Conception of man in teaching

I realized  after course of basics of pedagogics that indentification of different conception of man helps teacher to understand and most of all to develop his/her inner teachership. When teacher reflects his/her own opinions and thoughts of conception of man to different theories found out in pedagogics, he/she is able to understand basic nature of these conceptions and also what role they might have to his/her way of teaching. It is very difficult to identify one certain conception of man to be "the only one", but more important it is to understand that teacher can create his/her own conception of man based on these theoretical ones. This identification and realization are crucial for teacher to develop his/her teaching towards learner based teaching. This kind of holistic overview helps teacher to accept different kind of learners and different kind of ways to learn and also taking this into account daily teaching. It is extremely important that teacher has good understanding of uniqueness of learners: this helps teacher more efficiently to take into account different life situations of learners and their affect to learning. 

I think after course "Basics of pedagogics" that generally in pedagogics the trend should be more discussing of modern conception of man than really discussing of old ones. Our society in in larger change than never ever before, when digitalization and internet are coming more and more to our daily life. This will inevitably affect also conception of man  and also generally pedagogics. Ways of teaching and learning are in larger change than never ever before. how can we as teacher follow this flexibly and upadate us and our teaching methods to better suit to modern world? I think that teachers in future will have larger responsibility to update themselves more frequently. 

I believe myself in life-long, life-wide and life-deep learning. This encourages teachers a) to upadate their substance know-how frequently, b) to update their way of teaching frequently to fulfill demands of modern society, c) to teach students basics of life-long, life-wide and life-deep learning and d) to transfer to students the will and desire to update frequently themselves of subject studied also after teaching situation.

Tasks of modern univeristy teacher

Main tasks of modern university teacher can be principally divided into three categories:

1. The traditional university teacher

2. Academic researcher

3. Applied researcher who works at the interface of science and work life.

These tasks overlap each others more often than previously: universities encourage researchers and teacher to multidisciplinarity and applied research, so the university teacher's task is increasingly diverse. Academic researcher can no longer be only a pure scholar, as well as university teacher cannot be anymore just pure teacher. I feel personally that this trend is very welcome: no-one can no longer do purely one thing in nowadays world, and work life requires wide variety of skills and competencies.

This division of three of tasks of modern university teacher works in best case, if a university teacher, which also makes academic research, can also be involved in enterprise-development projects. But in real life, this is never achieved situation but a compromise of all these three tasks.

Similarly, academic researcher works in best case could directly import latest academic research results into teaching and education. This also works the other way around; education can bring new points into work of academic researcher. My opinion is that this topic is far too rarely taken into discussions about education. In best case, thoughts and ideas expressed by students can have influence to research as well. This just requires teacher´s own activity and self-reflectance of his/her own teachership.

There are no longer an academic researcher sitting alone inside in their academic rooms doing their own academic study but nowadays society requires researchers to be involved more and more in industrial projects. Also broader understanding of expertise area than just theoretical knowledge is required. This is also valid for demands of nowadays education. When academic researcher co-operates with industry, he/she also gains better understanding of how today's experts should look like; what he/she should be able to do, how he/she should act in work life and what skills work life requires from him/her. In this way, university education is interactively able to meet nowadays business challenges of life and to increase students' readiness for working life.

Trust and role of teacher in group dynamics

During couple of last weeks, I have been thinking a lot of trust and role of teacher in group dynamics. I have been carrying out this process in point of view how important trust is between teacher and students, in both directions. 

My opinion is that teacher has a huge responsibility of keeping students trust againt his/her way of doing anything related to teaching, learning or studying. It takes incredibly long time to create this trust but only couple of seconds to lose it. This is why I feel that teacher has to all the time think how he/she acts as this trust in lost only within couple of eye blinks. This trust also is absolute basis for efficient learning as students can be themselves (with words all positive meanings). This is also how teacher can earn his/her respect from students side.

This trust is mutual; this is absolutely important to remember. If teacher has to pay attention to act and do things reliably, students also has this same responsibility. This is absolute requirement so that teaching, learning and studying can happen in free and relaxed atmosphere.

This trust, for my point of view, is most important factor influencing in group dynamics in learning situation. If students know that they can express their thought, ideas, sometimes even critisism against topic to be learned, in trustful atmosphere, I think then learning happens in very natural, unforced and smooth atmosphere. And this atmosphere is also cruical for any situation in any group.

Trust of course is in critical path when there is question of some king of conflict wheter it is between group members (student-student), teacher-student or student-teacher. Here once again mutual nateure of trust in in key role; if teacher gives contstructive feedback and also if student is expressing constructive feedback to teacher, trust is maintained. Responsibility in trust means constructive way of expressing negative things in any communication. If atmosphere in group is trust-based and feedback given also ogf negative iisues is constructive, trust is maintained.

This of course leads us into daily nature of any comminaction between human beings; constructive feedback is usual far away from ideal life. Feelings, mostly stress, frustration and tiredness affect people´s behaviour a lot. Small words, expressed by tired mind, can be understood as disasterous consequences, even the aim is not. Group dynamics are living its hardest moments in these situations; how problems and disagreements can be solved in constructive way. Very often in these kind of situations also trustful atmophere buil up earlier in group helps; people understand that each of us, both student and teachers, are human beings with human feelings. In trustful atmosphere, negative feelings can also be expressed and group members can see "over" these situations and understand aspects of human life. Of course, these expressions are not allowed or can not be accepted but every human being has their weaknesses, which very usual come out in stressful situations. Greatness of human kind is shown when even these situations can be treated constructively and understood as part of human life. After succesfully solving these problems, group usually has better trust than before.

Role of teacher is of course to be supervisor or head of this group dynamics. this is why teacher has really important role also in creating trustful atmosphere. And also in constructive solving of conflict situations so that nobody feel misunderstood or mistreated. then trust is maintained. Of course in teacher-student relationship, level of teacher´s role in this trust is different; if students are infants, teenagers or adult students, role of teacher is different.

Personal inventory to my teachership

Today is once again first lecture day of new university year. What could be better time for a personal inventory of one´s teachership than this day! :)

This is pure coincidence but I just did last Tuesday in my studies at Häme university of Applied Sciences personal development plan for my teacher studies. In this personal inventory to my teachership (as I call it), we teacher students filled up a questionary which delt three important teachers´areas of expertise:
1) Teaching, supervising and evaluation
2) Collective learning
3) Operational environment

And what did I recognized? Well, I am suitable to be a vocational teacher ( good poin to take into account at the beginning of your studies) ;). More seriously speaking, I think evaluating you personal teacher skills and especially evaluating point where you need development was very refreshing for a long time! Indeed, a deep and thorough look to your own teachership learnt me a lot.

I learnt that I truly need some basic data about pedagogics. I am really waiting for our coming course about basics of education in November and December. I recognized that I need deeper knowledge of:
- how learning happens in different ages of human life
- how learning happens in different phases of personal development of human
- what does truly mean dialogue knowledge in learning and how to use that as a teahcer
- how to fully utilize interactive ability in my teachership
- how to apply more theoretical background of pedagogics in my own teaching
- how to really efficiently evaluate students´ learning (this was most important from my point of view)
- what does mean "recognization of expertixe" in my field of science and how that is officially evaluated (this was second important thing from my point of view)
- basics of education history and politics in Finland.

I also learnt during my personal inventory to my teachership that my strength as teacher is that I have long experience in my field of expertise (12 years now) and based on that I can very well tell what kind of students I expect that industry wants us to educate. I also understand very deeply what is my educations role in society generally.

Modern work-life goes on very fast and we are all the time moving towards digitalization in many areas of our everyday life. I see this very well as a teacher of modern manufacturing technologies (laser technology and 3D printing) my aim is also to educate students with good working life skills generally. This consists of ability to work in multi-task and multi-cultural enviroment. Students entering to worklife has to also have ability to educate themselves, to be able to update themselves and to be able to also change their field of expertize if required. If you graduate from certain field, that is not anymore in nowadays world the education you work with until you retire. This all sets totally new demands also for teaching in university.

I also noticed during my personal inventory to teaching that it will be also one task of teacher to do this kind of inventory every now and then. As world changes, we have to also reflect our teachership to be synchronized by demands set by society, level of technology etc.

First time as a vocational teacher student

My teacher studies at University of Applied Sciences of Häme started 28.8.-29.8. by two days orientation days. I was feeling very interested and anxious of coming to these two days; I could for first time see face to face my coming student colleagues.

Once I arrived to University of Applied Sciences of Häme after waking up at 3 a.m. and driving 3.5 hours from Imatra to Hämeenlinna, I was actually not feeling tired at all. I happen to be lucky as I have one of my work collagues as my student collague. We already spoke of our coming studies at HAMK in car, and shared first feelings.

I was very surprised that amount of students was around 120. Executing teacher studies on-line obviously is coming more and more popular. on the other hand, this is very understandable as most of us were adult students. It is much more convenient to study on-line when adult students very often have day work, family etc. Nevertheless, I was surprised of this. But I think, this is showing one ongoing trend in education and learning in general: it is very obvious that option to make studies on-line is coming more and more popular. I think this is especially true amoung adult students: when having so much else going on in life (family, children, day work etc.), on-line studies provides excellent possibility to educate yourself flexibly. This attracted me as well. As I have day work, family, child and one family house with garden,  option to make teacher studies on-line was main thing influencing my decision never to start educating myself.

I think this school and on-line studies will also be very useful for me as teacher. I know that more and more of my own teaching will in any case go to internet in some time point. so executing studies myself on-line, provides me an excellent possibility firstly to myself as student experience all advantages and disadvantages of on-line studies and secondly I might know after this experience how to transfer education to internet. I believe that one of most important thing in finding my inner teachership is laso to reflectme as a student. I believe that outlook of a teacher consists of understanding of learning. So teachership has to faces; my opinion of me as a teacher and my own opinion of student via my own experiences as teacher.

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I took last year a course of university pedagogics. This course was 25 ECT and lasted one year. We also did a development project during that course and this project was about some of our own courses. This course was the point that I understood importance of pedagogics in my own teachership. I could say that I realized that a teacher has to have a inner teachership. I somehow familiarised myself with that teachership and I also got my first positive experiences of that teachership during execution of my development project. This all inspired me to apply for vocational teacher studies and as I told I felt that on-line studies was just the package for me.

I am very anxiously looking forward of getting to know my inner teachership better and further develop it a lot. It is funny that I have been educating university student for 12 years, and just know I understand meaning of teachership. :) Of course, it is better late than never. This is why also feel that my studies at HAMK will be very useful for me.

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During my university pedagogics studies, I familiarized myself with lifelong, lifedeep and lifewide learning. This is actually not very weel known, people do know lifelong learning and many knows lifelong and lifewide learning. Lifelong, lifewide and lifedeep learning are result of modern society: digitalization, internet, globalization and fast development of todays´ mankind put need for learning which happenes all the time and also requires learning in many sides of life. It is not just professional learning, it is not just learning new softwares, it is not just learning of new languages; learning simply goes deeply to everybody´s daily life. I am educating students at university in field of modern manufacturing technologies: laser technology and 3D-printing. I feel that lifelong, lifewide and life deep learning suits this context perfectly. I need to transfer such a skills to students that they are able also in future to update themselves in this modern technology field, as these technologies develops fast. I am also myself "eternal student" and i believe that learning never stops. it happens in different ways during a lifecycle of a modern human being. Learning is a kind of mental stage that should be adopted by everybody. This is my pedagogical background. I wish that I am able to further develop this also during my studies at HAMK.