That is the title of one of my favorite books, written by Richard Arends. I read it when I was in my undergraduate study and it opened my eyes to see a whole new world called "education." Its memorable quote is "the ultimate purpose of education is to help students become independent and self-regulated learners" (Arends, 2009, p.1). That time I realized that learning to be a teacher does not mean learning as much content knowledge as possible, but rather learning things of greater difficulty.
Another recommended book for educators is Parker Palmer's The Courage to Teach. At first when I dug inside it, I felt like everything was so abstract and incomprehensible. Later during the professional development session in my school, I began to see its relevance once I have been in a teacher's shoes. I still remember in an early chapter Palmer wrote how he is always nervous teaching his first class whenever a new academic year begins in spite of all the experiences he has. He then implied that knowledge and experience are not enough to ensure one's quality of being an educator. It is something lying deeper in each of the teachers' heart called identity and integrity (Palmer, 1998).
I am reminiscing about my college and teaching years to answer the question "why am I doing what I am doing." Being assigned to write a journal about what I expect from Oulu's Learning, Education and Technology (LET) program I am currently in, I just want to make sure that I am taking the right path. Teaching is both a vocation and a challenge for me. Thus, going back to college is another phase for me to get ready for the upcoming challenges. They are, in my viewpoint, getting harder as the information mass and convenience of life granted by technology have shaped the current generations that somehow part farther from the aforementioned purpose.
When I read LET's course structure, my decision is even firmer now because I do not see any unnecessary courses. Studies about self-regulated learning, collaborative learning and technology-enhanced learning are what exactly needed in this contemporaneity. Best of all, at the university we not only learn about but also learn how to. For example, during a class about metacognition, we do not just plainly listen to lectures or read articles but are also given an assignment that makes us metacognitive learners ourselves. I then realize this sort of thing also shapes our identity and integrity in addition to the theories and praxes. Hence, everything offered is just what I have wished for which now leaves the option to me; that is, whether I want to seriously commit to this master's program or not.
References
Arends, R. I. (2009). Learning to teach. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Palmer, P. (1998). The courage to teach: Exploring the inner landscape of a teacher's life.
San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass.