Learning crucial teaching skills
For the past 10 months of Teaching Practice as a part of my education at DNS Tvind, I have had the pleasure of working as a teacher-assistant with learning-apprehensive students at Friskolen Helios. The time spend at the school will forever be an unforgettable experience, which has challenged my idealistic views upon education, compelling them to mature and become more coherent.
From the first moment I entered the classroom, the biggest task to work on was to establish a relationship with the students. We often take such human qualities as trust for granted, yet, not everyone has had an environment to develop it. Therefore, after going through different challenging and fun experiences together with the youngsters, we began to understand each other. It takes time to understand the other person, but as a result, the bond developed opens the students to listen and learn. They begin to put trust in the learning which happens in the classroom in the presence of those they can rely on.
The time spend at the school will forever be an unforgettable experience, which has challenged my idealistic views upon education, compelling them to mature and become more coherent
Throughout the process of knowing one another, I unlocked two very important skills – seeing and hearing what the students actually need. More than often, I have had my boundaries tested, but after getting to know the students closer – I started to see why each individual was doing one or another thing. Their actions didn’t come from a sinister intent, but rather, an actual and important need to be heard, noticed, or valued.
This new skill helped fuel another, more important quality – knowing how to meet the students half way. Hearing needs doesn’t mean leaving students to remain in constant comfort. It means to discuss and come to solutions together with them, where their needs are respected within the boundaries of learning and descent behaviour.
Finally, nothing would have been possible without the colleagues around me. The support and belief have helped me to grow and really get the most out of the experience of working at such a school. And I’m very happy to have had an experience like this one on the long and winding path of becoming a teacher.
Maxim was in an eight months teaching practice as an assistant teacher at Friskolen Helios.
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