The Pros And Cons Of Personal Theories

Individuals entering a field of work such as welfare or social work will have an understanding of their purpose and goals for personal development and their work practices. These individuals will know who they are and know their values and theories about life (O’Connor, Wilson and Setterlund, 2003). A theory about life as defined by Martin and O’Connor (1989) a concept that explains why a process or an idea happens in the observable world. Throughout my life, I have come across several values and beliefs held by my family, friends, teachers, health care workers, and many others. After evaluating their usefulness, I have created my own sets of theories about life and the values and beliefs they possess. The particular theory I will talk about is best known as ‘not giving up on myself or others in order to gain success in life.’ Using the terms personal theory and implicit theory, I will examine and evaluate the positives and negatives my theory has on my practice as well as the importance self-awareness when applying theory to practice. To compliment my theory and practice, I will then provide strategies that will limit the negative impacts of my personal theory in my teaching practice.
Over years of implementing this theory on others,

it is only in recent years I have been able to apply the theory for myself. I have always been able to never give up on others no matter how hard, but when it comes to my own needs and determination I lack the ability. However, since being with my partner of two and a half years, he has inspired and given me the drive to never give up on myself. O’Connor, Wilson and Setterlund (2003) describe how the processes and issues that one will face, will correlate together to create the person you are. For example, one could play a role as a family member, significant other, parent’s social class, and so on. In my situation, I have found that being in the role of a significant other has made quite a considerable impact in my perspective of life, and the personal theories I have developed. The process of developing a relationship and showing my behaviours to my partner, as enable him to demonstrate how I can enhance my personal theory. Consequently, I am more determined and I never give up on myself because of the impact my partner has made on my life. After further developing my implicit theory, I have the need to critically evaluate the impact my theories have on my practice as a teacher.
In my field of work, there are opportunities where my values may be challenged by myself and others. However, it is important to be aware of the effect my theories can have on my students. In school, I believe that it is important that a teacher is persistent to encourage students to never give up. Yet for some students, this is not their personal theory in life. As Chenoweth and McAullife (2008) explain, having insight into your use of self is important. Trevithck (2005) suggest that everyone will have various experiences and different interpretations of what is real for them. Consequently, their interactions will vary depending on the world they have developed in. Thus, it means that people may have different interpretations of success. As a teacher, it is important be aware of the diversity of interpretations. For example, I interpret success as teaching each student something new for that day. However because of some student’s experiences, their success for that day may not be similar to mine, and may interpret the situation of school differently. For example, a student may have had a late night and their success for the day might be staying awake all day. I might have been trying to teach them a concept, but they just weren’t understanding. So using my personal theory of never giving up, I would continue persisting the student, and possibly cause more fatigue. Therefore, I need to be aware of how and when I am applying my personal theory as the interpretation of success can vary each day.
An important part of using personal theories is understanding and having an awareness that my theories may be ideas that students will take on board for themselves, which in future be a positive outcome. Not only do I have to be aware of how I am implementing my theories, but also aware that it can possibly help a student to better themselves. As a teacher, situations may occur where I find students find their work too hard and might want to give up. Connoly (2004), in Maidment and Egar (2004) provide a framework that is based in the counselling field, I find these methods to be similar for a teacher. The particular framework I will be describing is the narrative theory. The purpose of using a theory such as the narrative theory is to assist workers with working their way through practice with their clients. The narrative theory begins with a construction of realities. Where an individual will have different interpretations of what they think is real. For example, a student may explain to a teacher that they are no good at maths and there is no point trying. It is then the role of the welfare worker or teacher in my situation to help change their way of thinking or perceiving this idea. Then the worker should provide an alternate perception of reality. For example showing a student the value of learning maths and to never give up on themselves. In this situation, the student may feel that this value of never giving up is something they want to follow. Compton, Galaway and Cournoyer (2005) suggest that humans will respond and adapt to their situations internally and externally to find their goals, ambitions and identity. Therefore, if humans are adapting to their situations, I need to be aware of the actions, behaviours and ways of teaching I am implementing. This may consequently cause the personal theories to be adapted into another student’s lives.
As part of being a teacher, there will be many theories that I will use to guide my way through practice. Some may be successful, other may not, but it is important to learn and become aware of the techniques being used. As part of practice, Maidment and Egar (2009) believe it is crucial to have different forms of personal reflection in order to acknowledge the actions behaviours and interpretations of oneself through social and cultural influences. As a result, the personal theories that I am applying within my classroom will need to be critically evaluated. In some cases, a struggle between an equal exchange of ideas and practices of individuals will not be met, and consequently the same ideas do not reflect onto others (O’Connor, Wilson and Setterlund, 2003). Whilst on placement, I experienced a situation that demonstrated this idea. I was working with a grade five student who had no interest in school. At first he was disinclined to do the work. As time went on, he became more interactive with his work. After learning some content, he felt this was enough as the rest of the content was above his level. As the teacher in charge, I encouraged the student to extend and perfect the concept. In this situation, the student and I both had different beliefs of the ideas and practices for the lesson. The student was clear about his view on having finished the work, whereas I was using my personal theory to not give up on the student. I found that in my reflection, I would need to try a different method of encouraging this particular student to do work as he was not inclined in using the method I had taken because of his dissimilar ideas. As Maidment and Egar (2009) describe, the relationship between theory and practice will always be important as changes will always occur, and the need to for reflection never ceases. Therefore, as a practising teacher and an individual of developing theories, I need to constantly reflect on my behaviours and beliefs in order to gain success.
After critiquing the effects of my personal theory, I have found many possibilities of the positives and limitations to my practice as a teacher.

Not only is their positives and limitation of having the students observe my behaviour and take on board for their own purposes, but also the importance of understanding that my personal theory may not apply to all students. After completing this piece, I have developed a higher sense of awareness for the importance of self-reflection, for not only myself, but the way I use my personal theory as a hopefulness to benefit students rather than hinder their learning abilities. Overall, I have gained understanding of how my implicit theory will affect my practice good, bad and

indifferent.