The above picture summarizes for me a few of the different stereotypes out there about teachers. I believe what Ayers is trying to say is to be yourself above anything in the classroom and build an environment with the students, not just for the students, where learning can happen in a meaningful way. I feel as if I am starting to form a definition of what learning is and I know first and foremost that there cannot be an us and them in my idea of learning. There is the whole "we are in this together" mentality for me but I have never put that into words until now. I was nervous the first day of class because I knew the task of finding a definition for my own idea of learning would not be an easy one. There is definitely more of a confidence now with the help of this book to put thoughts and ideas into concrete written words. While I do not agree with everything Ayers says and he certainly isn't saying anything new, it has helped me along the way with putting my own beliefs in a place where I can work with them. I would like to read other books by Ayers in the coming months .
Chapter 5 was meaningful for me because I always felt like curriculum was one of those words in teaching that is thrown around all the time but never fully explained. If Ayers was sitting in front of me I would tip my imaginary hat to him for including a portion on this. Ayers, for the first time in my professional experience has written a definition of curriculum that I can understand. It is not all the chapters to be covered in text books, teacher supplementary material from publishers, and it isn't all the stuff I bought at teacher stores that I thought was brilliant at the time. The word curriculum use to in general annoy me, but now it has meaning. Curriculum must provide something to each student, and the environment where it is implemented must be a place where the teacher provides experiences to each student where the students can take their own meaning from it. I think that is where the learning is going to start.
The section of standardized testing was very interesting to me. I believe Ayers was trying to show commonalities between the tests students take and the ones that teachers must take and pass before receiving teacher certification. I do believe that teachers must have certain content knowledge before they are able to teach. I don't necessarily think he was arguing with that. I think what was really bothersome to Ayers was the way certain things were being asked and phrased throughout the exam. Somebody that has never been on a porch would have a difficult time choosing that as an answer when they do not know what a porch is. These tests should be written in a way where people from all walks of life can read them, understand them, and be able to respond to them. I realize this is a difficult task but also one that could be done. I do not believe being able to indicate what phrase is grammatically correct should be used as insight as to who will be a good teacher or not. That is a huge disservice to potential teachers and the students that would benefit from wonderful teachers.
Ayers writes, "The intellectual challenge of teaching involves becoming a student of your students, unlocking the wisdom in the room, and joining together on a journey of discovery and surprise. The ethical demand is to see each student as a 3-dimensional creature, much like yourself, and an unshakable faith in the irreducible and incalculable value of every human being".
I read this quote and I knew that Ayers was talking to me and every other educator out there. There is wisdom already within everyone, a great teacher will bring it out of his/her students. I want to be this great teacher and I think that I have been a good teacher but I know now for a fact that I can be a better one. I keep seeing the word together throughout this text and it is standing out to me, there is meaning in this word that I will investigate throughout this semester. I know this word "together" is going to take me somewhere for my philosophy of learning. I am now welcoming this new perspective instead of fighting against it. It feels pretty good.
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