Personal Development Plans of BA(Hons) students of education
ART In today’s seminar we had the opportunity to let our creative minds flow and put ourselves in the shoes of the children we will soon be teaching. We were given a bunch of different materials and asked to make … Continue reading →
ART In today’s seminar we had the opportunity to let our creative minds flow and put ourselves in the shoes of the children we will soon be teaching. We were given a bunch of different materials and asked to make … Continue reading →
The last two weeks of learning within the module Sustainable Development has really changed my attitude towards the topic of environment. My prior understanding of the term ‘environment’ was very limited, with only really knowing that it is associated with our surroundings and having often only heard it being used in a negative context. However, after participating … Continue reading Learning Log – Environment →
The last two weeks of learning within the module Sustainable Development has really changed my attitude towards the topic of environment.
My prior understanding of the term ‘environment’ was very limited, with only really knowing that it is associated with our surroundings and having often only heard it being used in a negative context. However, after participating in various activities and taking on further reading into the matter, I have learned that it is essential for me (as a future educator) to be well informed on this subject for it is highly relevant in today’s global issues. Also for the fact the government has recognised the crucial role of education and learning in bringing about attitudinal and societal change in relation to these areas.
The various activities during the previous two weeks learning about both natural environments and urban environments have helped me developed a range of skills; both as a student and as a teacher.
The most effective activity relating to natural environments was a group sensory walk around campus, where we engaged in seeing, smelling, feeling and hearing our surroundings. As a student this developed my team working skills as we openly shared what each person could sense. We related the task to primary teaching and how it could be used a beneficial learning activity to educate children on natural environments, as well taking into account how what aspects of the task could be changed to adapt to a child’s needs. For example making sure on the walk the children stay within the school’s boundaries. The most interesting part was seeing how an activity which can applied for one area of learning can also become cross-curricular. An example of this would be the children using their experiences on the sensory walk to create a piece of writing, thereby developing their literacy skills in a fun and practical way. After participating in this activity, my skills as a teacher have developed diversely. Sharing ideas, communicating effectively and organised lesson planning are all key components of being a good teacher and I had the opportunity to experience each one during the task.
The second task we were assigned was to interact and find information on our local urban environment. As a student this built on my research skills as I had to investigate specific areas of a subject and conduct this into a piece of writing, something I have and will find myself doing very frequently at university. On a personal note, it expanded my knowledge of the town I have spent my whole life in and taught me useful facts that I never knew before. As a teacher, my skills were developed by thinking and planning different ways I can incorporate my findings with teaching children about their urban environment in an interesting and practical way.
Looking at helpful resources and links to teaching activities has showed me that learning about the theme of environment is very important and useful to a child’s education.
Links
http://moodle.uws.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/320579/mod_resource/content/1/Beyond%20Your%20Boundary.pdf
https://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/naturedetectives/
In today’s seminar we had the opportunity to let our creative minds flow and put ourself in the shoes of the children we will soon be teaching. We were given a bunch of different materials and asked to make a paintbrush. At first, I began to wonder why we were creating paintbrushes, but the whole […]
In today’s seminar we had the opportunity to let our creative minds flow and put ourself in the shoes of the children we will soon be teaching. We were given a bunch of different materials and asked to make a paintbrush. At first, I began to wonder why we were creating paintbrushes, but the whole task underpinned a very valuable lesson.
As children start to appreciate others works around them, they begin to realise that everyones skill level is different. They then start to compare each others work and some chidlren’s confidence begins to drop as they may not think their art and design is as good as the person next to them (McAuliffe, 2007). When a children is given a standard paintbrush, it is as if they are all expected to produce the same art work. Before the children even begin their work, we are giving them the means to compare and how can we possibly expect anything unique. As an educator it is very important that we make sure children are given equal oppertunity’s and that they feel as valued as one another.
Our task in the seminar was to create our own paintbrush. We were given a wooden broomstick, and many materials such as wool, string, tape and feathers. Everyone at my table ended up creating a very unique piece of art.
The creative paintbrush i had created. A piece of art that is unique, and wont allow me to compare my work to others. A valuable and fun lesson we can use in the classroom to ensure ever child feels as important as the next.
After creating our paintbrushes, we then had the chance to then paint a picture. Our lecturer described a scene and then we began to paint with our own creations. I felt confident when doing this excerise as it felt fun when using the paintbrush that could create different marks and lines. Again, not being restricted to materials also let me explore with different colours of paints and helped me paint freely.
My finished creation using my created paintbrush. A scottish scenery.
Primary colours – to let us create any colour possible for our painting.
Paintbrush in use.
The Ciricculum for Excellence (2004) ensures that all children should have equal oppertunitys. Providing a lesson such as creating your own paintbrush will not make the children feel as if they are all the same.
In the Second Seminar we had the chance to explore music within the expressive arts. As i had not taken part in any music lessons since standard grade in fourth year i felt nervous, however when being introucded to Figurenotes(2017).
Figurenotes allows you to play the instrument by looking at colourful symbols. This would be appropriate in a primary classroom as it is a step by step easy way to read music. When trying a few songs i began to build my confidence, and i was able to improvise infront of the class.
This Glockenspiel shows the Figurenotes running along the bottom of the keys which matches up with the piece of paper allowing me to play “Twinkle Twinkle”.
This lesson proved to me that anyone can play music. The Curriculum for Excellence provides many oppertunities for music to be played in the classroom, and figure notes would give children the confidence to do so.
References :
Figurenotes (2017). How it works. [Online :
The initial inputs of the sustainable development module centred around the Environment, with a focus on natural and urban environments. Having previously studied Higher Geography and enjoyed the course, I was looking forward to this module, and to apply my already acquired knowledge and also develop new knowledge that I can implement within primary education. … Continue reading Learn Log- The Evnironment
The initial inputs of the sustainable development module centred around the Environment, with a focus on natural and urban environments. Having previously studied Higher Geography and enjoyed the course, I was looking forward to this module, and to apply my already acquired knowledge and also develop new knowledge that I can implement within primary education. Over the past weeks I have been able to develop my understanding through a range of workshops and independent study.
Sustainable development can be defined as world citizens being able to satisfy basic needs and enjoy a better quality of environment. Griffin, et al (1991, p.9) establish sustainability as:
Sustainability is becoming increasing more important as the world seeks revolutionary methods to enhance the environment. It is therefore vital that as a perspective teacher to ensure I execute sustainable development education, as there are many positive opportunities for children to gain.
During workshop one we experienced outdoor learning, in the university grounds. In groups we explored the natural environment, such as tree barks/ leaves, went on a sensory walk and looked for different types of insects and their habitats. We were provided with worksheets, the worksheets used during the input could easily be adapted to any primary year. Outdoor learning has many opportunities for teachers to employ the cross-curricular approach to learning, for instance children outside could find a flower, leave, rock etc., something that is part of nature. Back in the classroom children would write a creative piece of work about their object that they found. Also, many schools have”bug hotels” children could write a review about the “bug hotels” and the improvements required. It is important that as a perspective teacher I take advantage of the outdoors, as outdoor learning is embedded within the Curriculum for Excellence experiences and outcomes of social sciences and within the General Teaching Council for Scotland framework and standards for probationary teachers and qualified teachers, likewise there are many opportunities for children to develop new skills and knowledge outdoors.
Within workshop two we looked at natural science, how this fit within the Curriculum for Excellence, we then continued onto group work and tried out different classroom activities. Firstly, we went outdoors and used different types of paper and writing implements to take makings of tree bark and leaves. Also there was snails, that we were able to hold. Deakin University has many science activities that are suitable, fun and engaging for primary education
The urban aspect of environment was a directed studied task that I was able to do at home. This task involved me going out and exploring my local urban environment. By carrying this out I was able discover a significant amount about the my local urban and nature environment. Whilst outside I paid particular attention to trees in my area, what I discovered was the trees are all different (especially texture, leaves and bark).
Over the past two week I believe I have developed a significant amount of knowledge in regards to sustainable developmental education, natural environment and urban environment. I feel I have enough understanding to teach the environment within schools, there are many opportunities to teach the curriculum outdoors and employ activities which are fun, engaging and stimulating for leaners. I look forward to learning and to develop my understanding of sustainable development more in-depth over the coming weeks.
References
Deakin University (N.D) Ideas for Teaching Science. Available: [https://blogs.deakin.edu.au/sci-enviro-ed/early-years/]. Accessed: [28 September 2017]
Griffin, D. Inman, S. Meadows, J. Norman, A. Rogers, M. Wade, R. (1991) Teaching for a Sustainable Future. London: South Bank University.
Scottish Government. (2012) Learning for Sustainability. Available: [ http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Education/Schools/curriculum/LearningforSustainability]. Accessed [ 14 September 2017]
My urban environment is the largest town in Scotland, known as Paisley. It is situated in the western central lowlands of Scotland, around 7 miles from Glasgow. The population of Paisley is just under 77,000 and is currently in the bidding process for the 2021 UK City of Culture in order to help to regenerate … Continue reading “My Urban Environment”
My urban environment is the largest town in Scotland, known as Paisley. It is situated in the western central lowlands of Scotland, around 7 miles from Glasgow. The population of Paisley is just under 77,000 and is currently in the bidding process for the 2021 UK City of Culture in order to help to regenerate … Continue reading “My Urban Environment”
Integrated Arts week 3 Music: Today we looked at the figure notes system of reading music. Julie explained how the system was developed in Finland as an educational tool that creates a more inclusive way of learning to play an instrument. The symbols and colours are used to identify individual notes. Using this simple yet …
Integrated Arts week 3 Music: Today we looked at the figure notes system of reading music. Julie explained how the system was developed in Finland as an educational tool that creates a more inclusive way of learning to play an instrument. The symbols and colours are used to identify individual notes. Using this simple yet …
My memories of painting in my primary setting is sitting beside a friend and wishing my painting looked as good as theirs. As children grow they become more self-consious and concerned that their creation is accurate enough (McAuliffe, 2007) or that it’s not “perfect”. This word “perfect” is a word that I hate to hear […]
My memories of painting in my primary setting is sitting beside a friend and wishing my painting looked as good as theirs. As children grow they become more self-consious and concerned that their creation is accurate enough (McAuliffe, 2007) or that it’s not “perfect”. This word “perfect” is a word that I hate to hear […]
I have chosen the town where I live (Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway) as my urban environment for this task. Dumfries is a market town in South-West Scotland near the border with England. The area around Dumfries is quite rural and a lot of farming activity occurs. There are three main roads that connect to and … Continue reading My Urban Environment →
I have chosen the town where I live (Dumfries, Dumfries & Galloway) as my urban environment for this task. Dumfries is a market town in South-West Scotland near the border with England. The area around Dumfries is quite rural and a lot of farming activity occurs.
There are three main roads that connect to and from Dumfries; The A75 (Connecting south towards Annan and Carlisle and further South), The A76 (Connecting North to places such as Sanquhar, Cumnock and Ayr) and The A701 (Connecting North to Moffat and towards Edinburgh and Glasgow) [Appendix 1].
Dumfries has many historical buildings that make up the history and culture of the town itself [Appendixes 2&3]. The High Street and The Vennel (two of the main streets in the Central Business District) are vastly made up of these historical buildings. There are also two main green-spaces in Dumfries – The Dock Park and Castledykes Park [Appendixes 4&5]. The main transport in Dumfries is busses and trains. The busses are used more and are on the most part more regular than the trains. There are two trains pass through Dumfries (Both part of the same route connecting Carlisle and Glasgow Central).
Dumfries has four libraries with the main and oldest being The Ewart Library. Also, each housing estate in Dumfries has it’s own community centre that can be used by all.
Dumfries is a learning town with lots of work going on locally to improve education [Dumfries & Galloway Council]. In addition to many Primary schools, Dumfries has four Secondary schools, Dumfries and Galloway College and two university campuses (The University of the West of Scotland and The University of Glasgow).
There are two main sports centres in Dumfries also (The David Keswick Centre and DG1) which can be accessed by anyone making sports accessible to all. Also, there are two theatres and a cinema for recreation. Although there are not many options for young people if they wanted to go somewhere in town for fun, many local charities have become involved in getting young people engaged inn activities and hobbies such as a project called “The Toon”.
Dumfries has four main industrial estates where many people choose to work. With being an Urban/Rural town, many people are involved in agriculture and dairy work. This has opened up the way for some local farmers markets where you can buy good quality produce.
The population of Dumfries and Galloway in 2015 was 149,670 which was a decrease of 0.2 per cent from the previous figure 149,960 in 2014 according to the National Record of Scotland (2016). This shows that the population of the region is in decline.
Dumfries has a high air quality [Air Quality Scotland] with the most recent figures showing a low pollution index of Index 1. This could be due to the rural connections in and around the area as Dumfries & Galloway is a rural community.
Appendixes:
Appendix 1 – An ordinate survey map of Dumfries showing the main roads leading to and from the area.
https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/55.08263,-3.60768,13
Appendix 2 – Greyfriars Church.
Appendix 3 – St. Joseph’s College, RC Diocese of Galloway.
Appendix 4 – Castledykes Park.
Appendix 5 – Dock Park.
References:
Dumfries & Galloway Council (2017) Dumfries Learning Town. [Online] Available: http://www.dumgal.gov.uk/article/15958/Dumfries-Learning-Town Accessed: 22/09/17
The National Records of Scotland (2016) Dumfries and Galloway Council Area – Demographic Factsheet. [Online] Available: https://www.nrscotland.gov.uk/files/statistics/council-area-data-sheets/dumfries-and-galloway-factsheet.pdf Accessed: 23/09/17
Air Quality Scotland (2017) Air Pollution Report – Dumfries. [Online] Available: http://www.scottishairquality.co.uk/assets/downloads/AQScotland-statistics-report-DUMF-2017.pdf Accessed: 23/09/17
This weeks Integrated Arts inputs where vastly engaging. The inputs focused on the visual arts and music. In my prior blog posts, I discoursed that integrated arts related subjects are not my strongest curricular areas, but as this module progresses I feel I am becoming significantly more confident in my abilities and my capacity of … Continue reading Intergrated Arts- Visual Arts and Music 26/9/17
This weeks Integrated Arts inputs where vastly engaging. The inputs focused on the visual arts and music.
In my prior blog posts, I discoursed that integrated arts related subjects are not my strongest curricular areas, but as this module progresses I feel I am becoming significantly more confident in my abilities and my capacity of teaching the integrated arts in a classroom environment.
During this week’s visual art input, I realised that the visual arts are not concerning seeking perfection, but in fact the individual’s ability to create art work that is unique, abstract and symbolic to them. In order to create distinctive art work, we produced our own paintbrushes, we were supplied with a range of materials- a wooden stick was the bases, to design the stick there was wool, cotton wool, feathers, string and other small objects. From the outset, the art work of class inevitably would not be uniformed, however within a primary school environment pursing for uniformity can be challenging, as segments of art can be intricate and complicated for pupils. It is therefore important to allow different variation of art work that represents the individual unique skill set (Holt, 1997). Children will get great satisfaction and achievement from making their own paintbrushes, it a perfect opportunity for them to develop divergent pieces of work.
Once we created our paintbrushes, we then continued onto paint using our paintbrushes. The lecturer read out a Scottish Highland scenery that was concealed from us, the lecturer described the image using straightforward language. By using this method of delivering the lesson we rendered our own perspectives of the image and created unsystematic art work using the paintbrushes and different colour and size of paper When painting I felt some uncertainty and was hoping that the painting would turn out how I was expecting it to. Within the classroom it is important to keep in mind that art should fun and engaging for children, however as children progress through their primary education, they are more aware of their abilities in which they will often compare to their peers and also will be less eager to experiment in subject areas. ‘Some children find art and design lessons frustrating, and would be far happier if there was less mess and greater certainty’ (Kay and Stillman, 2009, p.2).
Before the visual art session, I would not normal like to paint due to the mess generated, but my view has changed, as I found painting to be therapeutic and stimulating, and I am now inclined to paint in the classroom. In order to reduce mess, it is important to have good organisation of resources, using A3 paper children will be able to make their own disposable mixing palate, likewise ensuring the desks are kept protected this can be done by drawing a boundary around the paper and using newspaper as table covers (Cox and Watt, 2007).
The focal point of the music input was understanding how to play a glockenspiel using figurenotes. Figurenotes are coloured and different shape stickers that can be used on musical instrument to represent musical notes and has matching coloured music sheets. Despite being unable to play a musical instrument I would now be able to facilitate children’s musical instrument by using figurenotes as it easy to understand and there is no need to read musical notes. Also, this week we were introduced to Charanga, a primary education website that has a range of music lessons, songs and musicals that can be implemented in the classroom. Knowing that these resources are available is giving me more confidence in relation to teaching the arts to their fullness and ensuring children are acquiring skills from the arts too.
What I assimilated from this week’s input I can relate to the Tallis Habit Pedagogy Wheel (2013), within the persistent category. Within the visual arts input I was ‘tolerating uncertainty’, as I created a paintbrush and was unsure if I had the ability to paint an unseen picture. Within the music input I was ‘sticking with difficulty’ initially I found playing the musical instrument challenging but I ‘persevered’, remained ‘focused’ and by the end of session I felt confident enough to implement within a school setting.
References
Cox, S, Watts, R. (2007) Teaching Art and Design 3-11. New York: Continuum International Publishing.
Key, P, Stillman, J. (2009) Teaching Primary Art and Design. Exeter: Learning Matters
Holt, D. (1997) Primary Arts Education: Contemporary Issues. Guildford: Biddles
Tallis, T. (2013) Tallis Habits Pedagogy Wheel. [Online] Available: http://www.thomastallisschool.com/tallis-pedagogy-wheel-guide.html. [ Accessed on 27 September 2017]
Chapter 5 “Finding out about others: the skill of questioning” (Hargie, O. 2011) The main aim of Chapter 5 is to examine nature, function and effects of various forms and types of questions across a range of social situations. The … Continue reading →
Chapter 5 “Finding out about others: the skill of questioning” (Hargie, O. 2011)
The main aim of Chapter 5 is to examine nature, function and effects of various forms and types of questions across a range of social situations. The main themes are; Children, Crime and professional sectors such as teaching and doctors. A claim that is made in this chapter is that in the health sector doctors and nurses were the main people who asked questions to their patients. Their patients would not ask questions as Siminoff et al. (2oo6) states that, patients never asked very many questions as they did not want it to seem like they were lacking in knowledge about the situations they were in. There is an idea throughout the chapter that the people who ask the questions are powerful people such as; teachers, doctors, lawyers and detectives, this is mainly down to them knowing the answers to the questions that they ask. Although when asked questions by someone the respondent may feel anxious and become stressed regardless if they know the answer to the question or not. This is because they do not want to be judged by the answer that they give. For example in a school scenario where a teacher asks pupils a question pupils may feel anxious to answer the question the teacher is asking. I agree with the majority of the chapter although there are somethings I disagree with for example; Closed questions being the most important set of questions to be asked, I feel that closed questions can often miss out some important information that open questions can provide. Some of the words I struggled with were multifaceted, stenographer and ubiquitous.
Reference List
“Finding out about others: the Skill of questioning” – Chapter 5 – Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice 5th ed. London: Routledge
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