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?
The teaching philosophy journey that has led me into a path of teaching is my interest to always want to learn new things, just as John Dewey suggested ‘learning by doing, adapt your environment to learn’ this is true for me when I started my professional career in the software licensing team at an IT reseller. During my first few years, I particularly enjoyed learning about new types of software available for businesses to use and how to support a business to license these according to various vendor’s criteria, it fascinated me for many years.
As I took a career break and started to investigate a suitable education path for my first daughter, I ventured across the Reggio Emilia approach to learning that focused on a child-centered form of learning using a different approach which interferes with a traditional approach, making the child better at problem-solving, able to engage with their community and environment, welcoming new experiences, able to express themselves better and enjoying learning with confidence. I battled with the decision to send her to a traditional playgroup as I had attended when young or a bright new concept for learning. The inspiring new way of learning was the right learning decision for her as she smartly pondered into her daycare for a few days during the week with confidence and a smile, becoming independent as a little two-year-old. It also had disadvantages for the nursery staff as my daughter had full access to the bathroom taps and sink to play with the water at any time.
This was my chance to change direction and explore a different career, having seen everything that was happening in the daycare sparked joy and passion and I knew I wanted to work with children and build a career in education. Frank Parson’s trait and factor theory develop the idea that an ideal career can be based on matching personal traits, values, and various other factors, he recorded the better the fit the higher the job satisfaction.
In 2011 I completed an NCFE in supporting teaching and learning in schools, however, my days of studying were not complete, I knew I was destined to study for my PGCE however we were seconded to Singapore putting a hold on my career path. I settled my family and me and began to investigate options on how I could pursue my path in teaching. I started working at a school which confirmed my interest and that is where I found out how to pursue this course.
During my time at school, I worked with many talented teachers and learned many concepts about teaching. This has remained with me and is part of my pedagogy as the belief in the importance of a growth mindset in order to embed learning, enjoying the love of learning, which will reflect on the impact I will make as a professional teacher. “The best gift we can give children is to teach them to love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort, and keep on learning” (Dweck, 2012. p270).
References
John Dewey suggested ‘learning by doing adapt your environment to learn’
Dweck, C. (2012) Mindset: How you can fulfil your potential. London. Robinson.
Reggio Emilia - https://www.reggiochildren.it/en/reggio-emilia-approach/Link opens in a new window
Frank Parson’s trait and factor theory Parsons, F, ‘Choosing a Vocation’, accessed December 2008, (www.leonardoevangelista.itLink opens in a new window)
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.