Vision on Education

JW Diender, 608871, ENDT1

April 2012

The school at which I teach:

The Hoofdvaart College in Hoofddorp is a medium sized school for Voorbereidend
Middelbaar Beroeps Onderwijs (VMBO). It is situated in the centre of Hoofddorp,
near Amsterdam. The school has about 600 learners between the ages of 12 to 17
and it is the only school for basis, kader en gemengde (lower -, middle - and upperelementary) education in Hoofddorp. The school considers it its task to help children
be confident that there is a promising future for them. This begins with the intention
that children like to come to school, feel safe and welcome. As a (starting) teacher I
fully support this vision. Moreover, it is my intention to strive for a form of teaching in
which the personal development of a child is central.
.
The Hoofdvaart Colleges intention is to build a bridge to a promising future. A future
with reliable, skilful and tolerant citizens who are contributing to a sustainable and
viable society. To this end, the Hoofdvaart College offers an attractive, vocational
training in a climate which is characterized by respect, co responsibility and
willingness to learn. These general terms will surely be present in the vision on
education of many other schools and teachers but are, in my view, important enough
to endorse and to be integrated in my vision on education too.
As far as my own personal focal points in being a teacher is concerned the well-being
of children, their self-confidence, self-image and social-emotional development in the
context of social skills and interaction with other people in general is extremely
important. I would like them to grow up to be articulate, creative individuals with
understanding in general and to be able to work well together.
The quest for the well-being of children is, I think, a task of both parents and the
teacher . That is why I think a good contact with parents or guardians is of a great
importance. A good well-being is important for a good learning experience. In
addition, I would like to help children grow to be stable people who live in harmony
with themselves and their environment, with a healthy dose of self-confidence and
pleasure in life and to have fun in school. I would like to achieve this by being
empathic, to build a good and a trust-based relationship.
Should I teach more than just English?
The past two years I taught other courses. In my second year as a teacher I taught
Mens en Maatschappij, which includes some history, geography and economics. I
also taught first-aid and care and welfare. Although it was difficult and energy
consuming I learned a lot about teaching and children. Learners behave differently in
various classes and it requires a different way of teaching as well. I dont think I can
say it made me a better teacher; instead, it made me a teacher with a broader view
and development. It actually made me a more mature teacher.
Meanwhile, I discovered that you sometimes need to put your lesson plan aside and
that you have to adapt to current needs e.g. like questions and remarks about actual
situations . Your well prepared (language) lesson could turn out to be a disaster
because of disinterested children if you do not meet their needs. It is my full
conviction that when you control the qualities to adapt lesson plans when necessary
it eventually makes you a better teacher. I have done this before and it is my intention
to do so even more than I already did.

Relationship teachers and learners.

In my opinion I am a positive and accessible teacher and I am convinced that my
students believe I can be honest with me and also comment on the lesson. I believe
in consistency. A consistent teacher is clear and predictable; on the other hand, I
realize this is also one of my weak points. In my effort to be positive I sometimes
forget the power of consistency and I have experienced that some learners have
taken advantage of that. Subsequently, I have perceived that my way of being a
teacher also pays off. Many learners I taught respond positively and would like me to
be their teacher again. Therefore, I think that it is most important to have built a
positive relationship with your learners before you can teach them anything.
Building a positive relationship also inquires the use of simple, clear rules (Kneyber,
2009). If you constantly pay attention to simple rules such as learners being on time
in class, bringing all their materials and checking if they did their homework, it may
prevent bigger problems.
I also think that setting limits (van Geel, 1995 and Kneyber, 2009) are an important
criteria to establish a good relationship with a learner. I am aware that setting limits
requires courage. It is easier to make exceptions and thus to get popularity by not
being consistent; still, to resist anger and grumbling makes you more reliable and
leads to advantage in the long term.
I believe in differences between children and that this difference should be taken into
account. Each child is different, each child is unique and each child should be. Its
well-being is important and every child, however different it may be, must mentally
and physically feel good to be able to learn. I believe this can be facilitated by a
teacher who applies and masters the skills mentioned earlier.
Although I am aware this is not always possible to guide every learner on their own
level, it is my aim to do so as much as possible. Then every learner experiences
success and feels competent.
Body language.
Body language is most important. It is both an additional and an independent way of
communication. I feel I sometimes forget or underestimate the power of body
language. Reflecting on some of my lessons it became clear that the moment I was
present in the classroom, in what I call visually accessible mode, there was a good
learning environment and there was order in the classroom. The moments I sat
behind my desk and sometimes working on the computer showed the contrary.
I learned that I should keep active body language at all times in order to keep order. I
think body language could become one of my strong points especially in combination
with, what I think is one of my strongest points, humor without being sarcastic or
cynical.
Approach.
I must admit that I am more a teacher of the deductive approach than a teacher of
the inductive approach because it goes straight to the point and it confirms many of
my learners expectations about classroom learning (Thornbury, 1999) although I am
aware of the fact that most learners do not have sufficient knowledge of meta-

language and the presentation may be off-putting or non-memorable. On the other

hand, most of my learners will not discover rules, an advantage of the inductive
approach, for themselves as they are not capable enough of doing so. Moreover, the
time taken to work out a rule may at the expense of time spent in putting the rule to
some sort of productive practice (Thornbury, 1999).
The usual approach of me and my colleagues is the PPP-method because it has a
logic that is appealing to both teachers and learners and it reflects the way that other
skills are learned; also, this model allows the teacher to control the content and the
pace of the lesson which helps cope the unpredictability of classroom life.
However, none of the above means that I do not support task-based learning or
communicative learning. On the contrary. This approach where learning in authentic
situations with the use of the target language is used could be an ideal way of
learning a language but not with all learners and in all situations: therefore, I strongly
believe in a well balanced division of both approaches; in other words, the eclectic
approach.
Alternatively, I think it also is very important to make use of digital resources like a
ELO (Eletronic Learning Environment) and social media like Facebook or Twitter. I
have experienced that this is appealing to our modern day learners and it is my
intention to make more use of digital resources the upcoming time. I am aware of the
limitations as a result of a shortage of computer equipment and network limitations.
.
Dealing with errors.
I believe making errors is part of learning in general and specifically in language
learning. As Thornbury (1999) wrote: Language learners make mistakes regardless
of the teachers skill and perseverance. Although it is my job to correct errors I
consider it my duty to make learners aware that they are allowed to make errors and
even that making errors is evidence of their attempts to make progress in acquiring
the language. This is important because no one likes to make mistakes and no one
likes to be corrected either; thus, mistakes can be, if not dealt with correctly, an
impediment to learning a language.
A teacher should also respond to students errors by correctly rephrasing what they
have said rather than by explicitly pointing out the error (Lightbown and Spada,
2006). Making mistakes and being made aware of them will raise their awareness of
using the language (Talbot, 2012) is a quote that inspires me.
It is also OK for student to make mistakes, to try things out and get things wrong and
learn from that (Scrivener, 1994) and it covers my beliefs in being a good teacher.
I believe that correcting errors does not create a judgmental and stressful classroom
atmosphere but that it may help other students to learn from others mistakes.
Differentiation and roles of the teacher.
A quote from the website of the Highland Council reflects my opinion on this: The
curriculum has to satisfy two seemingly contradictory requirements. On the one hand
it has to reflect the broad aims of education which hold good for all children, whatever
their abilities and whatever schools they attend. On the other hand it has to allow for
differences in the abilities and other characteristics of children, even of the same
age.
I teach onderbouw VBMO B/ K, the first two years in a four year course. To this date
we have not differentiated in these first two years. We use a K/ GT-book in all

classes, for all levels, even if they are just B (basis). I personally think this is not
right; indeed, as I wrote before, each child is different and each child is unique. I
discovered that the learners I challenged by giving them a more difficult task and
some less skillful learners that I gave other directions or clearer tasks, eventually
became more enthusiastic and better learners on their own level. Therefore, one has
to recognize that all pupils can learn more effectively given the appropriate context,
knowledge and support.
I am a mentor and it sometimes feels like being a parent. This seems to be part of the
different roles I have as a teacher and mentor. I sometimes, literary, am a referee, but
also a confessor, counselor, nurse, performer and many other roles more. All these
roles suit me but I must not forget what I am really here for and that is to make
learning happen, regardless of the role I play.
Speak English and have them work in groups.
As an ESL teacher one needs to speak English in class as much as possible; on the
other hand, most VMBO basis/ kader children have a very poor language
development, are less educated and experience problems in their first language (L1).
Therefore it is my belief that the use of the target language should be dosed
according the needs and skills of the learners. I have experienced that speaking
English sometimes achieves the opposite of what is intended; however I do not
underestimate and agree with the importance of exposure to the target language by
using it as much as possible. I try to speak as much English as I can, I usually speak
Dutch if I explain grammar-rules or when I am not understood correctly. I also have
experienced that my pupils do not always find it interesting to hear and speak
English; moreover, they the find it an impediment in learning the language. Since it is
not only my goal to teach them the language but also to feel them comfortable
sometimes Dutch gets the upper hand. I am fully aware that this is a struggle for me,
but I keep on working on that one by using English in my classes whenever I can.
Finally.
As a teacher you not only have to love teenagers but most importantly, you have to
understand them. I am a parent of two teenagers and I am teaching for the fourth
year now. What pupils give me back in return is that I seem to know what they need
and that I am able to see things from their perspective. I sometimes may be not be as
strict as I should be, but I compensate this shortcoming with other skills like
establishing a good relationship first, and clear communication.
Last year there were two parents who actually complimented me on my clear
communication to both their daughter and them.
The latter shows that I endorse the importance of communication; moreover it helps
parents to stay involved in their childs school, it keeps you, as a teacher, accessible
for parents and builds a better relationship.
A final piece of advice not only to (starting) teachers but to all adults is: read
Omdenken by Berthold Gunster, a small book about change in thinking. It may help
you see things the other way around.

Bibliography

Geel, V. van. (1995), De orde in orde vernieuwd, Bekadidact, Baarn.

Geel, V. van (2010), Lichaamstaal, ThiemeMeulenhoff, Baarn.
Gunster, B.(2009), Omdenken, Bruna Uitgevers, Utrecht.
Kneyber, R. (2009), Orde houden in het VMBO, Handelingsbrutaal,
Culemborg.
Lightbown, P.M. and N. Spada (2006), How languages are learned, Oxford
University Press.
Talbot, S. (2012), Example of vision on education, BSCW, HvA.
Scrivener, J. (1995), Learning Teaching, MacMillan.
Thornbury, S. (1999), How to teach grammar, Pearson/ Longman.
Websites:

www.hoofdvaartcollege.nl
http://www.highlandschools-virtualib.org.uk/ltt/flexible/differentiation.htm