Blog #Teaching

Zen is the state of not worrying about things you cannot change, but becoming fully immersed in the things you do. In short, I believe this is about being in the moment. You can see this philosophy in the work of Japanese masters. According to Pirzig, there is beauty in the pursuit of quality and honing what we do to an artform. He explains that being engaged is critical for excellence in what we do. How can we be more in the moment with each role we have in life, and how will this let you find success in all areas of your life?

We walk a tightrope in education, balancing the ideal of students studying a subject they are passionate about and the pragmatics of a student studying because they need to for future employment. There seems to be innate and extrinsic motivation working at odds here, when we can use the extrinsic motivation of getting a college place or earning money to develop the intrinsic motivation that develops a student’s belief in themselves and a positive future.

The issue with class in the classroom is the lens through which we view those we serve, and what is the right route in to the profession. Teaching needs to drop the "them that know best" speaking for "them that know no better" approaches to setting the world to rights.

After 19 years of teaching, Mark Enser is stepping away from the classroom. This is me paying my respects in a way that I hope Mark will appreciate, and mumble something like "Get the beers in you soft git...".

With the incoming of the 2019 cohort of Teach Firsters, we thought it would be perfect timing to outline what our first lesson looks like (or at least provide some general pointers). We all present slightly different ideas, and as with all teaching and natural variation between teachers, there is no steadfast rule to ‘how to do your first lesson’. In this blog post, I presents my ideas for my first lessons with new classes.