Becoming of a Teacher

Reflection Diary on Orientation Workshop at OAMK

29 August 2021

Grateful.

That was my feeling towards the three-day workshop on the campus. 

We have not been able to have face-to-face meetings since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. The fact that we could meet up on the campus and had a physical meeting with participants present felt like a blessing. I also felt energized because I met people who have the same goal and passion as I do - to become a teacher. One of the questions that we discussed during the workshops was whether everyone can be a teacher. I do believe that everyone has the potential of being a teacher, but not everyone is a qualified one. To become a teacher, one needs education and training, and that's what we are doing now. 

Everyone has the potential to be a teacher, but becoming a teacher needs training.

It is interesting and also exciting to be studying to become a teacher together with people from various fields of work. Most of the participants in the class are in-service teachers, for example, teachers in the university or in the kindergartens, supervisors of master's or doctoral thesis, or instructors in the Fab Lab. The diverse nature of the participants´ background links very well with another key issue that we discussed in the workshop, which was what is a teacher needed for, and what roles do teachers play.

In a narrow definition, a teacher is to teach skills and knowledge to students. But why do we need teachers? What can teachers do to help students learn, grow and develop? Do we always need a teacher? In the discussion, we talked about the various roles a teacher can play, for example, tutoring, mentoring, supervising, guiding, and facilitating. Some participants are thesis supervisors. Different from teaching in a classroom, their role lies a lot in supervising students´ thesis writing process. Tutors do not teach in a traditional way as a teacher would traditionally do. They are the learning and development buddies for learners, providing help and advice when needed. Therefore, a teacher has more than one role when it comes to helping students. 

Picture 1: Wordcloud from Class Discussion

Is a teacher always needed? 

But do we always need a teacher? A lot would argue that not always. The Internet of Things has made learning by oneself possible. For example, if we want to set up a printer, we can search for videos online which can show us how to set up the printer properly. If someone is interested in learning about cars, there are many online resources that can educate and inform the person about cars. In this sense, a teacher might not be needed. However, I think this can bring up another layer of question - what makes a teacher? Does a teacher have to be a person? Can a person really learn without those virtual teachers? Can a person learn without such a social environment nor such necessary resources? From this perspective, I would argue that one always needs a teacher to learn, grow and develop.

The discussion reminds me of the famous French movie The Chorus. This whole movie is dedicated to a teacher. Teachers are important because they can discover students´ potential. They can inspire, encourage and make an influence on a student´s lifelong learning and development. Perhaps, metaphorically speaking, teachers contribute to the construction and development of the society by recognizing different talents of the students´ and by assisting them to position themselves in the society, such as doctors, lawyers, scientists, or an entrepreneur. 

Pedagogy, Didactics, Vocational Pedagogy, Working Life related Pedagogy

Another discussion that impressed me was (surprise, surprise) the differentiation between different pedagogy-related terminologies. Even though I have gone through the systematic training to be a teacher, there is always something new to learn about education and pedagogy. During the discussion, I could easily explain what didactics and general pedagogy mean. However, vocational education is new for me (yet fascinating). It was fun to take some wild guesses but received input from other experienced vocational teachers and our program tutors. For me, I understand those terminologies as such,

Pedagogy refers to anything related to teaching and learning in general, despite fields, learning environments, specific subjects, etc. It is more related to the practices compared to the term education.

Didactics relates closely to the process of teaching. It is about the science of teaching based on the scientific understanding of learning. For example, in my own field of teaching, which is language teaching, TPR (Totally Physical Response) is a well-established didactic method, where students learn the meanings of vocabulary or phrases through movements. Different fields have different established ways of teaching. 

Vocational Pedagogy is about the teaching and learning of a certain profession, such as professions as teachers, doctors, and engineers. We are now undergoing vocational pedagogy, learning to become professional teachers. There are certain types of practices involved, for example, reading and writing, participating in workshops and seminars, as well as practicing teaching in authentic environments. I also learned that universities of applied sciences in Finland are specifically founded to provide this kind of education - to combine theoretical learning with practical work. 

Working-life-related pedagogy includes a wider range of teaching and learning practices that are closely related to real working life situations. For example, a lot of newly graduated students from schools can work as trainees in a company, where the people working in that company teach them how to do a specific job. The teaching and learning happen in a real working condition with for example real customers involved. An experienced employee might need to go through some training in relation to some newly developed products or tools. This happens in real working life situations where such pedagogy can equip the employee with new knowledge and skills so that he or she can adapt to the fast-paced changing working life and can help the company's business develop sustainably in a competitive environment.

 Picture 2: Class discussion on pedagogy-related terminologies 

This discussion has helped me to understand how pedagogy works on different levels and what can make a teacher a teacher. It is closely related to what roles a teacher can play and what a teacher is needed for. I used to have a very narrow mindset towards teaching and being a teacher. But now, teaching and being a teacher are placed in such a wide context, and this definitely will change my career choice in the future. 

The Jigsaw lessons

In the jigsaw session, I believe that I have demonstrated good competence in planning a lesson, in leading the planning process, in collaboration, in implementing digital tools. Teamwork was smooth and efficient. We planned our lesson within the required time. Our task was to plan a 10-min lesson and teach about 1. What is a teacher needed for? 2. Do we always need a teacher? 

We had about 40 minutes to prepare. We started with brainstorming, where everyone shared their ideas freely without any judgment. I was able to take notes of everyone's ideas and come up with a framework for lesson planning and teaching after the short brainstorming session. I showed my ideas and conclusion to my teammates and everyone agreed that it was a great plan. See the sway lesson plan presentation: 

What is a teacher needed for? Is a teacher necessary for all kinds of learning?

Step 1: WordCloud as introduction: What do you need a teacher for? / What is a teacher needed for?

Go to this Sway

With a draft framework, our team started working separately to look for different resources for different parts. For example, Shiv and I were making the Mentimeter questions while Abdollah and Erini were looking for a short video to demonstrate the important roles of a teacher. In a short lesson, we managed to include the use of 3 different digital resources, which were the Sway platform, the YouTube channel, and the Mentimeter interactive tool. We have demonstrated our competence in digital pedagogy during the process. I have shared a lot of ideas and information during the discussion and collaboration process. 

For the part where we were trying to find out exceptions where a teacher is not needed, we were running out of time but managed to come up with a way of teaching that suits every team member´s competence. We would lead an oral discussion among our audience and direct them to a forum where people have the same question and have been discussing the issue. All in all, we had a great team together and made a feasible and guiding lesson plan. 

In the actual teaching session, I delivered my part of teaching within 10 minutes and received positive feedback from other participants. For example, Weimu commented that I had actively applied many digital tools in the lesson and that I am very patient when it comes to using technology. There were some problems. For example, the word cloud platform was restricted for some reason, but I managed to check the setting and re-open the platform within 30 seconds. I also gave instructions to participants who struggled with the platform. I like using digital tools and platforms in my lessons because they make learning much easier and the learning process and results can be visualized.

When other participants were giving their lessons, I was supportive and active in participating in the teaching process. While participating in others´ lessons, I was also paying attention to other people's teaching processes, techniques, and methods. I think that I am the kind of teacher who likes to enrich the learning process by using different tools, but the oral discussion part appears to be a bit less important. Whereas some other teachers are very good at organizing discussions, summarizing information, and drawing conclusions. That is the kind of competence that I need to learn as a teacher. I might not need to apply such skills as drawing conclusions for the students in all the teaching and learning situations, but sometimes this is necessary, depending on the teaching and learning goals. For example, when we are trying to differentiate the concepts of teaching, guiding, tutoring, facilitating, and mentoring, the discussion of their differences is not enough. A conclusion or the take-away message can help students really remember what different concepts mean and how they are different from one another.

Picture 3: A screenshot of chat history during the mini-lesson

Looking into the near future (Maybe)

After participating in the 3-day workshops, I have gotten to know the program much better, especially the competence-based concept. I talked with Riikka that I want to explore the possibility of exporting this program to the Chinese and Cantonese markets in South Asia. Riikka suggested that I could do this as a way of demonstrating my teaching competence as well as my entrepreneurial competence. The idea has been lingering in my mind since then. I believe that this can be something new and challenging for me. It is indeed feasible and interesting. I have just established my Toiminimi. Entrepreneurship is a way to survive in Finland, especially during the COVID-19 time. The combination of education and entrepreneurship thrills me and will be my inspiration for work and studies in the near future.