get to use what I learn from one identity in the position of the other identity.
  
  
  In fact, I am often in a state that is a mixture of those two identities.
  
  That is especially true when I teach as I often am learning from those that I teach.
  
  That is also true when I am having after-class discussions with my supervising professor as he would point out a behavior of a student in my class and I would be looking at that behavior from both the viewpoints of a teacher and of a student.
  
  That is true when I am creating my lesson plans as I would be evaluating the plans not just from the perspective of a teacher, but also from the perspective of a student. There are objectives to meet, but none of them can be met if the students don't feel engaged, if they don't find the materials interesting, or if they simply don't like they way the materials are being conveyed to them.
  
  
  As with most systems in this world, teaching and learning are complex and interactive.
  
  I believe that is why I am pursuing this career that I am pursuing.
  
  I believe that is why I want to be a lifelong learner.
  
  
  I'll say this:
  
  To teach is to learn.
  
  Learning enhances teaching.
  
  One cannot be a good teacher if one is not at the same time an active learner.
  
  

  • 6:47 pm
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