Abstracts of unique pedagogical gifts
This is a brief selection of abstracts. The people who wrote these may have taken two months to a year to write their description. The finished product involved lots of conversations with other people involved, giving feedback and suggestions. Reading these three abstracts, it is easy to appreciate that teachers think of 'gifts' as much as any other profession and that our unique gifts really matter to us. They are all very different too which reveals our individuality.
Most of all they highlight that teachers' pedagogical gifts are:
Most of all they highlight that teachers' pedagogical gifts are:
- discoverable
- describable
- realisable and
- shareable.
Wendy The casteller is ephemeral, it rises and falls almost on a whim to a casual observer but imagine the years of work and practice behind it. It is all about human endeavour, standing on community, faith in each other, strength of will and for what purpose? The children are the last to emerge and we lift them up for a brief moment where they trust us to hold them so they can see the world in a different way. For me that is the purpose of education.
My PPG creates the castellar in my classroom. I love and seek knowledge, especially powerful knowledge and I feel that power in economics. I need the encouragement and support of my community, especially my faith community and I try to give that back. I have a wilful pupose driving me to make a difference and I want to share the prosperity that education has given me with my students. Sometimes the castellar falls, sometimes it rises momentarily, and in those wonderful moments, sometimes it lifts a student up, and all of a sudden, they look at themselves and the world in a new light. That is my gift that I give to them. |
Ms A
My gift derives from four identifiable 'prongs'. First is the process that my science background gives me to nuture a sense of curiosity. Second is my skill in optimising thinking through online group interactivity. Third is my deep empathy for indigenous people. Fourth is my strategic planning ('Inspector') personality.
Quite late in my career i have integrated the four prongs into a holistic pedagogical gift for helping people who have 'involuntary minority status'. I feel for them, understand how they learn, relate to the well, can use my own quirky personality to stimulate their curiosity and build confidence in themselves.
Colleen
My deep spirituality and my love of literacy are the key influences that shape my personal pedagogy. They have strengthened through my adult life as a member of the church, the community, my family and my profession.
What I call 'religious literacy' defines my life as a teacher every hour of the day. It infiltrates the atmosphere of the classroom, shapes the experiences of my students and influences my relationships with my colleagues. It motivates me to share what I have learned with younger colleagues in particular and to help them achieve deep pedagogical meaning, just as I have done.
What have you learned?
What might be the key characteristics of your abstract? You have now begun to think about what your personal pedagogical gift might look like.
It won't answer itself; you must set the process in motion. Who knows where your journey may lead you in the months and years ahead?
-Frank Crowther & Ken Boyne in Energising Teaching, p. 125