Being a quality educator does not mean the educator is infallible. In fact, it means the educator realizes they are capable of making mistakes. These mistakes may even come after years of proven success, as is the case in the following case study. A quality educator has an understanding that they do not know it all, and for the entirety of their career they must continually work at becoming a better educator for their students.
Case Study: This Suits for Wearing
What do you think it means to be a “quality educator.”
Found in Hasinoff and Mandzuks textbook Case Studies in Educational Foundations: Canadian Perspectives, is a case study about a teacher who was faced with the task of reaching a new set of students with diverse needs. At first the teacher, Mr Dryer, appeared set in his ways and unbending, even when he knew his current method was unsuitable to the subject and possibly the needs of the students in his class. It would be simple to say that Mr Dryer was not the quality educator that his superiors believed him to be. Instead, he appeared as a teacher set in his ways, apathetic to learning differences and his students needs.
However, I don’t believe this is the case. Mr Dryer was reflective in his teaching practice. He was able to reflect on whether his methods were out of date and perhaps even “inadvertently causing disengagement” (Hasinoff & Mandzuk, 2015, p. 33). Upon this reflection he was willing to test his methods, and recognized when they fell short. This enabled Mr Dryer to expand his awareness of students needs. In the case study, Mr Dreyer did not have an inclusive lesson that was accessible to all students. However, due to his willingness to reflect and evaluate himself I believe that the next lesson plan would be improved upon with the students in mind.
Teachers are not perfect but fallible humans. I believe Mr Dryer was a quality educator. Teachers can be quality educators if they have, what I term, a teaching heart and mind. My belief is even a leader, at the top of their respective field, has more to learn. If teachers continually reflect upon their own ideas and bias’, like Mr Dryer did in the case study above, and question how their own experiences have shaped their attitudes and ideas they are making steps toward being a quality educator. Reflection will also lead to a desire to improve practice so that all students needs are met. One of the by products of this, will be lessons that meet the needs of the students, that are both interesting and engaging.
Teachers also need to have humility and empathy, which is extremely important in understanding and supporting both the students and to the practice of educating them. Teachers are not fortune tellers, and cannot predict the future, therefore, at all time teachers need to be extremely conscious on how their actions are being processed and perceived by students. Reinforcing disparities can happen without thought, and so a quality educator must be very aware of their own actions and body language, as even subtleties will be picked up upon by students. A quality educator wants every single child, regardless of how easy they are to connect with, to succeed. Success is individualized but at the end of the day it means the person feels empowered to be the person they were meant to be, in the field they prefer. A teacher should desire to fostering a genuine self esteem in students that cultivates a mindset of possibility.
A quality educator is aware, conscious, reflective and caring but above all they must be forgiving and resilient. A quality educator will hesitate, falter and fail in their teaching career and they must be both forgiving and resilient in order to continue their best effort to reach each and every one of their students in a supportive, engaging and caring way.
Hasinoff, H. & Mandzuk, D. (2015). Case studies in educational foundations: canadian perspectives. Oxford University Press.