Teaching Credential: Hope for the Future
I am excited to announce that I have already applied for my credential. I am
extremely excited to start on the job hunt. I am looking forward to that first
day of school when I have my own classroom. Having conversations with the
teachers I have met so far just makes me even more excited to see what the
future has in store for me. One of my cooperating teachers gave me words of
wisdom about the teaching profession that just resonated with me, which I know
most have probably heard before. She said, "Teaching is a craft."
Immediately, I thought of craft as in craft in arts. I can see why teaching is
like art, however, it did not connect with me. Not knowing what she meant by
this, I searched the phrase using Google
and came across one teacher's website that could not have explained it any
better. The "craft" metaphor likens teaching to a potter working at
the wheel with clay. Through the master craftsman's sense of "feel,"
the potter knows whether to add more water or clay, precisely when the object
is nearing completion and what additional work is yet required, or whether to
recognize that this particular object is a failure and that it's time to start
over. This metaphor also likens teaching to a chef de cuisine, a
person who is able to transform ordinary groceries and kitchen staples into a
feast. Gazing upon the ingredients, a chef de cuisine organizes a menu,
works with the groceries and kitchen staples, and—in
what appears to be a seamless transition from raw materials to six-courses—presents a feast that is as
dazzling for the eye to behold as it is for the palate to savor. Not to be
overlooked, however, is how in the middle of the process a chef de cuisine
oftentimes will make subtle and sometimes not-so-subtle adjustments to the
ingredients as environmental conditions intervene and threaten to turn one's
first course, entree, or dessert into a disaster. Like these craftsmen, good
teachers also have a "feel" about what they need to do if they are to
translate their pedagogical intentions and plans into positive learning
outcomes. The basic problem student teachers encounter, however, is that good
teachers—like master
craftsmen—have the
"feel" down cold and are able to anticipate where matters are headed
before they conspire to destroy one's work. Good teachers attend to cues in the
classroom environment. For example, if a lesson is progressing well, good teachers
continue along the pathway charted. But, when good teachers intuit that
something in the classroom environment has the potential to derail instruction
and learning, these teachers adjust accordingly so as to keep instruction and
learning securely on track. My teaching craft is a working progress. It needs
plenty of more work. The more experience I will gain with teaching, the more
things I am able to add to my craft.
Hi Lauren,
ReplyDeleteI really loved this post! Thank you so much for writing about this. It's interesting how so much stuff happens in our Clinical Practice and yet certain words of wisdom will impact us. I remember one of the teachers last semester told me that teaching will go like this: In the first year you'll say teaching is hard. In the second year, you'll say it's hard but it's fun. In the third year, you'll say it's fun but it's hard. He told me not to get too down on myself when things go wrong because every day you will build up tomorrow. :)