What values and effect does the age of teachers have on students?
What is more important a degree in the arts or a cv full of performing?
These are the two questions that I have had the most interest in and two that I have more to talk about.
What are your views on these questions?
For me personally these questions interest me. I have a mother who is older than most parents and I have older siblings, one is about 15 years older so to be honest I was probably not planned haha. My mother was a head teacher and specialised in English and maths. I know this is a little different to the arts but she is over 60 now and still teaches which I would love to do but obviously getting up and demonstrating dance at the age of 60 is something I can't guarantee I will be able to do. My mother still has the same respect from pupils that she always has had and people probably have greater respect for her now because in the last ten years she has been diagnosed with multipleschlorosis. She is in a wheelchair now so I think people have more respect for her than they did when she was younger because of her motivation to not let her disease get hot he better of her.
As for having a degree and cv full of jobs, as my mother comes from this background of having her masters and getting high up in the teaching ladder she wants the best for me. When I told her I wanted to do dance she was supportive but she thought I would still go to university. When I told her this was not my plan she didn't seem impressed. She didn't really approve because I wouldn't be getting a degree so we had a lot of disagreement between each other. I paid for myself to go to performing arts college after saving for 3 years and have done a few jobs but now I feel that without a degree it would be hard to get into teaching because I can't perform forever. I
think it depends on what you get into. For example, if I had gotten into the west end I think things could of been a lot different because I would have a good income and be able to stand on my own two feet abit more.
What do you guys think?
What values and effect does the age of teachers have on students?
ReplyDeleteDifferent ages of teachers bring differing values to lessons I think Ruth. I myself am a dance practioner with 20+yrs experience and I feel I have rode the roundabout several times and gone through some highs and lows in my teaching career. I do find today teenagers/young adults a different kind than of previous times and do continually question myself in finding the most productive way to teach them to obtain the best results and outcome for them. As a result of this my questions lead very much in this direction.
I have two young teachers who work for me, one of them being someone who I taught from the age of 3 years old and therefore we have a close working relationship as we have known each other for a long time. I feel she upholds my values of structure and discipline as she herself grew up in this learning environment and so she carries these on in her own teaching, however that said I do feel she has a much differing relationship with the students being mainly the older ones as she can relate to them more closely as she herself has gone through this transition period in her life more recently than myself. Whilst she upholds good discipline within her classes I can see that the older students feel they can maybe speak to her more on a level than they do with me (maybe showing me a little more respect and distance as the older person) ! I remember this situation when I first began teaching as students did look up to me as I was only a few years older.
What is more important a degree in the arts or a cv full of performing?
A degree on your CV is not the ‘B all and end all’ as they say unless of course the working environment you want to pursue a career in demands this from you. I have survived without a degree for the last 20+yrs and have managed to evolve my own business and it continues to thrive today but not without a great deal of hard work and determination. I have decided to take this journey of learning now so I can take my working life in a different direction and maybe gain the opportunity to develop my teaching skills in the state environment taking a step away from by business on the front line whilst still hiding in the background ! This different pathway will require me to have a degree qualification and if I’m totally honest I felt the need to go back to school and challenge my brain (mid-life crisis some may call it).
I personally feel a CV packed with performance credits will not enhance a career in teaching but will only provide you with a great deal of enjoyment and life experience which in turn you can bring to a teaching career. Employers like to see experience and for teaching that can only come from practical classroom experience everyday leering from your decisions.
Hope this helps in some way !
We need to connect via a SIG - help each other out on this journey of learning ?