Teaching Hierarchy and Teacher Roles

Chapter 1 of Kumaravadivelu’s book is about teaching and the different aspects and ways to approach it. It presented many ideas that I had not thought of before, such as the difference between job, vocation, work, career, occupation, and profession. I hope that in my future, teaching becomes my profession. I feel that the definition really brings out all that teaching encompasses. Chapter 1 presented the three roles of teachers (teachers as passive technicians, teachers as reflective practitioners, and teachers as transformative intellectuals) as a hierarchy. Each level gets more involved. Some things that I liked about teachers as reflective practitioners as opposed to passive technicians is that a reflective practitioner is involved in school change efforts and takes responsibility for her own professional development. I thought that this role encompassed more than just the regular teaching time of the subjects, but it involved change for the better. Also, I feel that it is important to develop as a teacher because the students can benefit from that development, as well. These aspects are also true of teachers as transformative intellectuals. The process of transformative teaching asks that teachers take a critical look at the relationship between theory and practice and establish their own personal theory of practice. Unfortunately, teachers sometimes get into a routine of teaching that they find hard to break. They need to explore new options and see what is best for their students. It can be uncomfortable to change their ways, but it is necessary. My friend who is student teaching this semester told me about her classroom experience in which the teacher has set ways of teaching that are not reaching the students. The teacher just turns off the lights reads through a PowerPoint every class. Half of the students sleep while she does this. I think that she needs to look into new options of teaching and revise her personal theory. The last thing that I found interesting was that in the field of education, it has been suggested that there is no substantial difference between common sense and theory. I had never thought of relating the two, but it makes sense to me now. People who come up with the theories had to use their common sense to create the theories. Teachers should put more trust in their common sense and not just try to teach to a certain theory.