Teachers Beliefs

We are convinced that some beliefs are essential to teacher learning. Without them, teachers will not be committed to stretching themselves fully or even commit themselves to that. Beliefs, which drive behavior, are often unexamined and certainly resistant to change.

I.       Beliefs about intelligence and children's capacity to learn

Belief 1: You can get smart.

II.   Beliefs about learning

Belief 2: Learning is constructed as learners assimilate new   experience with prior knowledge.

Belief 3: Learning varies with the degree to which learners' needs for inclusion, influence, competence, and confidence are met.

III.                       Beliefs about teachers and teaching

Belief 4: The nature of professional knowledge encompasses areas of performance, repertoire, and matching, not "effective behaviors".

Belief 5: The knowledge bases of a professional teacher are many, diverse, and complex; and skillful teaching requires systematic and continual study of these knowledge bases.

IV.                       Beliefs about schools and schooling

Belief 6: The total environment of a school has a powerful effect on students' learning.

Belief 7: Racism exerts a downward force on the achievement of students of color that must be met with active anti-racist teaching.

In political science, a revolution is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due to perceived oppression (political, social, economic) or political incompetence.

The Ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle described two types of political revolution:

1.     Complete change from one constitution to another

2.     Modification of an existing constitution.

Revolutions have occurred through human history and vary widely in terms of methods, duration and motivating ideology. Their results include major changes in culture, economy and socio-political institutions, usually in response to perceived overwhelming autocracy or plutocracy.

The 2019 Lebanese protests constitute a reaction against sectarian rule, stagnant economy, unemployment, endemic corruption in the public sector, legislation (such as banking secrecy) that is perceived to shield the ruling class from accountability and failures from the government to provide basic services such as electricity, water and sanitation. The protests were triggered by planned taxes on gasoline, tobacco and online phone calls such as through Whatsapp, as country-wide protests broke out on 17 October 2019 right after Cabinet talks of the taxes, due to be ratified by 22 October.

What is Active Learning?

Active learning is an approach to instruction that involves actively engaging students with the course material through discussions, problem solving, case studies, role plays and other methods. Active learning approaches place a greater degree of responsibility on the learner than passive approaches such as lectures, but instructor guidance is still crucial in the active learning classroom. Active learning activities may range in length from a couple of minutes to whole class sessions or may take place over multiple class sessions.

Active learning activities can be used to:

·         Get student attention and increase motivation

·         Assess students' prior knowledge

·         Promote problem solving and application, and deepen student understanding

·         Assess whether students understood the material

·         Explore the relevance of the course material in students' professional or everyday lives

Importance of Praising students and its benefits

Praising students in the classrooms is a tool that motivates students towards performing better in school. Acknowledging a student for a good job they have done in school is a path towards their educational achievement.  Many teachers are often confused as to what to do to make their students put their effort in learning or to encourage them to conquer their fears about a subject or any topic. It is observed that the mindset a learner has about their intelligence takes a toll on their learning process. A student who thinks he or she is not smart enough often ends up not learning properly as opposed to someone who thinks they are smart.

There are many ways to praise students in class:

• Saying phrases in praise of students 
• Rewarding students
• Recognizing their effort
• Applaud loudly in class

Effects of praise on student behavior in the classroom:

Praise can have an outstanding impact on the student behavior in the classroom. Effective praises can improve the overall learning scenario of the classroom. Teachers should focus on praising students for their efforts and working strategies and not their intelligence.

·        changing students' belief

·        helping students cope with failure

·        encouraging learning

·        increased effort from students

·        students seek challenges

·        look at failures as opportunities to learn