QUOTE

''These researchers noted that content area teachers, trained to be content specific specialists, define themselves by their specializations as scientists, historians, athletes, and musicians first and teachers second. This doesn’t mean that they are not committed to their students; it just means that they are intrigued by a content specialty that through study grew into an area of expertise they want to share with others.'' Pg. 378

REFLECTION

This emphasises my belief that a teacher may have a wealth of knowledge in an area and may not be able to impact students’ learning in the classroom. Thus the best teacher is really one who understands, caters for the students’ learning needs by employing the most effective strategies during instruction.

Teachers such as those alluded to in this quote may easily get frustrated when students cannot grasp the concept that they (the teacher) think is intriguing and easy to understand. I certainly cannot compare to such specialists as my level of education does not allow me, but many times I found myself thinking inwardly about the number of literature students who did not seem to enjoy poetry like I did.

I now note that my motivation was my love for literature and not a desire to get all passes at the end of the term. As a result, the students who were better excelled in spite of the difficulties they faced while the others experienced failure because of the complexity of the material / content.