Fish philosophy

Salam...

My first impression after hearing the word Fish philosophy was totally different than its real concept. I thought that Fish philosophy is a condition when we are not easily influenced with our surrounding. We are what we are not matter what happens. Why? I am referring this to the special characteristics of a fish itself, a fish never become salty even though it lives in the sea. However, it is good to acknowledge that this new Fish philosophy that I am introduced to got something to do with the education field. FISH! is a skill that provides the process, tools and language to generate the skills necessary to design a workplace full of inspiration, creativity and innovation. This is the point when teachers may apply this philosophy in their classroom. Using its four simple practices which are Be There, Play, Make Their Day, and Choose Your Attitude, a teacher may make a big impact in their classroom teaching. How can we integrate the fish philosophy into our lessons? In my opinion, teacher should always be there with students and guide them in and out throughout their learning process. This doesn’t mean that we are spoon feeding them and train them to become a dependent learner. What I mean is that a teacher should always attend his/her students when they are needed and facilitate them throughout the lesson. Make the student feel that they are appreciated. This will give a very good impact towards teaching and learning, since it has the ‘power’ to increase students’ motivation and desire to learn.

Besides that, a teacher should sometimes include the element of games in the lesson, and this is what we called ‘Play’. Why? We cannot deny the fact that students especially young children like to play, as this is like an escapism to them from the dull world of learning. Students also like the spirit of cooperation in solving the games, the same as the like the feeling of competition. Hence, it is important for teachers to wisely select the appropriate games to be inserted into the lesson, besides create a health competition among students. This will increase engagement of students with the learning process.

Furthermore, teacher needs to treat each student as an individual. Each of them has their own strength and weaknesses, and none of them are the same even though they are twins. Do not judge them based on their mistakes or mischievousness, but try to investigate their family background and daily life activities. Maybe the students just need attention from you. Make their day. Make them feel appreciated by praising them and give positive rewards, and not just punishing them without any solid evidence.

Last but not least, the teacher himself/herself needs to be a good role model to students. Choose your attitude. Be a professional teacher whether in your dressings or behaviour. Whether we believe or not, students are observing every inch of what we are doing starting from the brand of our shoes to our relationship with other colleagues. Therefore, being a good teacher in and out is very important since it actually affect the way our students treat us and our lesson.

One point that I want to add here is how the technology will help in the implementation of fish philosophy. We cannot deny the role that technology played in increasing the effectiveness of classroom teaching. But how is it related to fish philosophy? Of course yes. Using technology, we can also imply the four practices in this philosophy. A teacher can attend their students by using email, or having an academic discussion online with them. Besides that, the teacher may insert games using SMARTBOARD application in classroom, which will create a good, interactive environment in the classroom. Moreover, the teacher may give immediate feedback using the technology, for instance by replying an email to students regarding their homework compare to the conventional way of teaching. This will make students feel appreciated and motivate them to learn.

In short, fish philosophy is one among the other philosophies that is very useful to be implemented in the world of education. It depends on us as a teacher to make use of it for the benefit of our students.