I'll tell you why....
Learning should be something joyful, mind-stretching and rewarding. How many learners can honestly say that has consistently been their experience of learning / being taught?
I believe most teachers start out with the best intentions of facilitating learning among their students. How, then, does the gap between teachers’ intentions and learners’ experience arise?
I’m sure there are myriad reasons due to circumstances and all sorts of differing factors. The one aspect which fascinates me personally is “The Teacher” herself. Without an excellent teacher, there can seldom be joyful, mind-stretching and rewarding learning. What form that teacher takes can also be many different things – a school teacher, a relative, sibling, friend, internet tool, book, guru. Whatever, whoever.
The force which drives me to explore this gap and to work on ways of ensuring consistent, quality learning, is the fact that without it, future generations stand little chance of dealing with the global issues our world currently faces.
A cliché it may be but “Knowledge is Power” and is primarily acquired through learning. Teachers have a huge responsibility to facilitate good and thorough learning. They also face considerable barriers to doing that, both intrinsically and extrinsically. Believing that learning and development is key, my goal is to collaborate with teaching colleagues in:
· deepening our own learning,
· increasing our knowledge & skills acquisition, and
· growing our self-awareness, through experience and reflection.
No one person has all the answers; no single human can possible be the font of all knowledge. This is something many people have noticed, the more they learn, the more they realise there is still to learn. Through my own learning, I feel I have something I can share to start others off on their own journeys. At the very least, I can be a catalyst to constructive networking. Through the power of many teachers learning and sharing together, who knows how much knowledge and joyful learning may arise?
Watch this space for details of a programme designed specifically for teachers keen to learn more about themselves and discover ways of facilitating quality learning among their learners.
