"In teaching others we teach ourselves." - proverb
The above I agree with. For me gathering information in a classroom setting is just the beginning my my learning process. The deeper more meaningful learning takes place when I come home and teach a friend or friends, or adjust and teach material at Ourplace Society where I volunteer. It's not often that I actually spend my evenings home alone doing homework. More often than not, regardless of the type of assignment, I try to organize homework and art parties where I can openly discuss my ideas and thoughts with other minds. This is one method that I will likely employ in a classroom setting. Encouraging students to share what they know with their peers (and/or myself) or providing a structured activity in which students take turns being the teacher in small groups. I think that this would result in better retention of information about few topics, than would listening to presentations from each student in the class. This could be especially effective in teaching Image Development and Design Strategies or the Elements and Principles of Art and Design.).
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"A schoolmaster should have an atmosphere of awe, and walk wonderingly, as if he was amazed at being himself." - Walter Bagehot
Though I am constantly amazed with myself, I think that walking around with an "atmosphere of awe" is an excellent way to establish a formal superiority or otherness from your students. Of course this isn't something I find helpful in a learning environment as it reduces teacher approachability and increases student anxiety. Though I suppose "awe" doesn't need to be negative; it could very well be interpreted as meaning the teacher carries admirable traits that students look for in a mentor which would be excellent if that teacher uses model behaviors consciously and with good intent to help guide the actions of the learners.
As for the development of my personal teaching philosophy; its happening. I feel like these are things that I have been actively thinking about and openly discussing with peers, professors, etc since the beginning of my post secondary education nearly 7 years ago. My ideas and opinions are constantly shifting and changing as I gather more information, consider alternative views, and realize personal biases I possess. I know that my views will be constantly adjusting due to the nature of metacognitive processes and the way schema evolve as we acquire more and more information to support or dispute what we think we know.
House Keeping (based on questions fr. last post)
I think that getting out of the way and letting students learn guided by one of their peers in a teacher or managerial type role is one effective teaching strategy. I do not think that it can be used in all situations. Though Mitra showed in the TED Talk that the method has been used for a variety of topics/subjects, I think that it would not be as effective when dealing with skills based learning. As I discussed above, I would consider using a technique similar to this (employing peer-teachers in learning design strategies) but it may be less helpful when trying to teach techniques for the application of acrylic paint.[I have considered the ever-expanding world of art tutorial videos on sites like UTube as a way to learn media use, and know that it is possible, but I think that students benefit more from instruction outside the digital realm.]
The learning styles research came from Pashler. "Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence", 2009. and from this UTube video.
