Finding my feet

I have really started to understand and explore more of myself as a teacher this past fortnight. Now that changes are being made to the Year 9 program for 2006, I am starting to see how resitant many people are to this change. And that alot of teachers have really (really,really) different views about teaching than I do. I think I knew this all along, but I'm starting to realise more and more that the year you started teacher or did your teaching degree really impacts on what you consider valuable education and how you teach it. I can see from an outside perspective that I am from the "Tree hugging hippes" type degree era- eg: student centred learning, exploratory learning, authentic learning, authentic assessment, reality based projects, contemporary literature studies so on and so on. It all came crashing down on me yesterday morning when my Media KLA head appraoched me (like a wolf in sheep's clothing) with a big friendly "Hi Mel", across the courtyard. Our exchanges to date have been nothing but friendly and jovial, and so I suspected nothing less. However, my smile turned upside down when I realised he was attacking my comments I had made at the staff meeting the night before. At the staff meeting, we were having the old exploratory learning (teacher as facilitator) versus chalk and talk (teacher as expert) debate. Clearly, I fall into the exploratory category (remember, I'm a tree higging hippy Y-Gen cadet). So I made the comment that Yes, exploratory learning does work...in fact I've been doing it all year in Media Animation. Nobody seemed too put out by it...or so I thought. So back in the courtyard the next morning, Mr. Media said that he employed me as a media teacher because he was expecting me to be professional teacher who knew more than the students.
"But I don't!", I said.
"As a parent of four kids, if I knew that my child was being taught by somebody who didn't know their content, I would pull my kids out of that school or get that teacher fired."
"Well, take me out of media then," I said. By this stage, I was not happy with being attacked in the middle of the Middle School Courtyard with 8 classes looking on. And our voices were getting raised!
"No, because I think you are selling yourself short and you do know what you teach," he continued.
"Yeah, the basics I know and can teach, but when Student X asks me about specific tools I have to say I can't help him and for him to work it out and then share it with me."
"Well, why haven't you done some PD to get yourself up to standard?", he asked.
"BECAUSE EVERY PD APPLICATION I PUT IN TO YOU (He's also the PD Co-ordinator and IT co-ordinator...hmmm...too many hats, perhaps???) NEVER GET PROCESSED AND I NEVER FIND OUT WHY EITHER!"
"Well it's not only me who approves them, the principal has to OK them as well"
BLAH BLAH BLAH...It went on a bit longer, but by this stage I felt like crying and just walked off going yep, whatever...so mature!

That afternoon he hand delivered to me in the main staffroom 2 filled out PD applications for Flash and Kahootz PD and a note saying "Dear M, Sorry 4 the abrupt manner this morning". I said to him, "I just don't like having somene else's ideals about teaching imposed on me. And I still don't think exploratory learning is a bad thing". We haven't spoken since, but we are at the uncomfortable close dmouth smiling stage when we see each other. I don't really care anymore about his attitude, I just note that it is very different from mine.

Bell tolls....
Bye for now,
M x