Introduction
Dream teacher most of us had a teacher that inspired us. For me it was meester Ben. He made me like school, he had so much passion for his job and he always listened if something was wrong. He inspired me to become a teacher. I also had bad teachers they would not listen and they did not care about their job. These teachers also inspired me to become a teacher, because they were such bad teachers I wanted to become a teacher so I could be the opposite of them. When I think about a dream teacher, I think of someone who truly enjoys teaching as a job. A teacher is preparing students for the future.
So I think teachers are people who have a lot of influence on the world. They must understand the curriculum but besides having knowledge there are more thing they need to be able to do.
Globalization
Due to globalization there will be students from different countries and backgrounds in your classroom. For some of these students English will be their mother language while for others it will be their second or third language. You have to realise this in order to be able to help students that struggle with English.
Power distance
Power distance is able to influence how involved a student will seem. If a child is from a country that is low in power distance like Norway they are more likely to just ask questions and will possibly disagree with the teacher, but if a student is from a country that is high in power distance like Japan a child will most likely not disagree or argue with a teacher and if they want to ask a question they will do that in a very polite way (Nunez, Nunez Mahdi & Popma, 2017). This will influence the way I will teach. I myself am from the Netherlands which is low in power distance, for me this could make me think at first that a student from China is not involved enough while the child actually for his thinking is doing the right thing by not asking too many questions and if he asks a question he will do it very politely. So as a teacher I will have to realize that there are different cultures with different ways of respecting others and therefore a child may act in a certain way I might think of as rude because of our different cultures. This makes me want to be a culture aware teacher that respects, values and understands different cultures and making the students aware of that.
Low Context and High Context
When communicating with someone from a different culture there is a change of misunderstanding each other. The misunderstanding can come from the fact that one person will talk in a low context way while the other talks in a high context way. The difference is that people from a low context culture will start with the main point and end with details, in a high context culture someone will start with some context this will sound like details to a low context speaker the main point is often not separated from the details because it all belongs together (Nunez et al, 2017). Miscommunication can happen because of the fact that people will give too much or to little context, too much context will make them feel belittled and to little context will make them feel left out (Nunez et al, 2017). This is important to keep in mind in the international classroom. I myself from a low context culture will tell them the main point first and while for some students that is what they are used to other students might feel belittled because there from a high context culture. So I will have to realize that I need to communicate with everyone to make sure they will not feel left out or belittled.
Culture
Some researchers say that globalization is the Americanization of the world (Steger, 2017). They say that the globalization is spreading the American culture and therefore local cultures will slowly disappear (Steger, 2017). Culture is consisted of three layers: artefacts of culture, norms and values and basic assumptions (Schein, 2004). These layers are built like an onion the first layer the artefacts of culture are easy to see and notice you will learn these quickly (Schein, 2004). Artefacts of culture are thing like how people dress and what they eat on a daily basis (Nunez et al, 2017). Each layer is more difficult to notice and because of that many people do not even always realize how many layers there are (Nunez et al, 2017). I think that it might be easy to change the first and maybe even the second layer but the third layer will stay. Globalization will spread different cultures. Nowadays we can learn multiple languages very easily while 50 years back learning a foreign language was very unusual (Steger, 2017). In my class I want my students to be aware of their culture and the culture of the other students. I want them to know that in the world there are many different cultures and we should respect all of those culture. I want them to learn about different cultures and stimulate them to learn a new language.
Individualism and Collectivism
When we grow up in a certain culture that culture will make is very I- or we- orientated. In an individual-orientated country children will learn to be independent at a young age, while children growing up in a we-orientated country will learn to ask other people for help (Nunez et al, 2017). Asking other people for help is something we-orientated people enjoy (Nunez et al, 2017). Growing up in a we- or I- orientated way will change and influence the way you will act in a group. In an I-orientated society asking for help is a sign of immaturity (Nunez et al, 2017) As a teacher you have to keep in mind that a student that grew up in a we-orientated society will come to you or others for help quicker then a students that grew up in an I-orientated society. So you have to make sure that you will not only notice students that come to you with problems but also notice when a students is struggling and needs help but does not come to you for help. They might not come because they are supposed to be good individuals that can take care of themselves. Working in a group will be easier for students that are we-orientated then it is for students that are I-orientated. We-orientated students will be used to working together and being together, while I-orientated students will be used to working by themselves (Nunez et al, 2017).
Culture Shock
Students at international schools move from country to country. In one country they may stay longer then another country. This is because of their parents their job. When moving to a different country people can experience culture shock. “Culture shock is process of adjusting from living in a familiar, predictable environment to living in a country where everything is new.” (Nunez et al, 2017). Culture shock knows four stages: pre-departure, vacation stage, angry stage and adjustment (Nunez et al, 2017). If you move back to the country you came from you will also have a re-entry shock (Nunez, 2017). The first two stages are full of excitement you are going somewhere new, the third stage is like the name the stage where you are angry and sad you do not feel at home and the last stage is the stage where you slowly will start to feel at home in your new country (Nunez et al, 2017).
Some children will not have a vacation or pre-departure stage because they are sad to move away from their friends, they do not want to move they want to stay where they are at that moment (Nunez et al, 2017). It is important to know as a teacher when a student just moved to a new country. I can then realize what they are going trough and why they might be angry or sad. Also a student can struggle with language. While on teaching practice I cam across two students brother and sister who had just moved to the Netherlands. I was at a bilingual school, which meant that the students needed to be able to talk and write in Dutch and English. The little girl was 6 years old and was in kindergarten she barely spoke Dutch. Her brother also barely spoke Dutch he felt more comfortable speaking and writing in English. So I want to be able to understand why a student might feel more comfortable speaking one language because they do not really know the other language. Besides both these students looked happy but another student might feel sad or angry about moving. Them changing from country is able to affect their behaviour (Nunez et al, 2017).
Influences of a Teacher
Teachers have a great deal of influence on the development of a student. Research has shown that the difference in influence on a student between high-effect and low-effect teachers is 0,25 Cohen’s d. This means that a student that has a high-effect teacher is a year ahead academically then his fellow students with a low-effect teacher (Slater, Davies and Burgess, 2009). John Hattie has researched 252 influences that affect a student’s achievement (Waack, 2018).
Teacher-student Relationship
A positive teacher-student relationship is important for the climate of the classroom. A positive climate in the classroom will motivate and help students learn (Hattie, 2012). For a positive teacher-student relationship there must be some skills present, some examples of the skills are: caring, trust respect (Hattie, 2012). A good teacher-student relationship will give the student the confidence needed to be able to say that they don’t know an answer and will make them feel fine about making mistakes (Hattie, 2012). Besides all this a student spends so much time in school that the teacher can be a more familiar face to see then to see his/her parents face (Jackson, 1985). In my future classroom I want a positive relationship with my students because I think it is important to know what is going on in their lives outside of school. This because it would help me understand the students better and that way I will be able to help them better. I want the students to treat each other with respect to communicate and be honest with each other. If I want my students to act that way I will have to lead by example and that means that I will treat my students with respect and honesty. Most important I want my students to feel fine about mistakes because making mistakes is important it teaches us the most and to make mistakes you need to be confident, you need to have courage.
Flexible
When you are a teacher you can plan out your day but many things can go wrong. Therefore you need to be flexible. During teaching practice I arrived in the classroom an after a short introduction the teacher told us that she had to think of something to start the day with because the music teacher called in sick. A teacher being sick can change your entire day so you need to be flexible with your schedule and have the ability to change something in your schedule. “Successful leaders are insightful and flexible” (Owings and Kaplan, 2012, p.335). As a teacher I want to stay flexible with my schedule in order to be able to adjust to changes in setting and in cases of teachers being sick. I want to be able to do this in a way that the students will not be disturbed too much. For example if the music teacher is sick I will try to figure out an activity we can do that has to do with music. That activity could be something like listening to music from different countries or learning a traditional dance.
Creativity
Each student is unique. This means that not all students learn in the same way. So as a teacher you need to look at your students and think about what they need (Schoff, 2016). This makes it important to look at the students and to think what they will need what would they like to do (Schoff, 2016). Creativity has an influence on the student’s academic success (Hattie, 2012). As a teacher I want my students to do arts and crafts to stimulate their creativity. I also want to teach them in a creative way by using self-made activities that either the students or I have made to make their education more fun. For example you can make educational games with the students that they then can play themselves and learn trough making and playing the game. They will learn skills from making the game and when they play the game they can also learn something educational.
Classroom Climate
The climate of the classroom is important to motivate students to learn (Hattie, 2012). To achieve a positive classroom climate the teacher must have some sort of authority, without this authority the positive classroom climate will disappear (Hattie 2012). Too have a positive classroom climate there must be respect (Hattie, 2012). Rules will help the teacher to stay in control, this because the students will know what will happen if they do not obey the rules (Hattie, 2012). When I will have my first class I want too make the classroom rules with them. This way I hope that because the students were involved in making the rules they will obey them more. By making the rules together there will also be a good discussion about what is important to us. Besides having rules I also want to make clear to the children that the classroom is a safe environment where they can share their feelings and thoughts. They need to respect each other and their feelings. I want to make it clear that they are equals but that I am still the person in control and that if the rules are broken I will punish them. Punishing them could also be as simple as a talk with me about why they did a certain action.
My Ideal Classroom
What would my ideal classroom look and feel like? It is a question I think about often. It is important too put some thought into your classroom. This is because your classroom will be the learning environment your students are going to be in for a year. A good classroom environment is one of the most important factors to motivate students to learn (Hattie, 2012). My ideal classroom as a dream teacher would be something like this. The first thing you will see when you walk into my classroom will be crafts the students made. Their arts and crafts will be the decoration of my classroom. There will be an art wall where we will display drawing and paintings of the students like a small museum. A bookcase and in that bookcase we can display artwork that the students made with clay or other materials. The tables will be arranged in groups so students can discuss and reflect on their work together. Reflecting on their work will help develop the social skill (Hattie, 2012). I want a small reading corner in my classroom. If a student ever feels overwhelmed they can then choose to go to the reading corner and sit and read there for a while. There will be a bench, many pillows and lots of books. Of course we will have cupboards to store the curriculum and all the notebooks needed. All the learning supplies you can think of.
I want it to be colourful, playful, comfortable and also serious it is still school. A big world map will show the places my students have lived, where they where born where they are now and where they lived in between. While I was on teaching practice I saw a classroom that had a big world map and I loved it. We will make the flags of the countries where they have been and make a banner out of these flags. This will show the background of the students and in that way all of the us, the students and I, will be able to understand each other better and ask questions too each other about where we lived.
Questions bout the culture, the history, climate and food. I want too be able too help them realise that they have a unique and interesting live they had. All the students need to have the ability too respect each other and each other’s background. I want too have reading time where I will read to the students, the students will read to the class and a time where students can just read for themselves. Allowing them to read for themselves will stimulate them to be life long learners (Hattie, 2012). They will be able to read about their interests. They will learn more about their interests which will make learning more fun for them therefore they will enjoy learning more and be live long learners. I want students to be able to feel comfortable to come to me too tell me about struggles they are having in their learning problems, problems they have at school or even problems they might have at home. This will require trust, respect and honesty. Students need to feel comfortable and need too feel like there is a relationship between the student and me.
Conclusion
So overall I think a dream teacher is someone with knowledge about globalization, knowledge of the curriculum, knowledge about their influence on students and the true passion and enjoyment to teach. I want to have a positive bond with my students, because it is important that they do not only see me as their teacher but also as their friend. I want to be creative with them and make learning fun. In my class learning will be fun and exciting.
