Views on Education 

Present-day society has transformed into a "Melting Pot" (Warner, 2013), where students are taught to embrace and adapt to a worldwide environment. Thus, as per El Hadioui (2022), educators must guarantee that pupils demonstrate reverence and embrace one another, irrespective of their ethnicity, financial background, race, and sexual orientation.

During my teaching experience, I have learned the distinction between a teacher and an educator, which have significantly changed my point of view on the way of teaching. A teacher, on the one hand, is a job title for someone who teaches content. An educator, on the other hand, is someone who creates a safe, proactive learning environment for their pupils and challenges them to transcend their boundaries everyday (Sullivan, 2016). Based on the definition of an educator, I have developed my role of educator by promoting the school culture as a separate unit from the street culture and home culture to shape the future citizens of our society (El Hadioui, 2022, pp. 33-34). For instance, working at ISK – Lisse Internationale Schakelklas (International transitional school), I recognized the need to encourage equality, cultural variety, inclusiveness, and personal growth to create a mini-society in the class. In my journey as an educator at the named school, for example, a couple of Eritrean migrants were discriminated against by other Turkish refugees. Such an incident prompted me to consider how I might provide appropriate feedback to the children and ensure that I correct them (Slooter, 2010). My responses are primarily founded on the assumption that life in adult society is communal. Civilization and the division of labour necessitate cross-cultural cooperation (Hirsch, 2020, p. 148).

As previously stated, an educator is a full-fledged teacher who is ready to make a beneficial impact on students. To become a good one, I have become familiar with other educators' vision. I would like to mention especially John Dewey, in his words: "Education is not preparation for life but life itself". He considered that learning is an active activity that should take place to improve one's quality of life and comprehension of it. Then, educators motivate students to analyse and reflect on their experiences as an exceptional opportunity to shape their future actions. As well, by encouraging learners to share their thoughts, the relationship between both solidifies and they get to know each other better (Bates, 2019, p.19). Considering Erikson's perspective on adolescents, I believe that Dewey's ideas are significant in creating a rapport with my pupils even if they are in such a crucial period of their life to define their identity. Thus, getting my students to think about what might happen if they did things differently, the outcome could bring unexpected results.

To me, education is the basis of self and societal development. It offers access to knowledge, promotes critical thinking and enables individuals to participate effectively in their environment. My decision to become an English and Spanish teacher was influenced by my parents and siblings, who are also language teachers. Their passion, humour, enthusiasm, and dedication to teaching have greatly inspired me.

Teaching English and Spanish has been incredibly fulfilling for me. I witnessed first-hand how learning a new language could boost a student's confidence as well as open up new opportunities for him or her. For example, one of my pupils initially had difficulties with English but later improved his language competence enabling him to continue his studies at the HBO. This was a demonstration of how transformative education can be. Furthermore, teaching languages has shown me the significance of being flexible and inventive within the confines of the classroom. Every learner has a different approach; thus I must adapt my methods accordingly. These may include using interactive activities, and multimedia resources or providing real-life experiences as much as possible so that they are engaging and relevant to them.

Reflection

I began my undergraduate studies in Spanish Teacher Education at HU in 2021. Since I was unfamiliar with the Dutch educational system, I made sure to spend ample time learning about it during my first year. Although I've studied the theory behind it, I gained practical experience when I was able to work at an ISK school. It was then that I decided to enrol in the double degree program in Spanish and English teacher education. After just one week as an intern, my internship experience quickly led to my employment.

I have chosen to specialise in General secondary education because it allows me to work on a wide range of topics with students, which contributes towards their intellectual growth. I have a strong interest in assisting students in identifying their talents and preferences across different fields that can influence their education and professional journey ahead. Moreover, the mixed student population within general secondary schools made me learn how to be increasingly flexible as an instructor; hence I became acquainted with new pedagogical methods and ideas. Through encouraging responsible thinking, cultural sensitivity, and critical reflection, I hope to develop important qualities necessary for young people in today's globalised world.

Considering that the ISK is a different kind of school compared to the secondary Dutch school, I have worked with students from more than 40 countries, designed English lessons for different levels, including for illiterate students, practised all languages that I speak, learned a lot about various religious, tried multiple dishes, and the most important, built a mini-society where we learned to accept, respect and tolerate our cultural differences. Undoubtedly, I found this target group an exceptional experience to grow personally and professionally as a teacher and as a person. I had the opportunity to teach all classes at my location, Lisse, which helped me to improve all my competencies, especially didactic, pedagogical and professional.

Nevertheless, even though working as an English teacher at the ISK Duin & Bollenstreek fulfilled me, I knew and needed to start focusing on teaching Spanish. Therefore, I found a job immediately during my second year as a Spanish teacher at Vissert' Hooft Lyceum, a VWO/HAVO school in Leiderdorp. During the first 4 months, I taught first-year and second-year students, however, an inexperienced colleague came to school and asked to teach the lowest classes. It means that I have been responsible for the third-year students from 2022 until now. After comparing the transition between those classes, I discovered that I enjoyed teaching third-year students. Learners are between 14-15 years old, which means that they are in their formal operational stage of development (Piaget, 1971), in other words, they think logically and can argue, reflect and solve problems more rationally. Either HAVO or VWO classes are appealing to me, because they require different preparation and I do enjoy the process of adapting my lessons material and learning needs for each stream. For instance, I feel comfortable teaching 3 VWO classes because their intrinsic motivation is notorious inside and outside the classroom, which allows them to reach their full potential.

Working at both schools has provided me with endless opportunities to develop my competencies as an educator. Every lesson has been full of CLT activities that contain a meaningful use for students' lives. Even using the target language during lessons, Spanish and English, has positively impacted students' language acquisition and communication, which in the long term is the purpose of learning a language. I am satisfied with working at two types of schools because it has given me the opportunity to interact with learners from different backgrounds, which has served me as a valuable learning experience. This exposure has enriched my teaching strategies, enabling me to better address diverse learning needs and foster an inclusive and engaging educational environment.