Interviewing Aspiring Teachers: A Report On High School Education

Write a report on interviewing aspiring teachers.

Chosen Method

Getting to know about the experiences of persons on relevant issues is not necessarily an unsolicited, malicious intention of sneaking into the private sphere of an individual to denigrate its sanctity and confidentiality (Hamilton-Jones and Vail 2014). The purpose of this reflective piece of writing is to convey the valuable and striking inputs gathered from interviewing individuals who had been high school students at some point of time in their lives and rectify the current state of affairs accordingly. The following sections shall thus be conveying a summarized version of the interview conducted with a reflective undertone to the informations gathered from two interviewees.

The best way to perhaps assess the needs of a system which I feel personally can be by comparing accounts of past experiences and the present state of affairs, as per my readings on interview methods for pre service teachers (Ralph and MacPhail 2015). It becomes very easy to assess the changes that have occurred, determine whether it has been for the better or it has led to depreciation or if things have not changed at all (Gill, Dalgarno and Carlson 2015). Thus, I have in consultation with my colleagues had decided to conduct an interview in order to get to know how schooling is today for secondary level students and how it was for the interviewees during their days. We have planned on comparing the inputs taken from there with the current prevailing situations and take decisions, as per the standard method of going about with the thing correctly (Peters 2018).

The central theme focuses on the aspect of the responsiveness of the support system and how that had laid influence on their learning experience. The focus of the interview shall be thrusting upon the locational details of the school, the assessment of overall progress and the functioning of the support system at school to help out the students in times of distress. The premise from which this stems out is the belief that schools are places of learning, which cannot be accomplished without a strong support system (Waters and Russell 2016).

We had two interviewees who have passed out of their schools almost five years ago. The first interviewee had completed his secondary level schooling from a not so affluent suburb of Sydney, located in a mixed neighbourhood. Ethnic Australian nationals were however were a majority both in the area and in the school. Students belonging to Turkish, Iranian, Syrian and Egyptian origin formed the minority. The rate of diversity was not too much, but it was substantial. He said,“It was nice to have them at school. I loved the traditional food-stuffs they brought to school for tiffin. They were very hospitable and warm.” With regard to the monitoring and assessment of the progress of students, the school was quite strict. Tests at regular intervals, loads of assignments each month, and a little less focus on extra-curricular activities. Their school principal was a lenient person as such but he had an aura of strictness in his demeanour. He was particular about his stance on the aspect of decorum and good morals since the school was diverse and he wanted to avoid any instance of the minorities being ill-treated which is ubiquitous in Australia. The assistant teachers were very approachable and went out of their way to help students beyond school hours when the need was dire. Even the fellow students were quite helpful, owing to the fact that the school authorities used to instill the sentiment of fraternity and team-work quite often. Students who excelled in their studies helped out the weaker students and that was encouraged and monitored by the teachers. That helped in building up solidarity and philanthropy in them during their school days.

Central Theme of the Interview

The second interviewee had pursued his secondary school level education at a relatively affluent neighbourhood with a homogenous population consisting of only ethnic Australian nationals. His experience at his school, in his own words,”It was full of challenges and competition as we all wanted to excel than the others.” The school was lenient and they had a lot of freedom, which some pupils misused. The facilities at school were quite sophisticated since the students belonged to rich parents and it would have been difficult for students belonging to economically humble backgrounds to adjust. The number of students being less the teachers could devote better attention to the students. The assistant teachers were also helpful, and perhaps as qualified and efficient as the senior subject teachers. They were however very professional and lacked empathy to some extent. The weaker students felt left out sometimes, since the spirit of excellence used to be so high that mediocres were almost nowhere in the scene. Peers came to rescue, but rarely. All the students seemed focussed on their own lives.

This interview is particularly important for Pre Service Teachers since they must focus more attention on bridging the gaps between the students. The purpose of support system is to help out students irrespective of whether they are excellent at studies or mediocre (Arnold and Ducate 2015). The inculcation of morality among the students is extremely necessary as education is supposed to nurture not just students with excellent academic records, but also good human beings. Socializing them to be good human beings is very important, or else the future of the society shall not be very bright (Izadinia 2015). Even if an institution is not very diverse demography-wise, they must be sensitized about the diversity of Australian society. The spirit of tolerance and helpfulness must be inculcated in students for the sake of being good and responsible citizens. Studies are not the only thing students go to school for, hence a balanced approach towards both studies and extra-curricular activities must be adopted at all schools across the country (Fry and O’Brien 2015). These are the areas which the aspiring teachers keep in mind so that Australia could have teachers who can deal with the changing circumstances and respond to it effectively. Pre-service teachers should read the article, ‘Preparing Special Educators for Collaboration in the Classroom: Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs and Perspectives’ written by Hamilton-Jones and Vail (2014). They highlight the issue of how to deal with students in the classroom, the approach, body-language and the degree of sensitivity with which teachers should treat their students. The most striking point in the article is that it harps on the aspect of necessitating the shaping of ones values and perceptions as per the requirements of grooming a diverse range of students. For the purpose of grooming students to be good citizens, this particular reading, ‘Cultivating a justice orientation toward citizenship in pre-service elementary teachers’ by Fry and O’Brien (2015) should be referred to. It has all the relevant guidelines for teachers to help students become dutiful citizens and help in nation building. The Phd thesis of Peters (2018), ‘Inclusion of Indigenous Education: Examining Pre-service Teachers' Knowledge and Attitudes towards the Integration of Indigenous Education’ should also be given a reading to understand the importance of diversity and sensitivity towards people belonging to difference ethnic and cultural backgrounds. These are the few basic readings which aspiring teachers must give a reading for enhancing their acumen.

This section shall focus on the aspect of policy making of the Government towards education. The differences in the two instances show that Australia needs some form of studies that shall help build a sense of strong national culture focusing on the diversity of the country (Simoncini, Lasen and Rocco 2014). The stark difference in the infrastructural facilities of the schools is evident. Hence the government must ensure that they make policies for upliftment of the schools which lag behind because of lack of funds. Policy making must focus on the proper allocation of funds for bridging the gaps between the schools in economic terms. It is the fundamental right of all students of Australia to be able to enjoy a good educational experience (Lai, Gu and Hu 2015).

Conclusion

I shall conclude by saying that in an open and free society, there should not be any space for differences which are detrimental to the growth and future of the country. A good education system not just produces good students but good citizens as well. For an overall development of an individual it is necessary that he or she gets sound education, and those conditions should be ensured to them.

References

Arnold, N. and Ducate, L., 2015. Contextualized views of practices and competencies in CALL teacher education research. Language Learning and Technology.

Fry, S.W. and O’Brien, J., 2015. Cultivating a justice orientation toward citizenship in preservice elementary teachers. Theory & Research in Social Education, 43(3), pp.405-434.

Gill, L., Dalgarno, B. and Carlson, L., 2015. How does pre-service teacher preparedness to use icts for learning and teaching develop through their degree program?. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 40(1), p.36.

Hamilton-Jones, B.M. and Vail, C.O., 2014. Preparing Special Educators for Collaboration in the Classroom: Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs and Perspectives. International Journal of Special Education, 29(1), pp.76-86.

Izadinia, M., 2015. Talking the talk and walking the walk: Pre-service teachers’ evaluation of their mentors. Mentoring & Tutoring: Partnership in Learning, 23(4), pp.341-353.

Lai, C., Gu, M. and Hu, J., 2015. Understanding legitimate teacher authority in a cross-cultural teaching context: pre-service Chinese language teachers undertaking teaching practicum in international schools in Hong Kong. Journal of Education for Teaching, 41(4), pp.417-434.

Peters, K., 2018. Inclusion of Indigenous Education: Examining Pre-service Teachers' Knowledge and Attitudes Towards the Integration of Indigenous Education (Doctoral dissertation).

Ralph, A.M. and MacPhail, A., 2015. Pre-service teachers’ entry onto a physical education teacher education programme, and associated interests and dispositions. European Physical Education Review, 21(1), pp.51-65.

Simoncini, K.M., Lasen, M. and Rocco, S., 2014. Professional dialogue, reflective practice and teacher research: Engaging early childhood pre-service teachers in collegial dialogue about curriculum innovation. Australian Journal of Teacher Education (Online), 39(1), p.27.

Waters, S. and Russell, W.B., 2016. Virtually Ready? Pre-service teachers’ perceptions of a virtual internship experience. Research in Social Sciences and Technology, 1(1).