UWS BA ePDPs – Page 13 – Personal Development Plans of BA(Hons) students of education

Placement Day 1

Thursday 23rd January Today was my first day of placement in primary 1/2. Whilst in the class I found it very interesting and exciting to see all of my knowledge and understanding in practice as the children worked on their literacy and numeracy skills. Interesting observations When explaining the learning intentions and success criteria the … Continue reading Placement Day 1

Thursday 23rd January

Today was my first day of placement in primary 1/2. Whilst in the class I found it very interesting and exciting to see all of my knowledge and understanding in practice as the children worked on their literacy and numeracy skills.

Interesting observations

When explaining the learning intentions and success criteria the teacher used toys called “learning ladybug” and “successful snake” to engage the children and keep them focused on what is expected from them.
In the morning when the children arrived, the teacher reinforces the days of the week, months of the year and asks the children the date.
In maths, when looking at number patterns/sequins the teacher used a washing line and gloves to teach the children how to count in patterns of 5. The gloves with 5 fingers were a great visual for the children as they could easily count the fingers if they needed to.
When completing the writing task the children used number lines to help them identify missing numbers in the sequence.
One successful method that I noticed the teacher using to ‘chunk’ up the lesson was to use interactive videos on https://app.gonoodle.com/discover . I noticed that the teacher used this strategy to help the children when they were becoming restless or beginning to lose focus. This not only improved the children health and wellbeing by getting them up and moving as all the children were very keen to join in and dance along. In addition the videos developed their understanding as they were related to the task i.e. patterns.

Communicating in Other Environments

During an input for the Situated Communication module, we were asked to build a den. We were placed in groups, and although I have already had the opportunity to interact with all the members it was my first time working in a group with some. We worked well as a team and experimented with everyone’s … Continue reading “Communicating in Other Environments”

We worked well as a team and experimented with everyone’s ideas to help solve problems, for example ways to secure our roof without using tape.

After reflection, and reading about Hargie’s purposes of explaining I have been able to identify strengths that the group we visited displayed in their explanation of their den (2011). The group explained their den well, with added comedy and also responded to our questioning positively. It was interesting to hear their descriptions of their den as without this input we would have missed some of the creative design features. It was also nice to hear some of the challenges they faced and how they overcame them.

Being outside of a usual classroom or lecture environment pushed me out of my comfort zone but encouraged me to take a more fun approach to the task. I think that the environment made a more informal feeling which reflected in my communication. I communicated with the whole group and with individuals, which I often think is harder to do when doing group work at a table. Being outside meant that we were more spread out and could solve problems in smaller sections as well as with the whole group.

We were in a sheltered area which meant that the wind and other noises did not affect our communication. In other areas outside, the volume used may have to be louder if there are other noises to “compete” with or quieter if you are sharing spaces with other members of the public. I sometimes found myself distracted by other noises, and at the start I was distracted by trying to scout out good materials! This could be overcome by explaining in a different environment, to keep instructional communication outdoors limited or by finding an area with less distractions, like the clearing we stood in.

We were unsuccessful in our negotiations, although we did try to trick another group into swapping materials with us. I think this was due to other groups also negotiating for other tasks and being distracted by the poem we were creating for the presentation!

It was challenging to consider what other groups may like in return, in order for the negotiation to seem fair.

Overall, it was enjoyable to challenge my communication skills in a different environment and with a new combination of people to work with in my group. This input has highlighted the importance of active outdoor learning in order to challenge learners in new contexts.

Reference

Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication. 5^th Edition. London: Routledge

Review of “Finding out About Others: The Skill of Questioning”

After recently reading a chapter in “Skilled Interpersonal Communication Research, Theory and Practice” I will be giving a summary focused around the theme of questioning. The aim of the chapter is to share the importance of questioning in our life, for many purposes such as education and developing relationships. Closed questions usually include a definite answer, research has shown that responses to closed questions are more specific and directly answer the question (Breakwell et al, 2006). Where as open questions often allow for answers to gradually narrow into a specific answer and allow more room for consideration (Kahn and Cannell, 1957). Therefore, this chapter provides key differences in open and closed questions. This is interesting as it shows how providing a specific structure to a question can guide the answer in a different direction. A theory suggests that embedded questions are found most difficult by children, as they involve more than one question, for example “Do you understand how to behave in the classroom”. As this question asks for understanding i.e. a yes or no answer or is it asking what the behaviour should be. This research does not encourage the use of these questions with young children (Hardy and Van Leeuwen, 2004).

References

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5^th ed. London: Routledge.

Den Building!

Group and Leadership: In my den building group there was no formal leader chosen. My teammate played a leader type role in which she organised us in what we to do and our strategies in the building process. I feel that it worked quite well as it got us all working together pretty quickly and … Continue reading Den Building! →

Group and Leadership:

In my den building group there was no formal leader chosen. My teammate played a leader type role in which she organised us in what we to do and our strategies in the building process. I feel that it worked quite well as it got us all working together pretty quickly and everyone contributing ideas. As silly as it sounds, my height was the most challenging thing about this task as we chose a high up place to put the base of our ceiling and that meant I couldn’t give much help to that aspect of the building.

Explaining:

The group that explained their den to us were very clear about the process in which they constructed their design. They took us through each step and gave reasons for their decisions.

Environment:

Being outside and in an open and noisy environment made us communicate louder to make sure everyone could hear. Also we communicated in a short and efficient way as there were many destractions outside. In an outside environment it might be good to gather the group you are with around you in a tighter more closed space.

Negotiations:

Our group tried to negotiate a short pole for a piece of material that was bigger than the one we had for our roof. This did not go to plan as no one wanted our pole and were trying to steal a team member instead. The challenging thing about it was that no one was willing to give up what they already had.

Den Building- SitCom

Group and leadership Within the group, there was a team leader. This naturally happened due to the skills the person already had in this area and so they were able to give good advice throughout the task making this very beneficial for the team. It was clear who the team leader was as they knew … Continue reading “Den Building- SitCom”

Group and leadership

Within the group, there was a team leader. This naturally happened due to the skills the person already had in this area and so they were able to give good advice throughout the task making this very beneficial for the team. It was clear who the team leader was as they knew what to do, and shared their knowledge with the team while encouraging them. I feel everyone was included and they each had their own role in helping to complete the task. A challenge I faced was that I was working with some people I did not know very well and so did not know their strengths and weaknesses.

Explaining

The group explained how they created their den well. This was very clear as they were able to show how they created their den with the resources they had and how they came up with this idea. I think maybe more planning could have been done.

Environment

Within this environment I felt I had to project my voice more than I would in a classroom setting at it was a more open area and also had other groups nearby. As well as this I found myself getting slightly distracted within this environment. To help prevent children from getting distracted when listening in this environment I could gather them in an area where there is little distraction such as a corner.

Negotiation

I think our group were successful when it came to negotiating as we were able to gain resources which we needed in order to improve our den. The most challenging part about negotiating was trying to convince other teams to swap their resources as they were already using many of them or already had the same resources and so were unwilling to trade.

A review: A Skill of Questioning.

This blogpost will review the Finding Out About Others: A Skill of Questioning (Hargie, 2011). I found the main aim and purpose of the chapter was to discuss the different purposes of questioning and how it can be used in the classroom with children to guide their learning. The main themes of the chapter would … Continue reading A review: A Skill of Questioning. →

This blogpost will review the Finding Out About Others: A Skill of Questioning (Hargie, 2011).

I found the main aim and purpose of the chapter was to discuss the different purposes of questioning and how it can be used in the classroom with children to guide their learning.

The main themes of the chapter would be defining what a question is, the different types of questions (of which there are many) and the different aspects of questioning.

One claim that I found in the text was that Information seeking is a natural human activity that is vital to learning, decision making and problem solving.

An argument that I found quite interesting is Rudyard Kipling’s question classification of What, When, How, Where and When. This approach to questioning can reflect the answer that the questioner is wanting to hear rather than how they present the question itself.

One point that I disagree with in this chapter is the aspect of persistent probing. This way can make a child feel pressured, uncomfortable and unlikey to answer the question that is originally being asked.

Hargie, O. (2011) SkilledInterpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice.5th ed. London: Routledge.

‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge

The main theme of this particular chapter was the use of questioning in communication, the chapter aims to elaborate on the science behind both basic and strategic questioning and why we use it in communication. Throughout, it discussed verbal and non-verbal messaging, questions in different contexts and the different uses of questioning (in a classroom, …

Continue reading “‘Finding out about others: the skill of questioning’, in Hargie, O. (2011) Skilled Interpersonal Communication: Research, Theory and Practice. 5th ed. London: Routledge”

Hargie makes the claim that children ask questions during their development and to support this, parents should do their best to respond to these questions (Cook, 2009). I agree with this statement because children will then build curiosity and feel listened to and important.

Hargie also makes a reference to Rudyard Kipling’s question classification of what, why, when, how, where and who. This reflects the information that someone would be looking to gain from and answer rather than how they present the question itself. Towards the end of the chapter, he lists Dillon’s (1990) possible answers to all questions. He acknowledges that respondent may choose not to answer using silence, refusal, changing the subject or use of humour. Dillon also suggests that the answer may be skewed by the respondent by lying, stalling, evading, withholding, answering the ‘real’ question or distortion. They also say that the last option is that the respondent will answer directly.

I personally disagree with the use of probing and persistent questioning used in Box 5.3 (pg 142) against a young child. The questioning technique used distresses the child and the question instead goes un-answered.

Den Building

Group and Leadership My team and I decided not to allocate one group leader. Instead we decided to discuss and play to our strengths. Everyone within the team had the same end goal which was to successfully build the den, therefore everyone took part equally and no one was excluded. The only improvement that could … Continue reading Den Building →

Group and Leadership

My team and I decided not to allocate one group leader. Instead we decided to discuss and play to our strengths. Everyone within the team had the same end goal which was to successfully build the den, therefore everyone took part equally and no one was excluded. The only improvement that could of been made was to plan out the man made materials we needed before hand in order to have more of a plan.

Explaining

The group successfully and effectively explain what role each individual had within their team. They also went on to explain the choices for their den and highlighted different yet unique features of their den which made it stand out. After a discussion my group provided feedback about key aspects that we really liked about the den and asked open questions into other areas.

Environment

My team and I started off well by having a discussion about any prior experience and our strengths that would help us complete the task and from there we allocated responsibilities and jobs instead of roles. As a team we made sure everyone had their say and everyone was happy with all the decisions being made before moving forward. We worked well together by offering help and ideas as well as providing positive feedback and encouragement to whatever group member was working at that time. In terms of our communication, the main difference was a slight increase in volume as we were sometimes a fair distance away from one another, but we made sure we were not raising our voices too much. As a group we enjoyed the task, there was a competitive yet fun atmosphere and a really nice way to end the day, de stress and have fun. The wooded environment was not too noisy and we were lucky as it was dry and not too mucky. The only distractions were a few dog walkers and dogs that ran into the dens through the course of the afternoon. But all in all it was not too bad.

Negotiation

Without question, the hardest part of the task was when we were to negotiate with another team different challenges given to us by the lecture. One team member in particular had a really good way of negotiation and as a result it lead to us being able to successfully complete our negotiation task.

Communication in Other Environments-Den building

After our outdoor den building session for Situated Communication, we were asked a number of questions in relation to the communication methods used in our group: Group and Leadership There was no chosen group leader, instead we discussed our plan … Continue reading →

After our outdoor den building session for Situated Communication, we were asked a number of questions in relation to the communication methods used in our group:

Group and Leadership

There was no chosen group leader, instead we discussed our plan as a team and allocated roles accordingly. As everybody was concentrating on successful completion of the task and we all got along well nobody was excluded and there were no problems. The only challenging aspect was that we did not manage to secure many of the materials supplied by the lecturer, as the other groups had taken most of it.

Explaining

The group clearly explained how they went about their task and the roles that everyone undertook in simple terms. They gave us information on the construction of their den and pointed out particular features that made it unique to them. Our group gave positive feedback and asked questions as to how they completed certain aspects of their task, and discussed these. In terms of the 5 P’s, the ‘postmortem’ could have been carried out with our input as this would have been valuable.

Environment

Our group successfully started the task by having a group discussion and we identified our strengths in certain areas and allocated roles accordingly. Everybody had an opportunity to speak and no-one did not voice their opinions. These opinions were respectfully listened to and taken on board by the rest of the team. We encouraged one another by offering ideas that were discussed further by the group, and everyone felt secure and supported in offering their opinions in an attempt to share our group’s goal. We had to raise our voices slightly in order to communicate what we were doing, as were were working apart from one another, but not to the point of shouting. As a group we were enjoying the task and there was a fun camaraderie atmosphere. The outside environment was not too noisy as it was a still, dry day and there were not many members of the public walking by, which is unusual as it is a popular dog walk and this could be distracting.

Negotiation

The most challenging part was the negotiation aspect; one team member in particular had good very negotiating skills but we failed to achieve a defector from another group in exchange for something they wanted.

Den Building – Reflections

Group and Leadership: There were no group leaders assigned to groups for this particular project. Nobody seemed to take a leadership role themselves, and all group members added their own ideas for the task. This was effective because it ensured that everybody had opportunities to communicate ideas. Once the foundations were laid down for the … Continue reading “Den Building – Reflections”

Group and Leadership:

There were no group leaders assigned to groups for this particular project. Nobody seemed to take a leadership role themselves, and all group members added their own ideas for the task. This was effective because it ensured that everybody had opportunities to communicate ideas.
Once the foundations were laid down for the task, everybody split up to look for appropriate branches. Everybody had a part to play in building up the three walls for the den, therefore, nobody was excluded from the project. The challenge I personally faced was not being able to reach some branches due to how high they were. Luckily, I was able to stand on a broken branch which allowed me to reach what I needed.

Explaining:

Because we were outside, we had to ensure that everybody was around and listening when discussing and sharing ideas on how to complete the task. It was different from communication within the classroom because space was more open. This provided an opportunity to walk around and show the different elements to the den, as well as allowing us to demonstrate to the other groups how the results were achieved.

Environment:

The area in which my group and I were working was quite quiet. We were at quite a distance from the other groups because we were working in the trees, using them as a base for our den. In addition to this, we weren’t able to hear the wind or rain much as the noises were mainly blocked by the trees. As a result, environmental noises did not seem to pose much of a problem for my team (in my opinion).

Negotiation:

We were unsuccessful in trying to negotiate with other groups to gain materials. This was because the teams had already used their equipment and planned to use the equipment that they had remaining.