Motivation for pursuing a graduate degree Essay

Instructional perspectiveThe philosophy of facts of life that I ascribe to has been the primary tool motivating my pursuit of a graduate degree in special reproduction. My instructional philosophy has tended to centralise mainly on hands on instruction where participants get complicated promptly in and take responsibility for their own encyclopedism. ofttimes bid the constructivist theorists and thinkers I believe that this active participation in learnedness is what makes learning more meaningful and that would produce the greatest successes in the schoolroom.As a worldwide direction instructor I pay whence tended to choose instructional strategies and learning activities that are pondering of this outlook and select seek as far as possible to correspond that the learners in my schoolroom are given the relevant life experiences with which they rear end interact and which they can utilize in constructing their own meanings and intelligence of the things aroun d them. I unwaveringly believe that proper planning is the key to success in the schoolroom. homework does not just now involve preparing a lesson plan, but psychologic onlyy preparing for the learners and their of necessity in the classroom, understanding each learner and being willing to charge on the whole, as far as possible, in the learning process. It is through such detailed planning that the correct activities will be designed for an interactive, structural and cooperative classroom.Reflection on exercisingConsiderable work has been do in the field of cognitive psychology by numerous theorists and researchers. Much of the research has been focused on trying to understand the characteristics of learners, the optimal age and conditions for occurrence types of learning, the most appropriate teaching and learning strategies and generally and understanding of how learning takes place. Several theorists wee attempted to describe the characteristics of learners. Among t hem Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Albert Bandura and Jerome Bruner and any(prenominal) of the most tell forefathers of thought in this areas. Having worked as a teacher for the well-nigh years now, the theorist that has been the most influential on my practice is Jerome Bruner.Bruners philosophy emphasizes the concept of uncovering learning and simulation. He posits that learning is most effective and meaningful when the learners actively explores issues as opposed to narration from textbooks or lectured to by the teacher (Good & Brophy, 1995). Simulation activities, Bruner suggests, are useful tools for promoting forms of discovery learning. I affirm found that the use of role-play and skits as simulation activities, fill processed me deliver learning targets better than traditional lecture-type methods. Given the nature of the classroom and the variety of abilities and learning styles, I have found that the use of role-play and equivalent cooperative activities have helped me ensure that all learners are actively tortuous in the learning process.However, throughout my teaching character I have noticed some deficiencies in my teaching methodology, particularly as it relates to conflux the needs of all the learners in the classroom. I have noticed that time I am able to adequately motivate a member of the class in each year, I have often been ineffective to fully motivate the entire class of learners or to introduce activities and strategies that are attractive to all the learners in the classroom. I believe in reflective practice so I often review my teaching methodology, with the help of relevant research and theoretical foundations.I have made whatsoever adjustments possible as I notice my deficiencies and have consistently been baffling in improving my teaching strategies. However, despite my best efforts I have continued to face considerable obstacles in range out to some students in my classroom. Often these students were those who could b e classified as at risk. They were sometimes from single-parent homes, students with tendencies towards delinquent behaviors and other similar students. There have also been students with noted cognitive or other physical difficulties, for whom the general genteelness classroom, as is, was not adequate.More and more it became evident to me that at bottom the general preparation classroom there is a diverse mix of students of different socioeconomic, cultural and ethnic backgrounds. Furthermore they had a range of abilities and fulfilled to varying degrees of competence. I have acknowledged that, to some extent, I have contributed to the inability of some students to perform as well as others, as a result of my ill fortune to effectively orient lessons to meet the needs of all learners.Another occurrence that has compounded this issue is the new move towards inclusion in the general education classroom. Increasingly more students with learning disabilities are being collective into the general education classroom. These changes in the educational framework has meant that needs have to modify their strategies to ensure that the needs of these diverse sets of learners are adequately met within their classroom and that students from all ability levels, achieve prescribed standards.EvolutionWith the plan of attack on stream of the NCLB act, more attention is being placed on ensuring that classrooms are inclusive and that each learner is allowed to achieve his/her full authorisation based on individual abilities. The NCLB is a formidable demonstration of the particular entertain that the federal government places on education. This issue flummoxs several challenges for teachers in both the general education and the special education classrooms. Special education students are now being incorporated into the general education classroom and even where they remain in special education classrooms students are tranquil compulsory to demonstrate progress simil ar to that being achieved by the peers who do not have these special needs.Therefore teachers are required to ensure that every learner, despite their abilities or disabilities aspire to the same grand reaching goals and objectives as general education students. It is evident that the act, though it may present several benefits for special education, will also have its limitations. Educators are, however, still required to aim for the target of leaving no pincer behind.I intemperately support the overall spirit of the NCLB act. The overriding principle of the NCLB is that each child registered within the school system must be given all opportunities to develop and to achieve and I agree with this position. To ensure the success of every child and to guarantee that no child is left behind, the act holds educators directly accountable for ensuring that each child aims for and achieves the prescribed standards. Having a particular interest in the development of students I was inspir ed by the new show principles of the NCLB act to obtain adequate training in special education so that I am equipped to deal with not only special education students, but the range of abilities that will come into the classroom. These broad reaching goals are of relevance to all involved in the education of children.Motivations to changeI wish to develop the know-how and the skills that would help me become a dynamic teacher that is able to hone knowledge, skills and attitudes within learners from different socioeconomic backgrounds, with different cognitive capabilities, with varying physical and cognitive challenges or any multiple needs that may arise in the classroom. Teaching instantly is becoming more and more challenging.The influences of the teacher and what is taught in the classroom are being eroded by the mass media. The teacher has to compete with newly emerging communication technologies and the internet. The skills that were developed yesterday to tackle learners ne eds in the classroom soon become obsolete. I therefore wish to ensure that I remain on top of the biz and continue to be a teaching who attempts to meet the needs of all learners.ReferencesGood, T.L.& Brophy, J.E. (1995). Contemporary Educational Psychology. (5th ed.). New York Longman Publishers.