Teaching as you were taught

I was reflecting about what it is that I do while I am teaching that I have learnt from teachers I had as a youngster.

I distinctly remember being in my physics classes at GCSE and chemistry classes at A-level and wondering why we were doing the practicals when the teacher had told us what would happen or I could quite easily predict. I was quite happy to learn that way as I was often tired due to my long bus journey to school, but it didn't help inform my opinion of practical work. Now, I rarely teach the topic before doing the practical. Sometimes I don't even demonstrate the practical before letting the students investigate.

However, I do owe some of what I do in the classroom to my own teachers. Mrs Sykes taught me how to be methodical in my approach to questions and I pass that on to my students, she also taught me to have high expectations of myself. Seeing the Science Geeks videos made by my old physics teacher Mr Prince, I can also see that a lot of my outgoing teaching style is due to his influence on me.

As a teacher I hear "you teach like you were taught" a lot. I think that my teaching style has moved away from that of my own teachers, but I will always be influenced by the memories of the people who inspired me in science.


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