Teacher Appreciation
by Darlene Robinett, Founding Director
May 01, 2008
“Although thinking is innate, skillful thinking must be cultivated.”
Arthur L. Costa, Emeritus Professor of Education, California State University
Who are the teachers we remember with clarity and appreciation? Perhaps someone who entertained us or gave us great grades for little effort on our part comes to mind; but those we truly remember as outstanding teachers challenged us to think in new ways. We grew from their knowledge and expertise in a subject combined with their instructional skills and ability to inspire us to explore possibilities, to listen to other viewpoints and to make informed decisions or conclusions. The teachers who looked at us as individuals and saw potential, who could help us understand the importance of learning and lead us to discover new insights, who could somehow design group work that involved every student, are the teachers who educated us for life.
We often hear about “getting back to basics”; but if students never move beyond the acquisition of basic skills and storing of information, they will remain mired in egocentric viewpoints, unable to deal with life’s complexities. As the Commission on the Whole Child in 2007 stated, “instruction must become more reflective, complex and relevant.” Teachers must promote critical thinking through teaching in intellectually challenging ways.
Teachers must be able to answer both “how” and “why” questions about content. They can not depend on standard tests to assess their students. Rather, they value multiple assessments, keeping abreast of students’ understanding and progress in order to guide and modify their teaching strategies. Helping students in their thinking processes is tantamount to good teaching and learning for life.
When introducing new content, good teachers lead students to think about what they already know about it, what resources they might have that will help them with it, what the possibilities are for approaching it in a different way, how they can gather data and evaluate validity and reliability of sources of data, how the content might be broken down into easier components to tackle, and how others in the class might help them learn more about it. Good teaching involves student participation, not simply rote memory. Thus, education that provides opportunities for students to excel involves a rich curriculum infused with practice in critical thinking.
Teachers who help students learn to think critically have to respect their students and demonstrate how all in the classroom must respect each other. In like manner, good teachers show respect for their students’ families through ongoing communication that encourages their input and suggests how they might extend learning at home. May is traditionally the time to appreciate how teachers and students throughout the year have developed their capacity to think. Use PPP as a vehicle to bring teachers, parents and students together to celebrate your accomplishments!
