As a student teacher at Cornerstone Institute situated in the Western Cape, South Africa, I look forward to graduating in the Advanced Diploma in Teaching at the end of the year (2013) and enjoying the class room and learner vibe in a public school here on the Highveld of Mpumalanga in South Africa.
To serve God and my community in this farming area will challenge me in areas of academic and spiritual preparation.
Academic preparation is a physical challenge whereas finding the spititual window of oppurtunity in a child's mind to provoke learning in a way that knowledge, skill and value is internalised, is more focused on applying sense and sensibility in a given situation in the class room.
Preparation also extends to me having insight into every child's background; applying an inclusive approach of knowing what his or her unique 'happy and sad spot' is with the aim to teach effectively.
I won't be able to do this without the Holy Spirit sensitising me to each child's needs and it is my prayer that I shall be obedient to listen and act on His voice in that given educational situation.
I need training to build on the knowledge I have already accumulated in the didactic areas of Educational Psychology, Ethics, and Class room Praxis and Management. Part of my current training is to become technologically literate, therefore the blog, as an assignment to chat on topics that will present itself during this semester.
It stands to reason that I look forward to engage with other educators, especially familiar to the South African ("There are no short-cuts to changing society. The only way out is a social revolution that once again places education at the centre of the agenda for change...Jonathan Jansen) public school class room environment on my 'UmzansiEduPad' but I would like to invite my acquaintances in America (I have a dream - Dr Martin Luther King) and China ('Rock, Rock, oh when will thou open, rock? - Valignano)' to participate too, as children's educational challenges are not border bound.
Yours in Christ
Marina van Eck
"When we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go we have begun our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings." - Wendell Berry
