question 2

Constructivist Education:
• Problem solving
• Group
• Peer group learning
• DLE- Distributed Learning Environment
• Proximal development
• Action research
• Social interaction

Constructivism
Definition Constructivism is a philosophy of learning founded on the premise that, by reflecting on our experiences, we construct our own understanding of the world we live in. Each of us generates our own "rules" and "mental models," which we use to make sense of our experiences. Learning, therefore, is simply the process of adjusting our mental models to accommodate new experiences
http://www.funderstanding.com/constructivism.cfm

“Constructivists believe that knowledge is ‘constructed’, that the thinker is both mentally and physically active in this construction and that the sociocultural context in which knowledge construction occurs provides the thinker with invaluable resources, support and direction.” (Fosnot, 1993; Phillips, 2000; Wells and Chang-Wells, 1992) From the ‘Education Phycology-Krause, Bochner and Duchesne 2003
All the fundamental underpinnings of constructivist education as stated in the list at the top of this posting are all elements of both Piaget and Vygotsky theories of education
Piaget and Vygotsky both stated that cognitive development took place in stages.

Piaget ‘was particularly interested in peer interaction as a means for children to expand their ideas, to overcome conflicts and achieve shared solutions that are more mature than individual efforts (Brown, Metz and Campione, 1996 [From the ‘Educational Phycology-Krause, Bochner and Duchesne 2003]))

How Piaget's Theory Impacts Learning
Curriculum--Educators must plan a developmentally appropriate curriculum that enhances their students' logical and conceptual growth.
Instruction--Teachers must emphasize the critical role that experiences--or interactions with the surrounding environment--play in student learning. For example, instructors have to take into account the role that fundamental concepts, such as the permanence of objects, play in establishing cognitive structures.

Vygotsky also stressed the “importance of social interaction in learning” [From the ‘Educational Phycology-Krause, Bochner and Duchesne 2003] After reading Vygotskys theories I believe one of the important things he observed was that learning and development occurs within a ‘sociohistorical’ and ‘sociocultral’ context.

How Vygotsky Impacts Learning:
Curriculum--Since children learn much through interaction, curricula should be designed to emphasize interaction between learners and learning tasks.

Instruction--With appropriate adult help, children can often perform tasks that they are incapable of completing on their own. With this in mind, scaffolding--where the adult continually adjusts the level of his or her help in response to the child's level of performance--is an effective form of teaching. Scaffolding not only produces immediate results, but also instills the skills necessary for independent problem solving in the future.
Assessment--Assessment methods must take into account the zone of proximal development. What children can do on their own is their level of actual development and what they can do with help is their level of potential development. Two children might have the same level of actual development, but given the appropriate help from an adult, one might be able to solve many more problems than the other. Assessment methods must target both the level of actual development and the level of potential development.

'Some Differences Between Vygotsky and Piaget

A Progression of Development

1 Piaget believed that development proceeds from the individual to the social world. Egocentric speech suggests that the child is self-centered and unable to consider the point-of-view of others. Piaget also maintains that development precedes learning.

2 Vygotsky believed that development begins at the social level and moves towards individual internalization. Egocentric speech is seen as a transition between the child's learning language in a social communicative context, and attempting to internalize it as "private" or "inner speech" (i.e., thoughts). For Vygotsky, learning precedes development.

3 Both agree that development may be initiated by cognitive conflict.

4 Like Piaget, Vygotsky believed that children's egocentric speech was an important part of their cognitive development. The two differed in how they viewed the purpose of egocentric speech.'

http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/fas/shuell/CEP564/Lectures/CogDev.htm

Question Three

Question Three
In the use of BOS syllabuses, explain the use of the following documents at school level:

Scope and Sequence
SCOPE: time allocated to topic
SEQUENCE: order in which topics are taught

Teaching Programme
Programme help teachers by
• Divided into topics or modules
• Identifying syllabus requirements
They state what
• “students learn about”
• “students learn to’
• Teaching/ learning strategies
• Resources
• Assessments
• Registration/ evaluation

Assessment program
Assessment occurs as an integral part of teaching and learning. Teacher instruction and assessment influence student learning and learning processes. This involves using assessment activities to clarify student understanding of concepts, and planning ways to remedy misconceptions and promote deeper understanding.
From Design and Technology
Years 7–10
Advice on Programming and Assessment

The teacher interprets the syllabus, the local resources and need inform the scope and sequence, programme and assessment plan and these three areas are a key factor in planning of a lesson.

QUESTION 1

The real vogage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes
Marcel Proust

Question 1

LIST AND EVALUATE IN ORDER OF IMPORTANCE, THE QUALITIES YOU WOULD LIKE TO HAVE AS A TEACHER.

As a teacher everyday is a voyage of discovery and by having "new eyes" our passion for learning and teaching can foster in the children a sense of wonder and joy for the world in which we live.
For me the most important quality of a teacher is a passion for living harmoniously and artistically that informs a passion for teaching.
This passion must follow through to the subject area in which they teach and for the well-being of the children who they teach.

Passion

With this passion as the driving force teachers must strive to be ‘leader teachers’ who create a ‘safe secure’ environment in which to learn.
• SURVIVAL
• POWER
• LOVE
• BELONGING
• FREEDOM, and FUN
This can only come into effect when the teacher has excellent communication skills.
As a teacher one must constantly refine and refect on ones communication skills.

Communication Skills

Good communication skills strengthen the ability of a teacher to hold a class. Holding a class, motivating student learning and creating a sense of belonging and connectedness is the aim of a great teacher.

Passionate teachers can change student’s lives by creating positive and creative learning environment in which all types of learning styles are catered for.

Creativity

“New eyes” could be one way of saying creativity. If teachers are always approaching their work with “new eyes” emphasising the importance of creativity this will foster a new generation of creative individuals.

Passion, good communication and creativity maybe listed in that order but they feed into each other and a mix of all these qualities makes for a well-rounded teacher.

One great teacher alone can only achieve a little but with in a like-minded group…

Together
Everyone
Achieves
More

Yes expert teachers can stand alone with Hatties 5 attributes:
• can identify essential representations of their subject,
• can guide learning through classroom interactions,
• can monitor learning and provide feedback,
• can attend to affective attributes, and
• can influence student outcomes

And make a difference but if they are placed in a creative environment that they themselves feel nurtured in…
• SURVIVAL
• POWER
• LOVE
• BELONGING
• FREEDOM, and FUN

Then in Margaret Wheatley’s words “ yet in this strange new world, I believe we can only succeed in understanding and influencing this world if we are able to think and work together in new ways”

In ‘new ways’ with ‘new eyes’ enforced by past and present learning and teaching theories together in a creative, warm community…maybe that could be the motto of every school.

Jigsaw Theory

The jigsaw classrom is very simple to use. If you're a teacher, just follow these steps:

1 Divide students into 5- or 6-person jigsaw groups. The groups should be diverse in terms of gender, ethnicity, race, and ability.

2 Appoint one student from each group as the leader. Initially, this person should be the most mature student in the group.

3 Divide the day's lesson into 5-6 segments. For example, if you want history students to learn about Eleanor Roosevelt, you might divide a short biography of her into stand-alone segments on: (1) Her childhood, (2) Her family life with Franklin and their children, (3) Her life after Franklin contracted polio, (4) Her work in the White House as First Lady, and (5) Her life and work after Franklin's death.

4 Assign each student to learn one segment, making sure students have direct access only to their own segment.

5 Give students time to read over their segment at least twice and become familiar with it. There is no need for them to memorize it.

6 Form temporary "expert groups" by having one student from each jigsaw group join other students assigned to the same segment. Give students in these expert groups time to discuss the main points of their segment and to rehearse the presentations they will make to their jigsaw group.

7 Bring the students back into their jigsaw groups.

8 Ask each student to present her or his segment to the group. Encourage others in the group to ask questions for clarification.

9 Float from group to group, observing the process. If any group is having trouble (e.g., a member is dominating or disruptive), make an appropriate intervention. Eventually, it's best for the group leader to handle this task. Leaders can be trained by whispering an instruction on how to intervene, until the leader gets the hang of it.

10 At the end of the session, give a quiz on the material so that students quickly come to realize that these sessions are not just fun and games but really count.

Art...

Only the best art can order the choatic tumble of events, only the best can realign the chaos to suggest both the choas and order it will become."

Michael Ondaatje
In the skin of a lion

Having a Bear moment...

When your a bear with very little brain and you think things, you find sometimes that a thing which seemed very thingish inside you is quite different when it gets out into the open and has other people looking at it. A.A. Milne 1882-1956 The house of Pooh Corner (1928)

Stephen Downes

I want and visualize and aspire toward a system of society and learning where each person is able to rise to his or her fullest potential without social or financial encumberance, where they may express themselves fully and without reservation through art, writing, athletics, invention, or even through their avocations or lifestyle. Where they are able to form networks of meaningful and rewarding relationships with their peers, with people who share the same interests or hobbies, the same political or religious affiliations - or different interests or affiliations, as the case may be. This to me is a society where knowledge and learning are public goods, freely created and shared, not hoarded or withheld in order to extract wealth or influence. This is what I aspire toward, this is what I work toward. - Stephen Downes

http://www.downes.ca/

what makes a great teacher?

Teachers’ repertoires of best practices

• Provide learner with clear tasks, goals, and requirement and inform them of progress made. A key skill in teaching is the ability to explain and describe things clearly

• Encourage pupils to think, to make connections, to practise and reinforce, to learn from other learners and to feel that if they make mistakes they will not be ridiculed or treated negatively

• Promote pupil participation through problem solving, questioning, discussion and “buzz group” activities

• Treat all pupil questions seriously and do not intimidate or ridicule

• Use regular informal assessment strategies including a range of types of questioning, observation and listening in

• Understand that, since individuals learn at different rates and in different ways, we need to provide a variety of activities, tasks and pace of work, and monitor and evaluate children’s progress

• Use breaks and activities to engage pupils’ thinking and interest

• Turn to reading and research for fresh insights and relating these to their classroom and school

• Work in a shared and collegial way with other staff

http://www.highlandschools-virtualib.org.uk/ltt/inclusive_enjoyable/teacher.htm

Margaret J Wheatley

Innovation Means Relying on Everyone's Creativity
Leader to Leader, Spring 2001

"Recognize people's innate capacity to adapt and create-to innovate."

"In my own work I am always constantly and happily surprised by how impossible it is to extinguish the human spirit...My questions are, How do we acknowledge that everyone is a potential innovator? How can we evoke the innate human need to innovate?

"The human capacity to invent and create is universal. Ours is a living world of continuous creation and infinite variation. "

Margarat Wheatley on herself:

I have always found my attention drawn to many different disciplines: science, history, literature, systems thinking, organizational behavior, social policy, cosmology and theology. I value what I’ve learned from each of these different fields, because no one discipline, institution, or specialization can answer the questions that now confront us. We all must draw from many different perspectives to reweave the world.


www.margaretwheatley.com

Every year that I have worked on the Wearable Arts or WAVE as it is now called, I am over whelmed by the capacity of creativity and innovation that goes into creating our show.
My little room that I have contsant battle with whilst teaching produced with the amazing help of other teachers and parents a massive ammout of production costumes. As the Head Seamstress of such a deciated group of helpers I am touched, inspired and constantly amazed at the work that is the created.

Maybe it is the history that resides in that room that against all odds and amongst my little fits of 'I can't go on, this space is to small and messy' helps the ever expanding team of people achieve such amazing feats as producing 100 or so costumes in such a short space of time.

John Hattie

Written on the 21st of September 2006

After reading John Hatties “Teachers Make a Difference What is the research evidence?” article 4 or 5 times my feelings went from absolute fear (how can I be all this all the time to all students), to an acceptance that these are “goal posts” that as young new teacher I am now aware of, so I can always be striving towards and reaching.
Coming to my subject area as an artist (designer) rather than a qualified teacher has been an interesting process of growth and development. Over the last four years I have assisted classes ranging from Preschool to Stage 6 and been able to observe a lot of different teachers, which has helped me in my transition from Artist to Artist Teacher.






Reading Hatties article has clarified areas to focus on in the process of becoming a better teacher.

This year I have had the daunting task of taking on three different lots of 16 or so Year 7 students through the Introduction to sewing lesson. When I start to plan this lesson I am first faced with the obstacle of my rather small room (due to the fact that our new classrooms are being built as I write), due to the size of my room there is only 10 sewing machines and 4 overlockers and 2 tables for cutting out.
Teaching in these conditions an activity that requires machines (that can break or get knotted up at any moment) and being the only one who can fix the machines and mostly without an assistant has given me an insight into how flexible and adaptable you have to be as a teacher.

“Expert teachers adopt a problem-solving stance to their work.”


As the year has unfolded I have been able to come to each group with a better understanding of how the lesson can be improved. Bringing to each group my previous experience therefore becoming better at “anticipating problems and then improvising” in any new situation.
One thing I quickly learnt was that through out a very active lesson of one and half hours you have to have points of contraction because the nature of these types of lesson are that students are up to different things at different times, (some people cutting, sewing, pinning different parts of their projects), so they are incredibly expanded throughout most of the lesson. To counter act this expansion (which if left unchecked can get out of control), I always bring the students in at the beginning of the lesson, sit them in a circle and outline what they are going to be doing that lesson, ask what they would like to achieve in the lesson and talk about new skills etc. Then throughout the lesson I will pull them into silence for a moment to clarify, restate, or highlight something that has come to my notice as I observe and help the individual students. At the end of the lesson after they have tidied up I once again form a circle with the chairs and have a feedback session with show and tell, reinforcement of lesson, achievements and outcomes and of course encouragement and complement.

Through studying John Hatties article “Teachers Make a Difference What is the research evidence?” I have been able to reflect on myself as a teacher and as a learner and the many different teachers I have had and what made them great teachers.
I use great teachers instead of “expert” because even through I have a total appreciation of what Hattie is seeking to uncover, highlight and therefore influence change in a society where teachers are for the most part undervalued and are ‘rewarded primarily by experience irrespective of excellence”, I have problem with the term ‘expert’… who can really define what is an expert?

On the one hand as a teacher I find these great goals to strive for but as a clarifying term to pit one teacher against another and to be labelled as experienced and expert etc, I find these terms to be somewhat limiting.
In my own experience as a learner and through discussions with past and present students from different backgrounds I think that to try to find a way of monitoring, clarifying and group teachers into categories in an objective manner would be extremely difficult because learning is such a subjective process.

I agree of course that by just leaving it as that, (in the to hard basket) it is by no means gong to improve the quality of teaching in society but I think that researchers have to be mindful of the subjective nature of learning. Hattie states in his conclusion that this research is one of the few that has been ‘based on evidence from classrooms, particularly considering the effects on student learning’, this is a start to a more thorough understanding of how to clarify teachers and I realise that I myself would have to do more research to form a deeper understanding of such a complex topic.

Extras from the mind of a Head Seamstress...

Why become a teacher?

The classroom is a familiar environment we have all spent some 12 years or so in one but to come back to one on the other side is an experience not to be taken on by the light hearted.
We have all had our favourite teachers and our never to be forgotten, the bad and the spectacular. We carry with us the complements and the self-esteem crunches. Their words lift us up to create our best and the ones that haunt us in our moments of doubts. We each bring with us all our experiences as we take centre stage and “teach”.
I don’t feel like I choose teaching I feel like it choose me, so here I am and for the last 4 years I have been taking a crash course in teaching through assisting in Pre-school to year 12 and then teaching in high school.
It has been an interesting process to come in as a practicing Costume Designer and to bring the knowledge of my craft into a classroom environment becoming a textile teacher.

I am pleased to say for the most part I had good teachers and some great especially in high school.
It’s interesting to reflect back on who you remember and why. Unfortunately I think one remembers the extremes moments the most whether they be good or bad. The ones that believe in you stick out, the ones that said, “If you believe in yourself you can do it” and the ones that complimented, and encouraged.
Coming into teaching takes you back to your own teachers and helps you reflect on what kind of teacher you want to be. Of course I want to be one of those teachers that inspired me and made a difference in my life. Now standing on the other-side of that is a daunting prospect. How can I become all that to every student all the time?
Harry Potter
JK Rowling has kindly laid out some of the stereotypes of teachers to help us decide which type we want to be.
Maybe the truth is that we need to be each one of these teachers according to the circumstances we find ourself in. there are moments we need to lay down the rules (Snape) and the moment when you need to be wise (Dumbledore) and moments of nursing, caring and patching up the wounds (Madame Pomfrey).

Not only as a teacher do you need to be an expert in:

• group management

• teenagers(or children)
• classroom management
• lesson structure
• group dynamic
• student outcomes(just to state a few)
we also need to be:
• tough skinned
• versatile
• quick on your feet
• have a sense of humour
• caring
• calm
• passionate
and above all want to foster well rounded, passionate, hopeful human beings for the next generation.