Reflective Writing #12
PIDP 3260: Assignment 4 – Reflection #2
Objective
For this reflective writing assignment I’ve chosen to reflect on Brookfield’s quote from The Skillful Teacher, ‘’Teaching is frequently a gloriously messy pursuit in which shock, contradiction and risk are endemic” (p. 1). In this quote, Brookfield is acknowledging the realities of teaching. The first paragraph of the book sets the tone that this is not an idealistic book written by an infallible peer. I feel Brookfield’s tone sets it up more as a survival guide for the classroom.
Reflective
I chose this quote because I felt it was an extremely strong way to start the book. I think most teachers can relate to the quote as I believe we have all felt that way about teaching at some point. I know in my experience, just as I think I may have perfected my delivery, the entire lesson goes off the rails with one question or comment from the students. Teaching is messy because we are dealing with rooms full of diverse people. The art in teaching is dealing with these messy situations! We are basically professional muddlers.
Interpretive
We must expect the unexpected in our classes. There is an inherent risk in putting ourselves out there as a subject matter expert. We must be able to think on our feet and change course at the drop of a hat. I feel the messiness of teaching is one of the things that makes it such an interesting career path. Eyler and Garfinkel describe learning as “both beautiful and frustrating, leading to just as many dead-ends as breakthroughs in the classroom” (2017). There is something magical when you see students make intellectual connections, and defeating when understanding is just not happening. This is inherent in the process so we as educators should embrace the messiness. For, if we are continually trying to better our teaching practice, we are bound to fail now and again.
Decisional
Perhaps the most profound realization I had from this quote is that teaching is messy for everyone. I knew it was for me, but it is comforting to know it is a universality. This realization gives me the courage to embrace the messiness instead of trying to eradicate it. I will continually try to perfect my delivery of information, but will spend more time trying new techniques in an effort to reach everyone.
References
Brookfield, S. D. (2015). The Skillful Teacher. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.
Eyler, J. & Garfinkel, J. (2017). Teaching is messy. We need to embrace that. Retrieved from:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/local/gray-matters/article/Teaching-is-messier-and-more-human-than-laptops-10897945.php