The Balancing Act

We have all heard that being a teacher is not just being someone who educates learners, but is rather also a mother/father, a psychologist, a paramedic, an entertainer - a superhero.. basically.

As an educator there are so many aspects to take into consideration apart from just the content of your lesson. You are busy working with a blank canvas, with every lesson being a stroke of paint, which in the end will hopefully develop into a beautiful and completed painting to be exposed to the public. But how does one balance being EVERYTHING that a teacher is (or should be), and still manage to actually TEACH?

Foley, in the video Effective Pedagogy: Teaching a whole child, mentions key aspects needed to teach a whole child.

Shannon refers to pastoral care, effective teaching practices in the class environment and the necessary resources needed.

Pastoral care, to me, forms the basis of all the above. To encourage and develop positive attitudes and relationships as well as focusing on the well-being of both the teacher and the learner, the school and its body is bound to flourish. Of course effective teaching practices are also of great need as well as the necessary resources to ensure effectiveness - as can be seen in Abby Wills' classroom.

By making a very simple yet creative change within the classroom, she found a way to engage the learners. Through this engagement she did not only experience better participation, but also a new type of relationship developed within this environment. The children were not only willing, but eager to form part of the creativity and fun and through this an environment of positive attitudes and excitement grew.

By taking the above into consideration, I thus agree with Shannon Foley in terms of the necessary aspects needed to teach a whole child. It is not just about standing in front of a class and pouring knowledge into them - it really is all about the holistic approach of a role model, a psychologist, a paramedic, an entertainer, and finally an educator. It's about the balancing act.