All 19 entries tagged Teaching

Reading books on behaviour management

One of the biggest fears for someone just entering the teaching profession is often around behaviour management in the classroom. Some of the thoughts that may enter your mind are ‘Will the students listen to me? ‘How will I deal with bad behaviour?’ and ‘What should I do if I can’t control the class?’. As a trainee, it can be quite overwhelming when you realise that the profession you are about to enter requires you to stand in front of 25 young people for 6 hours a day and help them to learn. There are many horror stories floating around the internet and also through word of mouth which can very easily discourage even the strongest willed people from this career.

I was one of the people who thought I would struggle with behaviour management but by the time I started teaching, I had covered a wide range of topics related to classroom management at university and through independent learning. My first lesson was totally different to how I had envisaged it. Although students were participating in the activities there was a lot of low level disruption throughout the lesson, such as talking amongst friends and tapping the desk continuously. A lot of planning had gone into that lesson, ensuring that the work during the 1 hour period was accessible to all students and low level disruption can be very distracting, especially for a trainee teacher. It can also be very difficult to manage without the right knowledge. It can be frustrating when you have spent 3+ hours to plan a lesson and the students find more amusement in discussing what happened during the lunch break than what you have to teach them. In this instance, reading definitely helped with my classroom management.

One of the first books I read when I entered the profession was ‘Getting the buggers to behave’ by Sue Cowley. This is a simple and easy-to-read book that breaks down some of the most common behavioural issues that a classroom teacher may face. These issues range from students shouting out answers when not being questioned to students getting out of their seats and walking around the classroom. Sue Cowley outlines some effective techniques that can be used to create a positive learning environment within the classroom such as use of body language, tone of voice and language. After reading the book I began putting what I had read into my practice and I saw noticeable differences quite quickly. I started by using assertive body language which involved standing up with my shoulders pulled back and my hands open and visible, as well as utilising the classroom space to exercise my control of the lesson. Simple techniques such as greeting every child at the door upon entering and leaving worked a treat and are now part of my daily routines.

There is a countless amount of literature on behaviour management available to read for new teachers. My advice to new teachers would be to start with simple techniques that you can repeat and embed into a routine. When trying out a new technique it is important that time is allowed for the technique to settle in with the students before trying something else. Adults do not warm to change and students even less so. Be patient with students and get to know your class before trying to fix what may not be broken to begin with.

Abigail Ball : 15 Apr 2019 09:33 |  Tags: Practice Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

How has reading around pedagogy affected my teaching practice? – C.L Davison

After being set our initial university assignment exploring the ‘implications of current theories of Cognitive Development in teaching and learning’, I was dubious about what effect theorists who died decades ago could have on my day to day practice in the classroom.

The importance of research-led practice had been drummed into us, but even after writing my initial assignment on the work of Piaget and Vygotsky, I was unsure where they fitted into my educational experience, or how I was supposed to use their theories. Part of the issue was, it seemed to me, that they were summarising the obvious. Piaget’s description of the development of children (Muijs 2012) and Vygotsky’s points on supporting or ‘scaffolding’ students to get to the next level of understanding (Gray and Macblain 2012) all seemed to be common sense, except coined in elaborate terminology.

I couldn’t be sure whether my perception of these theorists was because their points seemed obvious, or whether because, and I think more likely, they were so fundamental in shaping modern education, theory and research that their ideas have become ingrained in the education system and those of us immersed in it.

Despite my initial, somewhat uninspiring, encounter with pedagogy my engagement with pedagogy and research was far from complete. I was concerned by what I initially deemed to be the restrictive nature of the theories. Piaget suggested specific ages at which children develop, but was that still the case almost four decades after his death? Was behaviourism (Skinner, 1974) the only way to develop effective behaviour for learning in the classroom? Did I need to include all of Gardner’s multiple intelligences (Gardner, 2004) in every lesson?

Then, however, the light bulb moment occurred, in which I connected with a piece of pedagogy. I realised my misconception was that pedagogy was a script, an idea that one subscribed to unconditionally and acted upon unquestioningly. In fact pedagogical theories could be used as a device, developing my understanding of the way students learn. Once understood they act as an informed base from which to experiment and explore different ways of teaching and learning, not a straightjacket dictating the direction of my practice and my development as an educator.

The first piece of pedagogy which inspired me to recognise the versatility and power of research-based practice was Bloom’s Taxonomy (Bloom, 1956). Initially created by Benjamin Bloom and a cohort of educationalists, its intention was to categorise different levels of thought, enabling them to be quantified and therefore compared and tracked. I originally used Bloom’s Taxonomy to structure my lessons, demonstrating to students how we were going to make progress and ensuring I had progressive levels of challenge throughout. Moreover, I soon realised the flexibility of the taxonomy as a tool to develop students’ critical thinking skills and encourage their own independent learning skills. I have since experimented with a variety of ways to do this, including creating Bloom’s question cards, which can be used by students to challenge themselves or each other to develop higher levels of thinking.

The realisation that pedagogy wasn’t restricted to its original form and purpose, that instead it could be used as a platform to explore different teaching techniques and ideas and that a variety of ideas can be synthesised to create new and exciting investigative techniques in the classroom, was a turning point in my cynicism against pedagogy. I am currently exploring a variety of cooperative learning techniques, creating a pick and mix of ideas and theories that I think will work for my students, in my classrooms, for my style of teaching. This is not to say that I’m ‘improving’ pedagogical theories, but rather exploring how they can work for me, as a way of ironing out some of the difficulties I face with some of my classes.

And in my opinion, this is the most effective way to use pedagogy. Initially it should be used as a base to develop understanding, but after that you have to make it work for you; test it out, create resources, synthesize ideas until you find the best fit for you. Pedagogy is not effective until it is understood and treated as a vehicle for exploration, not a rulebook.

Abigail Ball : 02 Apr 2019 09:30 |  Tags: Pedagogy Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Trainee teacher blog: What the books don’t tell you…Libby

My life has always been happily entangled with books. As a bookseller I charmed my customers into buying stacks of glossy new novels, biographies and special editions. As a Librarian I suspiciously eyed up students daring to annotate upon their precious pages. In September, as a trainee teacher on the School Direct Salaried route, I clung to them in the desperate hope of deliverance.

This first year in teaching has been a learning curve of steep proportions. I don’t doubt that many a secondary trainee never fully realises the pitiful state of their own resilience and stamina until thrust into the bustling circus of energy, hormones and defiance that is the average British secondary school. To navigate the shiny new ideas of differentiation, challenging behaviour and positive management, I eagerly devoured “how to” teaching guides, googled behaviour gurus and sought out pedagogical theory with the firm belief that if I learnt enough, I would be a good teacher. In short, I attempted to give my brain a sponge-like absorbency that is, simply, unrealistic.

The immediate result of this self-education was a bombardment of my poor KS3 classes with new behaviour management techniques run a-mock. Lollipop stick questioning collided with raffle ticket incentives and over-resourcing bull-dozed through the lesson plan to successfully baffle my students: and all this when I still struggled to wait for silence. It was a mess. In my feedback session for the lesson in question I was praised for my enthusiasm and engagement with the pedagogy but the implementation of this learning was definitely categorised “even better if”!

Upon reflection (there’s that word again!), and a much embittered struggle (“but it said it in the book?!”), it began to dawn on me that, (shocker), books can’t teach you everything. This was unusual to an academic minded, book-loving historian like me, and something I am still grappling with. Just because Vygotsky theorised that peer discussion is the way forward does not equate to a successful class debate with my, shall we say, “spirited” Year 8 class. They may easily allow debate to slide into argument, into squabble, into a brawl. In the same manner, my enthusiasm for “how to” guides by the likes of Phil Beadle and Sue Cowley is not a negative feature of my learning but, rather, a lesson in pertinence.

I have learnt so much already these past few months of teaching and one of the more important aspects of this has been learning about my own learning as well as that of my students. I am beginning to involve the theories I have engaged with, steadily, and only as appropriate depending on the class, the subject matter and also taking into account my own developing teaching style. This focused and individual approach is gradually allowing me, through trial and error, to discover which techniques work, which don’t and how they can evolve and be developed to suit me and my students. Some teachers have their desks in rows, some in groups. Some teachers focus on written work while others spend more time on active learning tasks. Through observation and my own sweat and tears I am learning that the books, enlightening as they can be, can only take you so far. Much like in History, a piece of evidence is only as good as the analysis and argument to which it is put. So far, from what I am gleaning from both my maniacal and miraculous days in school, pedagogical theory should always be subject to individual criticality and individual teaching style; and that is something the books don’t tell you.

Abigail Ball : 25 Mar 2019 08:36 |  Tags: Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Reflections on E. D. Hirsch’s Cultural Literacy – Luke

In Cultural Literacy: What Every American Needs to Know, author E. D. Hirsch forces the reader to address one simple question; Why do we educate children? Depending on how sympathetic you are to Hirsch upon finishing the book, you may conclude that we educate children so that they are capable of functioning, that is living, working and communicating, in an everchanging society. This definition is a reasonable one but issues arise when looking for the most effective way to implement education.

Hirsch states that a functioning society requires that citizens share a common non-specialist knowledge of their culture when participating in public discourse. Citizens able to engage in this discourse are defined as the culturally literate. A culturally literate Englishman, for example, knows the intended meanings of a catch 22 situation, a Scrooge, flying too close to the sun, fighting them on the beaches or having the heart and stomach of a king without having necessarily read Heller or Dickens, knowing Greek mythology or being fully aware of the setting of our most famous speeches. Hirsch believes that being culturally literate has become the great divider simply because where education has failed to teach this knowledge, the middle classes have been able to impart it to their children at home.

Hirsch is keen that the reader reflect on the case of Cicero who used Latin phrases and terms common to culturally literate Romans to explain complex Greek science and philosophy. Cicero used the shared language to deliver new concepts and skills. Consider the amount of specialist and non-specialist skills that modern society requires of its workforce – it is quickly changing, and the education system cannot teach every skill required. Now consider how little the written English language has changed since it was made uniform; non-specialists can still read the language of the American Declaration of Independence regardless of the changes to society over 200 years. Therefore, it is plausible to suggest that learning new skills is secondary in importance to being culturally literate, but education hasn’t always reflected this. For Hirsch the solutions lie in a knowledge-based curriculum where facts are imparted through rote learning.

The evidence used in the book is compelling and one could certainly argue that books for primary aged children that help decode but deliver no cultural content only do half the job that is required of them. A knowledge-based curriculum explicitly tells students what they need to learn and what they need to do to succeed. It seems unusual to think that university students are fed a diet of instructivism from the lecture hall but have grown up with discovery-based learning ideas.

The theory is not without issues. Toward the end of the book we see a criticism of Bloom’s Taxonomy as Hirsch believes that knowledge should be at the top of the taxonomy. This seems problematic as there is a significant difference between knowing that pulleys enable us to lift greater weights and using them to build the pyramids. A strawman perhaps, but those great revelations of man which were surely made standing on the shoulders of giants were discovered through synthesis of previously learned knowledge and to completely remove exploration and synthesis from our schools may well send the pendulum too far the other way.

Abigail Ball : 25 Feb 2019 08:48 |  Tags: Cultural Literacy Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

How the English Literature GCSE text requirements alienate and disengage young people

How the English Literature GCSE text requirements alienate and disengage young people - Anna

The changes in the GCSE requirements for English, while challenging, go a long way in disengaging students and alienating them from the enjoyment of literature. The new English Literature syllabus focuses on ‘classic literature’ and ‘substantial whole texts in detail’, taken from the following categories:

• Shakespeare
• 19th century novel
• Selection of poetry since 1789, including Romantic poetry
• Fiction or drama from the British Isles from 1914 onwards

Although elements of this specification can engage and certainly challenge students, this GCSE specification is creating issues in our society, specifically disengaging young people with reading and also creating dissent in classrooms, as often literature lessons do not inspire, and can be seen to be irrelevant by many young people.

Shakespeare

Due to the language barrier in Shakespearean texts, some students (particularly low ability students) feel alienated and intimidated by the texts given to them. Considering the amount of time needed to unravel the archaic language in order for students to understand the stories fully, as well as the amount of analysis needed in order to prepare students for their exams, there is little time to allow students to take part in engaging activities in order to understand and analyse these texts. Most teachers do not include acting or directing, for instance, in their scheme of work as most time is given over to essay practice and quotation learning. Although Shakespeare remains relevant to student’s lives with highly relevant themes (Purewal, 2017), most teachers are under increasing pressure to deliver exam results so are unable to explore these themes in detail and how they relate to student’s lives.

19th century novel

Due to the language and style of most 19th century literature, students tend to find the novels tedious and strenuous. While there is significant merit in studying some 19th century literature, studying a whole text, and expecting students to be able to memorise quotations from this is disengaging to many students. Potentially, the study of such difficult and potentially alienating texts, with the added pressure of exams, will discourage young people from pursuing reading for pleasure. Although the department for education has cited reading for pleasure as being “more important for children’s education success than their families socio-economic status” (DofE, 2012, p. 3) schools are alienating young people from reading and subconsciously discouraging them from reading through the study of a range of disengaging texts.

Fiction or Drama

Although being the only real ‘modern’ area on the syllabus, most schools choose an older text. “An Inspector Calls” (1945) is one of the most engaging texts on the syllabus, similarly “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time” or “Blood Brothers” are more modern and engaging for young people, with themes and characters closer to their real lives. However, students see the play format as being closer to a film in nature, and while this may be enjoyable, is not encouraging students to read and engage in a variety of literature for their own pleasure as well as the widening of their own knowledge and vocabulary. Many children’s rivers of reading (Kibbler, 2018) end at school. If the GCSE specification was effective, then not only would teachers be able to support students in passing their exams, but also to develop a love of literature and learning.

Pressure of results

Due to both the pressure of results, and the pressure of Ofsted inspections, teachers appear to have become fairly monotonous in their teaching, having to stick to rigid and repetitive lesson plans with a focus on analysis and evaluation, purely with the aim of getting students to pass their exams than to create a love of literature reading and creating a rich culture in student’s cultural capital.

The new GCSE specification disengages students through a range of texts students struggle to understand, and the need to analyse destroys the enjoyment of these texts. As well as this, teachers do not have the time to explore different ways of learning due to the pressure from schools and the government to push students through their exams and achieve the results made. Instead of supporting a love of learning, the GCSE specification is destroying students love of stories interest in a range of different themes. Children instead turn to films, TV programmes and games to refresh and relax their minds instead of turning to books.

References

DofE. (2012). Research evidence on reading for pleasure. Educational standards research team.

Kibbler, K. (2018). Rivers of Reading. NATE: Teaching English, 53-57.

Purewal, S. (2017). Shakespeare in the Classroom: to be or not to be? . Warwick Journal of Education, 26-35.

Abigail Ball : 11 Feb 2019 08:49 |  Tags: English GCSE Literature Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

The impact of research on my practice – Mike

Discuss how being research-informed has impacted on an area of your practice and explain how you hope to develop this in the future.

During this training year, one of my absolute passions has been the area of ‘diversity history’ within wider history education. The term ‘diversity’ encompasses many things and so is difficult to define. Here it is largely considered as a term to explain the need to widen the history taught in the classroom so that it is ‘responsive’ to the reality of the classroom in 2018 (Mohamud & Whitburn, 2014, p. 41). This means teaching a history that reflects the makeup of the classroom. History is a unique subject in that it can help shape the identity of pupils teaching a history that excludes a sizable portion of the classroom is not acceptable in 2018. Working in a school which has a higher than average ethnic minority within its cohort makes the need for this immediately apparent when considering race. However, diversity history should aim to challenge misconceptions and reveal hidden figures throughout history who may have previously been ignored for societal reasons. That means considering the history of influential women long before the suffrage movement or making students aware that LGBTQ people have always been a part of history. Students should engage with questions of why these histories has been largely erased. For many, speaking of ‘diversity’ instantly brings to mind topics of slavery, suffrage and civil rights. These remain valuable topics, but research suggests that we need to be moving away from narratives of victimhood when it comes to the diverse history as these remain problematic. (Traille, 2007). These topics often remain go to ‘diversity topics’ however due to ease of resources.

With the research in mind I have attempted to consider ways in which to diversify my own teaching of history. The reality is that this starts with working within established frameworks – especially as a trainee. I have attempted to implement this into a Civil Rights scheme of work taught at Key Stage Three. With a sensitive topic such as this and the research in mind, I have made a conscious effort to not look overly exploitative in presenting African-American’s as victims. The first slide on Evidence 1 shows a Coca-Cola machine that was only for white people. I had chosen this image as a replacement for a suggested image of lynching – yes this has a shock value. But ultimately students can take my word for it that these atrocities happened. By choosing a more obscure and intriguing image the point is ultimately the same – racism was ingrained into society at an unimaginable level, but it avoids perpetuating a troubling victimhood any further.

Ultimately, implementing a diverse history also means fostering a mindset in students which questions the dominating histories to question where other types of people fit into our historical study. I have been attempting to raise this questioning nature with Year 8 by posing questions and think pieces so that students do not accept dominating narratives at face value. The student response in Evidence 2 which asks ‘Who says that Jack the Ripper wasn’t a girl’ was an encouraging sign of this mindset being embedded into the classroom.

Looking towards the future, I am planning two schemes of work over the summer. A Suffragette module and a wider module on protest. My approach to this planning will be with the research on diversity history in mind. For example, the enquiry question for the Suffragettes will be ‘who were the hidden suffragettes?’. Although still a typical ‘diversity’ topic, I aim to offer a more modern take on it beyond the classic story which we know. Something which seems apt at the centenary of the event. I continue to adapt current schemes (introducing a lesson on the African-American women of NASA to Civil Rights) but hope that as my confidence in this area grows that I will be able to explore more exciting opportunities at planning a diversity history away from classic narratives.

References:

Mohamud, A. and Whitburn, R. (2014). Unpacking the suitcase and finding history: doing justice to the teaching of diverse histories in the classroom. Teaching History, 40-46.

Traille, K. (2007). ‘You should be proud about your history. They made me feel ashamed’: teaching history hurts. Teaching History, 31-37.

Abigail Ball : 04 Feb 2019 09:21 |  Tags: History Research Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Vocabulary – reposted by Kate Glavina

I have always had an interest in and fascination for the power of vocabulary and remember well the excitement I felt as a child when I successfully tried out a ‘new word’. For example, in Junior 4 (now Year 6), I was introduced to the word ‘consequently’ and wove it into my conversation as often as I possibly could. When my sister, later, introduced me to ‘subsequently’, I was quite transported.

The power of a rich vocabulary and its impact on educational attainment is well documented. In her book Proust and the Squid, Dr Maryanne Wolf reflects on the absence of literacy and asserts that: ‘When words are not heard, concepts are not learned.’ The OUP has recently published a language report entitled 'Why Closing the Word Gap Matters' in which the point is highlighted that the size of a child’s vocabulary is the best predictor of success on future tests and children with a poor vocabulary are three times more likely to have mental health issues. The motivation for Robert Macfarlane’s recent, beautiful publication The Lost Words was a reaction to the revised edition of the Oxford Junior Dictionary (2007) which had ‘dropped’ around forty common words related to nature, such as bluebell, heron, bramble, fern, heather… Macfarlane describes his poems as ‘spells’, intended to be spoken aloud to ‘summon lost words back into the mouth and the mind’s eye’. The importance of a wide vocabulary and the best approach to teaching young children seems a relevant, current debate.

Reflecting on the findings of Ofsted’s 15/16 review of the curriculum and assessment in English, HMI Sally Hubbard reported at a NATE conference (Autumn 2017) on the reading curriculum and in particular asserted that the most-able readers in the primary schools visited, lacked understanding of words that linked to ‘knowledge’. She stated that teachers should use their subject expertise to ensure that pupils can cope with vocabulary that is ‘lexically dense’ and ‘content-specific’. She emphasised the importance of vocabulary and ‘knowledge of the world’ and teachers’ appreciation of how language and understanding the world go hand-in-hand. She talked about the demands of the Key Stage 2 Reading SAT and the requirement for children as readers to be able to, amongst other skills, be able to explain the meaning of words in context and explain how meaning is enhanced through choice of words and phrases.

These language demands were viewed further through the focus of the research by Isabel Beck around Three Tier Vocabulary. In summary, Tier 1 words are those common ‘everyday’ words to which children have plenty of exposure and which quickly become a part of their vocabulary. Tier 2 words are not used commonly in conversation, but are more often found in written materials, whether fiction, information or technical texts. They will be used, for instance, by authors to enhance a story, for literary effect (e.g. misfortune; dignified; faltered) or to provide particular detail in an information piece (e.g. relative; vary; accumulate). Tier 2 words are not context specific but highly generalisable – and often express concepts that children are familiar with but in a more sophisticated or nuanced way. Tier 3 words, by contrast, are technical terms specific to content areas (e.g. lava; circumference; aorta). Recognised as new and ‘difficult’ words, they are often defined by the author of a text and sometimes scaffolded as through a glossary. All three tiers are important for comprehension and vocabulary development although Tier 2 and 3 words require more ‘deliberate effort’ than Tier 1.

In considering this model, Hubbard argues that teachers are good at giving attention to ‘Tier 3’ words - will anticipate them in their planning and offer children explicit instruction around them through such strategies as pre-teaching key words; providing a Word Wall; exploring spelling patterns, word families, derivations. What is lacking, however, is attention to Tier 2 words which, being ‘non content specific’, children will encounter in multiple contexts. It is therefore crucial for teachers to engage children in a consideration of words across different contexts. As an example, Beck outlined an occasion where she read nursery children a story in which there featured the word ‘reluctant’: Lisa was reluctant to leave her teddy bear in the laundrette. In exploring this concept, she asked the children to share a time when they had felt reluctant to do something and the children typically replied thus: . I’d be reluctant to leave my teddy at my friend’s house; I’d be reluctant to leave my drums at my step-mum’s… All of the examples offered by the children, related to leaving something behind. Beck modelled further: I’m reluctant to ride a roller-coaster. Some children are reluctant to eat spinach. Could you tell me something you’d be reluctant to do? Much to her delight, one child replied: I’d be reluctant to change a baby’s diaper.

In light of the survey findings shared by Hubbard, I thought it would be interesting to use the lessons I observe as a Link Tutor, as a lens through which to consider the idea of Two Tier vocabulary instruction. The first opportunity was a science lesson with Year 1. The Learning Objective shared with the children was displayed on a whiteboard: I can describe the physical properties of a variety of everyday objects made from different materials. The trainee asked the class what was meant by the word ‘variety’. One child responded by saying it meant ‘lots’ and the trainee agreed and moved on. In reflecting on this interaction with the trainee after the lesson, in light of the Three Tier Vocabulary model, we established that ‘variety’ fitted the classification of a Tier 2 word – i.e. it is not context specific but used in a range of different contexts. The trainee could appreciate that instead of confirming ‘variety’ meant ‘lots’, as though the words were synonymous, there was, in fact, rather more ‘unpacking’ to be done around the definition. Having a number of something (even ‘lots’) is a prerequisite for having variety, but does not in itself mean there is necessarily difference between them. Considering other contexts in which the children might have encountered the word ‘variety’ would have been valuable as well as then making the link between the meaning of the word in the context of the learning objective and the resources on the children’s tables to be investigated in their science activity.

In a different school, I observed a trainee teaching a grammar lesson to Year 5. The objective was To Build Cohesion Within A Paragraph. The trainee began the lesson by asking the class ‘What does ‘cohesion’ mean – talk to your partner.’ After a moment or two, she took an answer from one child who said ‘time connectives and conjunctions’, to which the trainee replied ‘Yes, well done.’ Of course, this isn’t in fact the meaning of the word ‘cohesion’ - the child had quite cannily offered a phrase spotted at the top of the worksheet on his desk which related to the grammatical terms one might deploy to create text cohesion and which was clearly going to be the focus of the next exercise . The trainee did not explore the meaning of the word further – neither in a wider context, nor in a grammatical one. Part way through the lesson, the trainee drew the class together for a mini-plenary during which she asked a particular pupil to read their work aloud and then asked ‘How can you make that sentence cohesive?’ After a pause, the child said ‘I don’t know’. As an observer, I sensed that the difficulty lay in the fact that the child didn’t know what ‘cohesive’ meant and without further comprehension of the term, could not articulate a reply. Reflecting on the lesson afterwards, the trainee agreed that anticipating the need for discussion around the term ‘cohesion’ would have supported the children’s understanding of the task, their engagement with it and the progress made during the lesson. Out of interest, I asked the trainee how she would define the word herself – in what other contexts she might encounter the word - and she gave me a lovely response: I think of the word in the context of RE – in relation to ‘unity’ – and also the idea of cultural cohesion – and I also associate it with ‘glue’ and sticking things together – oh no...is that ‘adhesive’? In terms of exploring nuance and a range of contexts, this trainee was well able to see the wide applicability of the term cohesion and the merit, in future, of better anticipating those words at the planning stage of a lesson.

In conclusion, I have found this focus a very interesting one as there has always been an instance of a Two Tier word occurring early in the lesson (e.g. ‘equivalent’ when exploring fractions in maths; ‘map’ when discussing story structure in English) the exploration of which has been pivotal to the children’s understanding and, crucially, their capacity to make progress by the end of the lesson. We need to be alert to Tier Two vocabulary – anticipate it when planning – give it attention during teaching. To this end, Jo Dobb and I have created new SBTs for the 18/19 cohort of core Primary and EY PGCE trainees. These tasks will build on work we will do with the students on the ‘taught programme’ to introduce the concept and model the process. We are confident it will have a positive impact on children’s vocabulary development and subsequently (one of my favourite words) on pupil progress. Finally –since we have been thinking about vocabulary development, let me leave you with a topical book recommendation – take a look at ‘What A Wonderful Word’ by Nicola Edwards – a wonderful gift – or indeed why not treat yourself?

Abigail Ball : 22 Jan 2019 16:39 |  Tags: Teaching Vocabulary |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

Thinking about blogging?

What is WJETT?

The WJETT blog or Warwick Journal of Education - Transforming Teaching blog is designed to encourage staff and students to disseminate good practice and to engage with their peers on academic cultural critique or areas of research that they find interesting.

With the increased focus on ‘teachers as researchers’ in the sector, many qualified teachers are expected to publish the outcomes of any action research projects they undertake. The WJETT blog can be the first step on your journey towards publishing and enables you to experience publishing and reviewing in a friendly and supportive environment.

Can I write about anything in my blog post?

Yes pretty much. Academic cultural critique (Thomson and Mewburn, 2013) is always a good source of content for academic blogs. This can include (but is not limited to) comments and reflections on funding; higher education policy or academic life. You might also want to consider blogging about:

• Academic practice (Saper, 2006)
• Information and/or self-help advice
• Technical, teaching and careers advice
• Your research or practice
• How you’ve undertaken research
• Impact of research on your practice
• An area of research/practice that interests you
• Your experiences/reflections
  

How long can my blog post be?

Each individual blog post should be no longer than 500 words. Long blocks of text are sometimes hard for readers to digest. Break up your content into shorter paragraphs, bullet points and lists whenever possible. Also include a list of keywords or tags as this makes it easier for Google to find your work.

Do I need to use citations?

No, this is a reflective piece so it does not need to include citations (but you obviously can include them if they are relevant).

Can I include links or images?

We would encourage you to include links to any articles that you have considered whilst writing your blog post. We also welcome the use of images (as long as you have permission to use them) as they can often help to illustrate a point and obviously will not be included in the word limit. Please remember this is a public site so if you want to include images of your students in your classes then you will need permission to do this.

What is the process for submitting a piece of work?

Your blog post should be emailed to me at A.Ball.1@warwick.ac.uk. Once the submission has been reviewed it will either be uploaded at the beginning of the next available week or sent back to you for editing if it requires amendments. You should then send the amended work to me once again and I will then upload it onto the WJETT site.

Abigail Ball : 07 Jan 2019 09:10 |  Tags: Research Teaching Wjett |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

My Teaching Philosophy – Dominic

My teaching philosophy has been formed, shaped and developed by my touchstones. My touchstones are both professional and personal. They include my passion for my subjects (History and Politics), my deeply-held belief in the importance of good teaching and learning, and my own education – especially the teachers who taught me. My teaching philosophy and my touchstones have helped me meet Teacher Standard 1 and its sub-standards because they have installed in me very high professional and personal standards which leads me to "Set high expectations which inspire, motivate and challenge pupils” (Department for Education, 2011, p10), as well as myself.

My first touchstone is etymological in the sense that is concerns what education means and therefore what it is. The English word education ultimately derives from two similar-sounding but distinct Latin transitive verbs - educare and educere. Educare means to bring up, to train, to teach (as opposed to coach), while educere means to lead forth (Bass and Good, 2004). At the heart of my teaching philosophy is my belief that education is - or should be - both of these noble things. My teaching philosophy is grounded in the belief that good teachers should bring up their pupils, in an academic, intellectual and pastoral sense, while also leading them forth on their own learning journeys. Since the Age of Enlightenment, educational pedagogy and practice in Western Europe has rightly focused on the importance of teaching pupils, as opposed to instructing them. Rousseau wrote that education “is a question of guidance rather than instruction. He (the teacher) must not give precepts, he must let the scholar find them out for himself.” (Rousseau, 1762, p112). This difference between educating, as opposed to spoon-feeding information, lies at the heart of my teaching philosophy.

My second touchstone is my long-held passion for my subject. One of the major reasons I am training to be a history teacher is because I love history and because I want to share this love with pupils of all ages, abilities and backgrounds. This enthusiasm for my subject has helped me meet Teacher Standard 3 and its sub-standards of having excellent subject and curriculum knowledge because I constantly seek to deepen and develop my own subject and curriculum knowledge. I have actively developed my subject and curriculum knowledge in my Initial Teacher Training year by attending numerous subject-specific CPD courses (including a four-day subject-enrichment course run by the Prince’s Teaching Institute for new and newly-qualified History teachers, for which my work(a cross-curricular History and Chemistry lesson) was commended), by co-leading a large group of pupils on a battlefields tour of the Western Front as part of University College London’s high-profile Centenary Battlefields Tour Programme and by volunteering as the school visit’s co-ordinator at the largest history festival in the country.

My third touchstone is my own education and the people who taught me – both inside and outside of the classroom. Although no single individual inspired or influenced my decision to become a teacher, my former drama teacher, Mrs Carly Waterman, a superb teaching practitioner, did much to make my secondary education very enjoyable. I often use Mrs Waterman’s lessons as the benchmark by which I now judge my own teaching. In this respect this touchstone has helped me meet Teacher Standard 1 and its sub-standards because I actively "demonstrate consistently the positive attitudes, values and behaviour" (Department for Education, 2011, p10) which were modelled to me by some of my teachers and which I now model for my own pupils.

Academic references

Bass, R, and Good, J (2004). ‘Educare and Educere: Is a Balance Possible in the Educational System?’ The Educational Forum, Vol. 68, pp. 161 – 168.

Department for Education (2011). Teachers’ Standards: Guidance for school leaders, school staff and governing bodies Crown Copyright.

Rousseau, J, (1991). Émile, Or Treatise on Education Penguin.

Abigail Ball : 02 Jan 2019 10:45 |  Tags: Philosophy Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem

How I have used ICT to enhance my students’ learning – Danielle

ICT can be used in a variety of ways to facilitate and enhance students’ learning and includes: using data loggers; online assessment resources such as Kerboodle; mobile phones; and communicating information via software such as PowerPoint (Capel et al. 2016). Although each of these has been used within my own practice, further discussion will focus on the use of software and data-loggers.

ICT has been used with a Year 8 class to encourage student-led learning and to introduce them to the concept of research. Working in groups, students used the internet to investigate how the Earth’s atmosphere had changed over the past 4.5 billion years. Prior to conducting the research, the class was informed that they would be creating and delivering a two-minute presentation of their findings. Sharing this aim with the students helped to encourage a conscientious attitude towards their work and motivated them to progress in their learning; this was evident in the quality of the presentations that were produced. Further to this, students then used the ICT skills they had learned within lessons on a different topic.

According to Scheme of Works, and the KS2 National Curriculum, pupils had previously had minimal tuition on the composition of the Earth’s early atmosphere. Therefore, when planning this series of lessons, students’ prior learning and knowledge was taken into account. In-line with Vygotsky, Bruner, and Wood’s learning theories, a set of questions were designed to help guide the students with their research, and teacher support was provided to those who needed further scaffolding(Bruner & Watson 1983; Vygotsky 1962; Wood 1998).

ICT was also used for a research project with a Year 10 class; however, the activity was more student-led. Triple Science students were asked to write a 700-word journal article on a scientific discovery of their choice. Following a lesson on this project, students were set this task as homework, and were required to extend their knowledge past that of the National Curriculum, and that which they had already learned. As the students were required to conduct research using online journals, and use Microsoft Word to create an academic article, ICT enriched their learning by enabling them to work independently and take responsibility for their learning (Jedeskog and Nissen 2004). Furthermore, as the research related to an aspect of science that they were passionate about, this project promoted intellectual curiosity. The benefits of using ICT as described above relates to Bruner’s theory of ‘discovery learning’, whereby pupils use the knowledge that they have already acquired to help them develop new ideas and progress in their understanding of a topic (Bruner 1966; Capel et al. 2016).

Data loggers have also been used to improve students’ learning of a number of topics, such as pH and neutralisation. Data loggers are electronic devices which record data over a given period of time, and in some cases, plot the results on a graph. Using technology in this way was found to be particularly useful for pupils with low numeracy skills as it reduced the need to read, and devise, an appropriate scale for a graph. Moreover, it enabled SEND pupils to focus on the Science rather than worrying about using lots of equipment.

References:

Bruner, J.S., 1966. Toward a Theory of Instruction, Belknap Press of Harvard University. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=F_d96D9FmbUC.

Bruner, J.S. & Watson, R., 1983. Child’s Talk: Learning to Use Language, W.W. Norton. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=k0h4QgAACAAJ.

Capel, S., Leask, M. & Younie, S., 2016. Learning to Teach in the Secondary School: A Companion to School Experience, Taylor & Francis. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=86zDCwAAQBAJ.

Vygotsky, L.S., 1962. Thought and Language, M.I.T. Press, Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=ZNVrAAAAIAAJ.

Wood, D., 1998. How Children Think and Learn, Wiley. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=mw3DGr01lYkC.

Jedeskog, G. and Nissen, J., 2004. ICT in the classroom: is doing more important than knowing?. Education and information technologies, 9(1), pp.37-45.

Abigail Ball : 17 Dec 2018 09:33 |  Tags: Ict Lesson Teaching |  Comments (0) |  Close comments |  Report a problem