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‘Patience is a virtue’

Even though I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Forge Integrated Primary school as a classroom assistant, I would be lying if I said at times, it didn’t have it’s challenges. I have learnt that working with children is the most rewarding experience, but it requires discipline, compassion and most of all, patience. In this blog I will discuss some challenges I dealt with within the classroom setting, the field trips which I help to facilitate, and through reflective models of analysis, what I have learnt from all the obstacles which I faced within the school setting and how I will apply these skills to any roles in which the future may hold.

“I believe strongly in the power of patience when working with students. This takes emotional control on the part of the teacher, but the reward is well-worth the wait”[1]

Richard James Rogers on patience

Challenges of the classroom.

The frantic setting of the classroom itself presented a challenge, arriving in the morning required the most energy to deal with the children as they often screamed, messed about, and told you about the most random parts of their weekends- whether it be a McDonald’s trip or the new toy they got. When the teacher wasn’t in the room, it was up to me to make sure the kids behaved themselves and kept the noise levels to a minimum, which was probably the most challenging experience of this placement journey- especially when settling down those pupils who had learning difficulties and needed a bit of extra time to process instruction. Every day was a learning experience for me. Upon asking a group of teachers what the most difficult part of becoming a teacher is, Goepel found that, ‘the overwhelming response was their anxiety over managing difficult or challenging behaviour’[2], something which I found myself as the main challenge within the classroom and on field trips. For example, the children like to trade football cards (Match Attax) and one lunchtime one of the boys got annoyed at another one and ended up ripping up one of his cards. Let’s just say there were tears, screaming and it was only myself in the class at this point of time- so I had to calm things down, separate them, try and resolve the situation and tell the teacher, what a stressful lunchtime that was!  

Challenges of the field trips

Throughout my placement, I was fortunate enough to go on three different field trips with the class- a visit to the Ulster Museum, W5 and then to Olympia where the kids went swimming. These trips were highly beneficial for me as an inspiring teacher as they taught me how to deal with outside school situations, how to facilitate a group of 30 children in public spaces and how to communicate with children who are over-excited about being outside the school setting (I know I was like this when I was a kid so I can relate). Not only did I have to control the children who were more hyper, I also tried my best to get the quieter children more involved with the activities at each field trip as well, especially in W5.

“Children who feel comfortable with their teachers and peers are more willing to grapple with challenging material and persist at difficult learning tasks”[3]

Kimberly Schonert-Reichl on the art of facilitation
W5, Ulster Museum and Olympia Sports complex

Like anything in life, nothing is ever guaranteed run smoothly, and this was the case in W5 where I faced my biggest challenge as a classroom assistant throughout my whole time at Forge. We arrived at W5 and had our own section to put all the children’s bags and belongings, which was all good and going smooth until we left the location and went floor by floor through the various rooms and activities W5 had to offer. As the children were allowed to run about on each floor, they became rather warm so started to take their school jumpers off- which was totally fine of course, until they started to leave them at various random corners on each floor. So I had use patience as a virtue as the children would run up to me and claim that they had lost their jumper and could not find them. So it the trip resulted in continuous trips around W5 looking for all the exact same navy Forge jumper, rather comical but it definitely tested my patience and was a challenge when trying to facilitate the trip.

Gibbs Reflective Cycle

To further analyse my experiences of the challenges I faced on placement, focusing particularly on the field trips, I used Gibbs Reflective Cycle: ‘description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and action plan’[4].

Gibb’s Reflective Cycle

Description- Fieldtrips with the Primary 5 class to W5, Ulster Museum and Olympia swimming pool.

Feelings- Excitement to facilitate a trip, yet composed to make sure that the children have a good time but most of all stay safe.

Evaluation- It all went accordingly, apart from a few minor mishaps, and the children thoroughly enjoyed their time.

Analysis- The children had fun and learnt many educational values from each site which was the main goal, but I was also able to keep them safe and away from any form of danger (such as one of them going missing as the places were big)

Conclusion- I came away feeling a sense of pride for my efforts with the class, and this was reiterated by the teacher who was alongside me who appreciated my help very much. It taught me a great deal about how to facilitate a school trip and remain in control even when the children become boisterous.

Action plan- Continue to research and gain more experience, perhaps at summer schemes etc, in order to build up my teaching pedigree so I am well prepared for the world of education.


[1] Rogers, Richard James. ‘The Importance of Patience in Teaching’. 15th Nov 2020. https://richardjamesrogers.com/2020/11/15/the-importance-of-patience-in-teaching/ (Accessed 14/04/23)

[2] Goepel, Janet. ‘Inclusive Primary Teaching: A critical approach to equality and special educational needs and disability’. Critical Publishing, 2015. ProQuest Ebook Central, https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/qub/detail.action?docID=4013675. (Accessed 15/04/23)

[3] Schonert-Reichl, Kimberly A. ‘Social and Emotional Learning and Teachers’. The Future of Children, vol. 27, no. 1, 2017, pp. 139. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/44219025. (Accessed 16/04/23)

[4] The University of Edinburgh. ‘Reflection Toolkit’. Gibb’s Reflective Cycle. 11th Nov 2020. https://www.ed.ac.uk/reflection/reflectors-toolkit/reflecting-on-experience/gibbs-reflective-cycle (Accessed 17/04/23)

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