On Being and Becoming

Who do I want to become as an Early Childhood Teacher?

“I value my relationship with each of my students the most because it serves as the foundation of their learning. I will make sure they all feel safe, loved, and listened to, whatever the colour of their skin, the language they speak, and the beliefs they have.

I will work hard to involve their families and make them feel that we are partners inhelping their children develop their full potential. I will do my best to model the character and values I want to see in them (like being a lifelong learner, compassionate person, etc.). Finally, I want to be a teacher who could build a community where everyone in the school/centre feels valued, appreciated, and heard, no matter what position they are in.”

This was my first answer to the question stated above. Rereading this lengthy response and creating a new one is something I find interesting. Doing this activity allows me to go back to an experience and analyse my feelings, thoughts, values, and views at that time. Comparing my past self to my present self has been my habit as it is vital to achieving self-improvement, which education is grounded in.

It was my birthday when I submitted my first annotated graphic representation required in my Masters. The acts of drawing, writing, and reflecting have been therapeutic for me, so I considered the task a gift. It was done only three months ago, but so much has changed as so much has been learned. Our learning experiences in Monash are undeniably rich and dynamic, and we could not be more grateful. This was apparent in our Moodle activities just like this, where we were asked to compare and analyse our past and present answers.

As I composed my second annotated visual representation, I noticed numerous differences in organisation and content. "I aim to become a teacher and a leader who profoundly respects people from every walk of life, no matter their age, culture, tradition, perspectives, beliefs, and ideologies."

This was the annotation for my second graphical representation. It became brief yet succinct. My two answers were not contrasting, dissimilar, or unconnected. In fact, my first response also exhibited the value of respect, but the second one made it the focal point.

My past teaching experiences inspired the description of my first graphic representation. I have focused on and enjoyed building relationships with my students for the past decade.

According to Fraser and Walberg (2005), teaching is about relationships. Since I encountered that evidence-based teaching philosophy, I have researched the advantages of building positive relationships with students and the ways to form one. I think this was why my first response focused on specific ways of relationship-building.

Scholarly articles have also consistently mentioned the importance of establishing close partnerships with the children’s parents. It has been my waterloo as the past schools I worked with did not encourage it. Despite that, I still included it in my response as I was fully aware of it.

My second annotated visual representation was based on the three-month-long exposure to abundant resources, valuable and meaningful class discussions, and purposeful Moodle activities. The value of respect has been evident in all the contents of our course units. I think and feel that it is part of the explicit curriculum and hidden curriculum, which is amusing. The topics in all units are logically and beautifully aligned. I wondered if all our professors had a weekly meeting because they consistently modelled respectful behaviours aside from the well-thought-out curriculum alignment.

If I define respect based on how I observed and experienced it from my Monash professors, plus the teachers and educators I met during placement, I can say this.

“Respect is about holding a person in high esteem regardless of age, background, choices, and beliefs. It is believing and trusting that they are doing the best with what they have in the situation at hand. Respect does not judge feelings and decisions, does not doubt one’s intentions, and does not take away one’s freedom.”

So far, I’m certainly learning a lot not only from what my professors teach, but especially from how they lead through their actions, words, and everyday practice.

And I couldn‘t be more grateful.