Influential Teachers
Growing up, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by teachers. My mother, Jean McMahon, is currently an elementary art and english teacher at Buchanan Public School, in Scarborough, Ontario. My grandmother, Sandra McMahon, was also a teacher in Winnipeg Manitoba for several years. Both teaching at different times, I thought it would be interesting to interview them both to see what their experiences were like to see the similarities and differences. Although in my youth, I never thought I would want to become an educator, it was both of them who showed me what it is like to be an influential teacher and how many lives you can touch through this profession.
My grandmother, Sandra McMahon, was born in Winnipeg, and was the third born of five children. Although money was short, she said, “ there was never any pressure on me or my two older siblings to quit school, find a job, and contribute to the family finances.” After grade twelve, she went to Provincial Normal school for ten months in Winnipeg. She had to have two years of successful teaching as judged by a school inspector and get six credits from additional summer school courses. It’s very interesting that she did this straight out of high school, and did not have to go through teachers college like you do now.
Her first job was in St. Vital, a suburb in Winnipeg, where she taught a grade five/six class. She was "qualified" to teach students from grades one to nine. At the age of nineteen, in her first year of teaching in a Winnipeg area school, she taught a grade nine class for phys ed, held in a classroom. That is very different from now where certain classes are held in spaces that accomodate the class.
In our class, it has been interesting to explore how we, as future educators will adapt to teach students of all different learning styles. When asking my grandmother how she adapted to different learning styles, she said, “In the early days, we did not think about different learning styles. There was not such a range of abilities; it was rare for a child not to be able to read. The more I taught the more I learned how to teach.” With the development of technology, there has definitely been a decline in social skills and scholarly abilities. Classrooms nowadays are filled with children at all different levels.
When asking what my grandmother's interpretation of “good teaching” is, she replied with, “ It was my responsibility to give the students the tools they need to be successful : the basics, and an appreciation of the arts, as well as an awareness of the wider world. I tried to provide a good learning environment. I respected them, and I expected them to respect me, and each other.” This was an interesting response. I have sadly found that a lot of teachers do not take the time to truly connect with their students and make the classroom an environment for success.
There comes a point in everyone's career when they doubt their abilities, and when asking my grandmother about this she told me, “I doubted my teaching abilities when I took a teaching job after twelve years of doing only a bit of supply teaching when I was raising three children. I took on the job in September for four months with a class of thirty-nine grade seven students for Language Arts and Mathematics in the morning, and three classes of science and phys ed in the afternoon, plus a grade eight class for poetry. Many of the kids did not know how to read. I was so stressed, I could not eat and the weight fell off me. But I was determined to survive” The perseverance only pushes you to become a better educator. It is mind boggling that she did all of this while raising three children.
My grandmother earned a degree from Queens when she was fifty-one. She told me that she didn’t think having it improved her teaching, but it helped her pension. She retired from teaching when she was fifty-seven because, “I felt I was no longer able to do the job. There was too much irrelevant paperwork, and we were required to use new programs that were not proven to be more effective. The joy was gone.” This was a little disheartening to hear. Curriculums and new students coming into schools do not allow for as much freedom which can be seen even in the music classroom. It was amazing to hear the responses. My grandmother has been teaching me lessons and explaining concepts to me since I was very young and she is definitely one of the reasons of why I want to be an educator.
I then interviewed my mother, Jean McMahon. She gets very excited when talking about teaching, and it is clear how passionate she is about her job and how much she enjoys it. She told me that she always thought it was always in the back of her mind to be a teacher because her mother was an elementary teacher and her father who was in the Canadian armed forces taught navigation and wrote a navigation manual for students. She explained how she also had some really great teachers, so when there were bad ones, they really stuck out! When asking about what impacted her teaching she said, “The event that really impacted my ideas about teaching was that when I was in grade 8 I was paired with a grade 8 boy from the other class (we were streamed) and I was told to help him with his reading. I felt it was really unfair to us both because he was embarrassed and I felt bad about the situation. It was unfair of the teacher to unload her work onto students.” I have found that many teachers create uncomfortable situations like these, when they should be adapting to all their students to create a safe learning environment. This is one point in both my grandmothers and mothers interview that connected - it is very important to be able to adapt to all learning styles.
Unlike my grandmother who went to normal school, my mom attended the University of Windsor and got a BA, York University and got a B.Ed (P/J) and Brock University, and got an M.Ed in Curriculum Studies. She has her principal qualifications, (part 1 and 2), reading specialist, family studies specialist and senior and intermediate visual arts specialist. She also obtained part 1 of Special Education, Library, and Primary Junior Math. All the qualifications and courses clearly help to be able to adapt to all types of learning. I asked how she adapted in certain teaching situations and she told me she teaches using a variety of methods. Students need to experience learning in a variety of ways. As you grow in life you will be required to adapt to a variety of learning situations in both school, work, and social situations. Something interesting that was said was, “My goal in teaching is to have the entire class understands the concept I am teaching. I am most interested in the bottom 30% of students who experience difficulty. The top 30 will learn despite anything you do.” Sometimes teachers can focus on the students who are already succeeding because it makes it easy for them. There needs to be a stronger focus on the children who won't succeed without a little extra help. This is something that I myself will consider when teaching in any aspect.
The answers I received were really special. I had asked her to explain her interpretation of “good teaching” and she told me, “My interpretation of good teaching is a teacher who goes beyond the curriculum and teaches more than needed. A teacher that expects and inspires all students to succeed. A teacher that explains why students need to learn something then teaches students to apply their knowledge and to transfer it to different situations, a good teacher has high expectations and won’t let a student sell themselves short. A good teacher has empathy. A good teacher celebrates success and supports and encourages everyone to succeed.” This is something my mom does in her everyday life. My mother is a great example of what she described. She is always teaching me lessons and I know this gets translated in the classroom very well. She always has students coming back after years to tell her how much she impacted their lives and it is very special.
Something that really resonated with me when I asked my mother why she wanted to teach. She replied, “Why teaching? I think that is like asking why mother? Or why breathe? I just am a teacher.” It is clear how much she loves and appreciates her job and that it special. If the teacher is clearly passionate about teaching, their students will strive.
It was a really special to hear both experiences and I feel so lucky to have both these amazing role models in my life. Although the experiences were different, there was definitely an overlap in some answers. It gave me insight on some of the things I will face and what I need to do to ensure students are performing at their best abilities. These responses have gotten me very excited about my future career as an educator and if I ever need help, I have two wonderful people I can turn to.