Considering Students Perspectives: Utilizing students’ perspectives to improve my teaching practice. \nAbstract\nStructured interviews were utilized with twenty-five 7th graders that student-teach for a Social Studies Education program at the University of Oklahoma. The purposes of the interviews were highlight areas of my teaching practice. The interview included ten open-ended questions. The questions that were asked invited the students to articulate what they saw in my teaching. The interview helped to communicate what the students saw as strengths and areas that needed improvement. In hopes of capturing authentic response students were informed to be honest it was communicated that their answers would be confidential. The purpose of these structured interviews is for me to better understand my teaching effectiveness from the view point of the students, as well as, to communicate and elucidate how my students viewed me as a teacher and what their thoughts were on my teaching style. During the education program I was given a lot of feedback as to how to become a better teacher from my Professors, peers, Cooperating Teacher and University Supervisor. What is missing from the feedback process is perhaps the most important perspective, the perspective from the students. The intent of the paper is to report the findings of the interviews which will support my growth as an educator.\n \n \n\n \nIntroduction\nAny worthwhile profession requires a training process for its applicants. A training process effectively identify strengths and weaknesses on may have for their prospective profession. This process helps then determine fit between the student and his or her prospective career. Traditional trained teachers will take the required classes, observe teachers in real classroom settings and complete an internship as a student teacher. During this education program, the teacher in training will learn what it means to be a teacher in today’s world. The teacher in training will also have several opportunities to watch and observe teachers in classrooms. Along with observations, the teacher in training will be given an opportunity to intern as instructor in a classroom for a whole semester to fine tune their craft. The internship can provide the experience necessary for the intern to go into their teaching career with knowledge about their teaching identity.\nMany classes in the education program will participate in a simulated teaching activity. The teacher-in-training will have the opportunity to teach a lesson in front of his or her own peers and professors. One experience I had during this activity included submitting a two pronged Social Studies Lesson on themes of geography. The simulated lesson was presented and then feedback was given from peers and the professor. The feedback from my peers was mostly positive criticism and many stated that I helped explain ideas very well. The feedback I received from my professor was that my lesson was a solid lesson but that I needed to understand participation does not equal understanding. This would be a beginning to receiving perspectives on my teaching. I would also receive feedback my professor after giving one of my first lessons to a 7th grade class about Russian Propaganda. The critique I received was that I needed to have a bit more control of the classroom and not allow side conversations to go as long. I was also given the feedback that I encouraged good class discussion. Although it was helpful feedback and adjustments were therefore made, it was only one person’s perspective.I have also been given feedback about my teaching practice my University Supervisor. His duties include observing me and giving me immediate feedback about my teaching. Some feedback from an observation reinforced that I am “especially good at using discussion and question strategies to encourage and guide students toward higher levels of thinking and processing.” These observations are both very helpful since both sources are informed and have a lot of authority in this area and good insight to classroom management. With these observations I am able to learn more about my teaching practice, abilities and areas of weaknesses.\nThere are also opportunities for self-evaluations in the education program…\nA couple of questions come to mind when receiving critiques from different sources. Why is it important to gain any information or self-knowledge about my teaching practice? Are there other important perspectives that are missing from this process?\nLiterature Review\nWe teach who we are. (Palmer 1998) How could we teach any other way? Knowing my students depends heavily on self-knowledge (Palmer 1998) If I am going to teach to my strengths I have to know my strengths. Both Good teaching and good relationship require some authenticity. I have to open myself up, be vulnerable, and allow people to know me. Before this can be accomplished, I must first “Know Thyself.”\nThe work that is required to accomplish this, is neither selfish nor narcissistic. Whatever self-knowledge we attain as teachers will serve our students and our scholarship well. Good teaching requires self-knowledge: it is a secret hidden in plain sight. (Palmer 1998)\nShakespeare once said, “To thine own self be true.” Finding a way to teach with humility requires one to lose some ego in the process. This humility will allow a teacher to be his or herself more fully. It is important to have self-knowledge and understand oneself to be a good teacher…If gaining self-knowledge is so important, why would I not want to gain as much information or insight from as many different sources as I can? Would feedback and criticism from “professionals” suffice or would students give good insight into my teaching practice?\nIs it important to have student perspectives about my teaching? Will student perceptions enlighten me to gain more self-knowledge about my teaching?\nNo one has a bigger stake in teaching effectiveness than students. Nor are there any better experts on how teaching is experienced by its intended beneficiaries. When asked the right questions, in the right ways, students can be an important source of information on the quality of teaching and the learning environment in individual classrooms. (Student Perception 2012)\nMethods\nInterviewing is necessary when we cannot observe behavior, feelings or how people interpret the world around them. (Merriman 2009)\nThe methods I used for collecting the information is a semi-structured interviews. This method does not include predetermined wording of questions but does require specific data from all respondents. (Merriman 2009)\nThe interviews were performed by me and the Co-Op teacher using open ended questions to gain more insight about the student’s perspective.\nThree initial interviews were given that acted as pilot interviews. These interviews allowed me to understand what questions needed to be asked and what questions did not. Pilot interviews are crucial for trying out your questions. Not only do you get some practice in interviewing, but you also quickly learn which questions are confusing and need rewording, which questions yield useless data, and which questions one should have thought to include in the first place. (Merriman 2009)\n \nResults\n \nConclusion/Discussion\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \nReferences\nMerriam, S (2009). Qualitative Research: A guide to Design and Implementation.\nSan Francisco, Ca: Jossey-Bass.\nPalmer, P. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s life. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.\nStudent Perception Surverys and Their Implementations (September 2012)
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