Welcome to the WJETT blog
What is WJETT?
The WJETT blog or Warwick Journal of Education - Transforming Teaching blog is designed to encourage staff and students to disseminate good practice and to engage with their peers on academic cultural critique or areas of research that they find interesting. With the increased focus on ‘teachers as researchers’ in the sector, many qualified teachers are expected to publish the outcomes of any action research projects they undertake. The WJETT blog can be the first step on your journey towards publishing and enables you to experience publishing and reviewing in a friendly and supportive environment.
You will need to scroll down the page below the tags to see the posts.
What is your teaching philosophy?
My teaching philosophy is fundamentally rooted in forming close, positive and respectful relationships with each and every child to optimise conditions for learning. In particular, I value each and every individual’s different interests, talents and unique personality. As demonstrated by Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs, it is only when a child feels safe and their needs are met will they be ready to start learning effectively.
When my son started school, being very shy and quiet, he was easily overlooked by the class teacher and he felt unnoticed in a large class. He really struggled to learn during his first two years at school and it had a negative impact on his self-esteem. Outside of school, he was passionate about sport, skiing, swimming and Brazilian jujitsu but his teachers were unaware. It was only in his third year, when a teacher took her time to personalise her relationship with him and really make him feel included that I noticed a huge change in his attitude and confidence. He began to feel more valued and his outlook on school was replaced with a positive experience. It was not what that teacher had taught him that was of importance, it was how she made him feel. He is now a thriving 15 year old, about to take his GCSEs and I will always be indebted to those teachers who made a difference along the way. I aspire to be that teacher who makes a difference in a child’s life by focusing on human connections. I want to be able to create an environment where each child feels a sense of love, acceptance and belonging and can flourish personally and academically.
I believe each child is born with a thirst for learning and I want to nurture and encourage this love of discovery and curiosity that will hopefully, last a lifetime. To fully achieve ones potential, my goal will be to help children become motivated, effective learners. We need to instill in children the importance of grit to succeed (as psychologist Angela Duckworth describes it, a combination of passion and perseverance). What goes hand in hand with grit is a growth mindset (Carole Dweck). Having a growth mindset not only promotes academic progress, but children will enjoy better emotional and physical health and have stronger, more positive social relationships with other people. It is imperative that children are not disheartened by failure, rather, they view their mistakes as an opportunity to grow and learn. The brain is malleable and what a child is achieving now, is by no means an indication to what they are able to achieve in the future.
Underpinning all of this is always high expectations from each child and myself. As a teacher, I shall endeavour to never remain complacent and I will always seek to reflect, refine and improve my practice.
References:
Dweck, C (2012). Mindset : How You Can Fulfil Your Potential. London: Constable & Robinson.
Duckworth, A (2016). Grit : The Power of Passion and Perseverance. New York: Scribner.
Writing guidance
Can I write about anything in my blog post?
Yes pretty much. Academic cultural critique (Thomson and Mewburn, 2013) is always a good source of content for academic blogs. This can include (but is not limited to) comments and reflections on funding; higher education policy or academic life. You might also want to consider blogging about:
- Academic practice (Saper, 2006)
- Information and/or self-help advice
- Technical, teaching and careers advice
- Your research or practice
- How you’ve undertaken research
- The impact of research on your practice
- An area of research/practice that interests you
- Your teaching experiences/reflections
How long can my blog post be?
Each individual blog post should be no longer than 500 words. Long blocks of text are sometimes hard for readers to digest. Break up your content into shorter paragraphs, bullet points and lists whenever possible. Also include a list of keywords or tags as this makes it easier for Google to find your work.
Do I need to use citations?
No, this is a reflective piece so it does not need to include citations (but you obviously can include them if they are relevant).
Can I include links or images?
We would encourage you to include links to any articles that you have considered whilst writing your blog post. We also welcome the use of images (as long as you have permission to use them) as they can often help to illustrate a point and obviously will not be included in the word limit. Please remember this is a public site so if you want to include images of your students in your classes then you will need permission to do this.
What is the process for submitting a piece of work?
Your blog post should be emailed to A.Ball.1@warwick.ac.uk. Once the submission has been reviewed it will either be uploaded at the beginning of the next available week or sent back to you for editing if it requires amendments. You should then send the amended work to me once again and I will then upload it.