Personal Growth in Placement.

In a career that can be both immensely rewarding and challenging

simultaneously, the education system offers a unique career for those
with a passion. As someone who has recognised their own passion for
teaching and pursued further training, I have had access to a number of
fantastic experiences. The opportunity to participate in a varied collection
of placements not only a link between theory and action, but begin to
hone my skills as an educator.
While lectures and theory provide a range of knowledge, the most
beneficial experiences for my own personal growth have been those on
placement. The access to professionals in the field has allowed me to
reflect upon practices and compare them to my own capabilities. With this
in mind, I can begin to gain a greater perspective into classroom
environments. My first experience working with primary school aged
children, I was placed into a 3/4 class in Sebastopol. In this particular
shared classroom, there were two teachers with drastically different
styles. I very quickly worked out that these teachers, despite having
fundamentally different approaches to teaching, created an effective
teaching team. As I continued placement I recognised that these two
professionals held a mutual respect, and would work through any
confrontations towards a common goal and passion. The children. As
schools are becoming more collaborative (Conderman, Bresnahan,
Pedersen, 2009) the ability to reflect and evaluate as part of a team,
rather than exclusively independently, is vital.
Personally, I have always preferred to work independently, and with a high
degree of control. Realising that this mentality was not the most effective
one, I worked hard to ensure that I was working with other professionals,
rather than just in parallel to them. Sharing and ideas, negotiation and
management styles are potential challenges for beginner and experienced
teachers alike (Conderman, Bresnahan, Pedersen, 2009).
As I slowly relinquished my need for control, I realised that teaching isnt
purely about the students, but rather about interactions with a diverse

range of people. The nature of interactions can drastically change the

effectiveness of any teaching program, be it with the greater community,
professionals, students or parents. Supported by Friend (2008) In many
ways, your ability to work with other adults is as important to your
success as your knowledge and skills for teaching.
With a classroom goal, and close working relationships with students and
parents, collaboration can become another effective tool in a teachers
arsenal. Allowing all participants to be able to place aside differences and
utilise their strengths as a team to accomplish more than the individual
can. Collaboration does not have value unless it is a vehicle for achieving
goals for students and their families (Friend, 2008).
This placement in particular was a catalyst for change and great personal
growth, providing me with a new perspective into education. Teachers
should be actively working with other professionals, and consistently
communicating with individuals in order to create the best learning
environments for students. For this reason, I will continue to actively work
towards becoming more collaborative on future placements, and into the
working life.

References
Friend, M. (2008). Special education: Contemporary perspectives for
school professionals. NY: Pearson.
Conderman, G., Bresnahan, V., & Pedersen, T. (2009). Purposeful coteaching: Real cases and effective strategies. Thousand Oaks, CA:
Corwin Press. doi: 10.4135/9781452219189