Big Reading Challenge for June 2018
Energising Teaching: The power of your unique pedagogical gift, by Frank Crowther
If you want to find out how to access the book through NAU visit our Big Read area (which also includes links to all of our other Big Reads for the year). You can also visit the library on NAU to find thousands of journals, articles and e-books on a range of education topics all of which are free to use for all NAE staff.
Had I been numbered among the calm, sedate men of the world I should, in all probability, never have had such children as mine have been.’ – Patrick Brontë, 1857
Have a think about the personality traits that define a good teacher, and what comes to mind? Instinctively we associate teaching with intrinsic qualities such as patience, tolerance and a natural drive to educate. These are all important traits required in teaching, but there is a counter argument that exists, one which Frank Crowther explores in his insightful book, Energising Teaching.
Crowther places great emphasis on the power of the personality, and how it can shape our pedagogical gifts. Patrick Brontë, a lifelong educator and innovator, contrary to common belief, argues that calmness and sedateness do not inherently allow us to become better teachers. Brontë claims that the characteristics which facilitate educational development relate more to your personal sense of exuberance and innate energy. As you can imagine, these qualities in isolation are simply not enough, we must ourselves have a love for learning and an extraordinary capacity to use the English language to evoke imaginativeness into our students.
According to Crowther, personality type is a fundamental concept that we must examine if we are to uncover and develop our own pedagogical gifts. You may be thinking, so does this mean an introvert can never become a good educator? They can. When we look at some of the world’s most successful people, we see both ends of the personality spectrum and everything in between. What we identify is a variety of energies, values and sensitivities, all of which when brought to the classroom would prove equally valid in terms of developing their pedagogical gift.
Want to find out if this book is for you? Here's are summary of what we learnt from Crowther's book Energising Teaching: