Introductions to Education Theory and Practice

Greetings everyone! My name is Karanda Hyatt and today is my 26th birthday! To some this age is young and to others it is old, but to me I am just grateful I am still in my twenties. I am a second year senior and will be graduating in May with a Bachelor’s degree in German and English Education, with a TESOL Certificate. I plan to attend either the RISE program or the Single-Subject Teaching Credential program here at Chico State. Upon completing my masters in Education I want to teach English as a second language in Germany for six months before returning to the states to obtain a teaching credential in German and start teaching at a high school. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in elementary school. My desire to positively influence future generations, to make the world better by influencing young minds in a positive way is my dream.

 

For this class I hope to learn many practices and skills I can apply in the field. It is very important to know how to manage a classroom and even more important to know how to keep students engaged in the curriculum. I will be working closely with students in the ESL Center this semester. This opportunity will give me the unique opportunity to observe one-on-one tutoring and slowly gain the confidence and skills needed to tutor my own students.

 

In our reading for this week Wenger focuses on the importance of social groups and how they create the an environment for learning that goes beyond the classroom and into the real world.

 

“A social theory of learning must therefore integrate the components necessary to characterize social participation as a process of learning and of knowing. These components include the following. I) Meaning: a way of talking about our (changing) ability- individually and collectively- to experience our life and the world as meaningful. 2) Practice:  a way of talking about the shared historical and social resources, frameworks, and perspectives that can sustain mutual engagement in action. 3) Community: a way of talking about the social configurations in which our enterprises arc defined as worth pursuing and our participation is recognizable as competence. 4) Identity: a way of talking about how learning changes who we are and creates personal histories of becoming in the context of our communities.” (Wenger, 4-5)

 
Meaning, practice, community, and identity all interconnect with learning. Wenger calls this theory the “community of practice”. A student learns on the playground, learns while organizing activities with friends and family, learns by participating in their community, by learning their historical background in their families, and more. As a teacher it is important to realize that students not only learn in their classroom, but also while spending time with family and friends in society. By understanding these connections a teacher can engage the students more successfully with the curriculum by connecting the curriculum to their families history, their sports activities, their personal interests, hobbies, and more. It is important to understand the social structures of education as shown by Wenger’s introduction. It paves a path for a more successful educational setting and curriculum.

 

I am looking forward to our semester together delving into theory and practice of education. But first here’s some of my birthday cake to sweeten up the first week of class and first blog posts!