My want to be a teacher is incredibly new, sparked by an open day at Launceston UTAS in 2016. I had desired to be a nurse from age 14, but when I realised how much emotional labour was involved and had a family member on life support, I came to the conclusion that I did not have the emotional capability to deal with the situations nurses face on a daily basis and went hunting for a new profession. I had never thought about teaching as a career, mainly because I had no teachers during my time that inspired me to follow in their footsteps. I felt slightly prepared, since I had been in pre-kindergarten classes and child care thanks to my child studies class, and since I had wanted my nursing career to centre on children and youth, it seemed like …show more content…
Indian philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti suggested that education should cultivate the heart and mind, and is not only for academic education (Gibbs, 2006). There are certain characteristics that teachers need to have in order to be effective in their field, including knowing strengths and weaknesses, wanting to be a life-long learner, and maintaining a supportive environment within the school. I definitely know my weaknesses and want to be a supportive person in others’ lives, which I believe makes me suited to education. I also love talking to people from backgrounds other than my own and learning how other people have lived their lives. Janet Moyle’s illustration entitled Recipe for the perfect teacher stated that a teacher should have eyes for seeing potential of the academic and intangible kind, be caring and kind with an ability to see the positives before the negatives, a sense of humour that does not include sexist or racist comments or sarcasm, hands to be held in the playground, and be friendly but firm (Marsh, Clarke, & Pittaway, …show more content…
As a pre-service teacher, I owe it to my future students, my educators during my degree, and myself to take responsibly of my own learning and make sure that when the time comes, I can be the best teacher I can be, ensuring that I adhere to the Australian Professional Standards for Teaching on the graduate level and the inherent requirements of the education course. Published by Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL), the standards ensure that those graduating to become teachers have attained the professional knowledge required to be an educator. To appease these standards, I need to take it upon myself to learn about various intellectual and developmental disabilities, as well as any physical disabilities that I may encounter during my career. I must plan and prepare for diversity in my classroom, not only in regard to disabilities, but to race, sociocultural background, and gender identification. Children come from a range of different families, including foster, single parent, heterosexual parents, families raised by grandparents, and gay or lesbian parents. Acknowledging and celebrating diversity is crucial, so it is my role as a pre-service teacher to be knowledgeable in these diversities and know how to celebrate them. This falls in line with Standard 1 (Know the students and how they learn), and Standard 4