As an English major with an emphasis in Writing and Rhetoric, I don't know much about what education majors have to face on a daily basis. I don't know what it takes to become a teacher, who will be responsible for influencing and helping to raise the next generation of students that will follow in our footsteps.
This semester, I decided to take a pedagogical and young adult literature class to fill a simple literature requirement. I didn't think much of it originally, just excited to maybe take a break from reading the basic canon texts constantly. I did not even really know the definition of the word pedagogical, but I signed up anyway.
Well, was I in for a surprise. As much as my professors understand that we are not all English Education majors, it is hard for him to avoid too heavy of education based lessons. So, for the past couple months, I've been able to take a sneak peek into the education of an educator, and I must say that I am impressed by the classes that they must take to become experts.
I have a new found respect for education majors, that is for sure. All who have decided to dedicate their lives to the field learn how to do so by slaving over calendars, worrying how to keep the students involved and passionate, and how to please the community at the same time, along with probably a hundred other aspects that I cannot even fully understand and probably never will be able to. I will likely never have to take a class like this again, but I know those students in this major will find themselves fully enjoying them for at least four years straight, not even counting the possibility of graduate education.
I am impressed by the commitment that is required, along with the open mind. To even teach a novel in a classroom, students are taught that they should have a rationale prepared just in case someone wants to question their methods and decisions. They must learn how the novels should be selected, based on the goals that can come from them education wise, what the students find interesting, and what they are interested in themselves.
It is important for them to fully grasp that what they are assigning a child to read may negatively or positively affect their futures. I know I saw the effects of school-assigned books in my life when I was a teenager.
So, in summary, I applaud the students who have taken the initiative and made the sacrifice to work to become future educators. I hope that everything is what they imagine it will be and that all of their Pinterest based classroom dreams come true in the future.
