Entrance Slip 14/09

 The beginning of the article, where the authors discuss the wide variety of approaches to teaching that exist, is definitely still relevant to today's teacher candidates. I think that as a teacher, it's important to use a teaching style that works for you, but it's also important to be able to modify your teaching methods to suit the needs of your students. I also think the idea of viewing your school's everyday reality through a critical lens is something that will always be relevant to teachers. The only way that school systems improve is when teachers want to improve their schools and accept the idea that the way their school currently operates isn't the only possible way for it to be run.

In contrast, I think that many teachers today would argue with the stipulation made on page 2 that the question of what to teach always precedes the question of how to teach. While you do need to cover specific pieces of curriculum in every class, there is a bigger focus now on student engagement than in the past. This sometimes means focusing more on topics that students are interested in or straying from the curriculum a bit in order to teach things that students are excited to learn about. In this sense, how you teach can influence what you teach because you may make changes to what you're teaching if you want to focus on topics that will maximize student engagement.

Overall, I think this article has reaffirmed my belief that it's essential for educators to be both open to feedback about their own teaching and willing to critically analyze the overall culture of the school they work in. It definitely got me thinking about how important it is to reflect on your own teaching and strive to improve on aspects of your teaching methods that aren't owrking. It also got me thinking about the importance of discussing teaching methods with your colleagues. Since there are so many different opinions about how to teach, you're likely to miss out on many effective teaching tools if you get stuck in your own ways and aren't making an effort to hear perspectives on teaching that differ from your own.

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