Pedagogical Theories and Practice – Page 2

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Into Integrated Arts (11/09/18)

Our introduction to Integrated Arts in Education proved to be an interesting session as we were challenged to think about the real impact of exploring a range of Arts in […]

Our introduction to Integrated Arts in Education proved to be an interesting session as we were challenged to think about the real impact of exploring a range of Arts in the classroom. This insight into the importance of arts to children helped me to realise the weight we put on literacy and numeracy in the classroom is significant, and we need to start putting more emphasis on the arts as a prominent part of primary education. Fleming (2012) discusses the idea that the arts provide us with a deepened perception of our world, help us engage in other activities and widen our knowledge, therefore linking to our session’s main discussion points that the arts have a worthy claim to be a bigger part of education.

During both our visual arts and music session we discussed how they can be nurtured in the classroom, for instance in our music session we played some rhythm games which could be useful to engage young pupils. Also, in visual arts we discussed the importance of letting children explore their imagination and not to discourage them from creating ambiguous works of art. One element of the session that stuck with me was the value of appreciating a small child’s work even although, as teachers, we may not always understand it. Furthermore, we looked at the different stages of children’s development in drawing such as the scribble stage, the pre-schematic stage, schematic stage and the transitional stage. We looked the example of artwork from each of these stages:

The practical aspect of physically looking at the artwork created helped me to understand the different stages and appreciate the work gone into them. Whitehead (2010) also discusses the idea of the importance on the scribbling stage in young children for their development in not only the arts, but also in all curricular areas as the need to progress their writing skills.

As a developing primary teacher this session allowed me to develop my knowledge and gain a new understanding of the importance of arts in the classroom. I felt that it was very beneficial to me as I will be more aware of how needed art, music, dance and drama are in all aspects of the curriculum and how they can be integrated into other areas in order to increase children’s evolvement, confidence and enjoyment.

References –

Fleming, M.(2012) The Arts in Education. Oxen: Routledge.

Whitehead, M. (2010) Language and Literacy in the early years 0-7. 4th Ed. London: Sage.

Digital Technologies | 16.1.18

Programmable Toys Today’s session involved learning about programmable toys and, in particular, Bee-Bots. We looked at the history of programmable toys, the benefits of using them in the classroom and the links to the Curriculum for Excellence. Programmable toys being used in the education system dates back to the 1960s when the programming language Logo … Continue reading Digital Technologies | 16.1.18

Programmable Toys

Today’s session involved learning about programmable toys and, in particular, Bee-Bots. We looked at the history of programmable toys, the benefits of using them in the classroom and the links to the Curriculum for Excellence.

Programmable toys being used in the education system dates back to the 1960s when the programming language Logo was created by Seymour Papert. This involves controlling the ‘turtle’ (arrow) to draw lines on the computer screen. We were able to give this a try in class today – it was really interesting to use and find similarities between this and the Bee-Bot. We also got the chance to use the Bee-Bot app on the iPads – this is a great tool to use in schools that might not have the physical Bee-Bots.

The benefits of programmable toys are seemingly endless: Janka (2008) claims that these types of toys are “a good example for developing knowledge and understanding of the contemporary world”. Janka (2008) also states that programmable toys help children to “develop the ability to describe simple journey and instruct the programmable toy in order to develop positional language and estimation.” Lydon (2008) claims that children “gained independence faster than anticipated” when using Bee-Bots. The benefits are inter-disciplinary: The National centre for Technology in Education (2012) say that floor robots such as Bee-Bots help with “development of skills such as logical sequencing, measuring, comparing lengths, space orientation, and expressing concepts in words.” Other benefits include: there is instant feedback gained by the learner; their problem solving skills are developed; it is a hands-on lesson; the pupils experience challenge and enjoyment; the learner is in control and has the platform to be creative.

I found it really interesting to think about all the different ways these toys could be used in the classroom to support a vast range of learning. When using programmable toys, it is important to keep in mind the Curriculum for Excellence Experiences and Outcomes (Es&Os). To ensure that the child is receiving the most from the lesson, a teacher should make sure the lesson is targeting at least one or two of the Es&Os, if not more. Es&Os should be the bones of a good lesson, and the success criteria should be made clear to the pupils at the start and end of the lesson.

As a class, we were challenged to come up with a lesson in groups, using Bee-Bots, with a numeracy focus. My group and I used a treasure hunt theme, incorporating the 3 times table: the idea was the the learner would start at the ‘ship’ square, and would have to complete the sum on that tile, in this case 3×1. Once the learner had gotten the answer, they would look for the card with the answer on it, in this case they would look for the card with the 3 on it. If they turn the card over, they would find instructions on where to go on the map, using the points of the compass such as north, south etc. The learner will have to answer different 3 times table sums in order to eventually reach the treasure.

The hunt included some obstacles, such as the shark which you cannot pass! This encourages the learner to use problem solving skills and also brings more enjoyment to the game.