Uncategorized – Page 104

Situated Communication: Hargie chapter review

In my opinion, the aim of this chapter was to put across the point that there are various different types of questions and how these questions are asked (and who they are asked by) can determine someone’s answer. The point that questioning is a core life skill and that it is almost impossible to communicate … Continue reading Situated Communication: Hargie chapter review

There are a few themes which run across the chapter including the acquisition of questions and how questions are asked and addressed across various career groups including teachers and doctors. Education and children is a prominent theme weaved throughout the text, demonstrating to us that children can be overwhelmed by teachers asking questions. For example, it was found that on average, the teacher asked a question once every 72 seconds (Corey 1940). However, I would argue that asking questions is a second nature and as previously mentioned, is part of daily conversation. Thus showing it is difficult not to ask questions and is most likely to be done accidently by teachers and they are in-fact not always trying to challenge the children when a question is composed.

Again, in terms of children, there is a known hesitation amongst 13-16 year old children in asking questions in the classroom in fear of a negative reaction from classmates (Dillon, 1988)(Daly et Al. 1994). From previous experience this, I believe this is a widely known fact across the world and I believe that it is somewhat natural.

Hargie also discuses different types of questions and there effects and uses. The most discussion was based around open and closed questions. It was seen that asking an open question was more easily answered as it enables us to go into depth; whereas a closed question is often only answered using few words which restricts us. However this can be argued otherwise as another statement was made, suggesting that open questions may not be as appropriate with respondents of lower intellectual. Personally, I disagree with such a set statement as I believe there are valid points to back up both sides as discussed above.

Reference list:

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

Sustainable Development – Learning Log 1

Our first day in Sustainable Development consisted of mostly practical learning. However, in the lecture, Louise talked about what Sustainable development was which according to the Scottish Government “The goal of sustainable development is to enable all people throughout the world to satisfy their basic needs and enjoy a better quality of life without compromising the … Continue reading “Sustainable Development – Learning Log 1”

My uni life so far

On embarking my journey at UWS I did not know what to expect. I had no negative thoughts on what it may turn out to be like; however, I did not expect to enjoy it as much as I currently am. The weeks are going by so quickly and I can’t help but be excited to … Continue reading My uni life so far

Despite coming straight from school, I am fortunate enough to have experience in a classroom. I made time for this during my free periods at school as I knew it would benefit me greatly in my life goal of attending University to study Primary Education. During my time at school I had to work extremely hard in order to be here today. Of course there is other options, but I am greatly determined and wanted to get to university as soon as possible.

When I was told that we would be blogging as part of our course, I was slightly apprehensive as I worried that I would be stuck for words! However, I was also excited as I have always loved the idea of having a blog, but I never knew what I could blog about. I know that this blog will help me develop my literacy skills and writing reflectively and I look forward to viewing my academic development throughout my time on the course.

My biggest fear on coming to university was knowing I would have to do Maths and French which were definitely my worst subjects during my 6 years at school. In terms of the Maths class I am pleasantly surprised (so far). I have enjoyed getting to grips with what I will eventually have to teach children in Maths and the many ways this can be taught and explained, using various resources and not always referring to a textbook! My aim in teaching is to make Maths as fun and active as possible. When I think back to my time in primary school, maths was not a fun and interactive lesson that I would look forward to, if it was, perhaps my perception on maths and my skills would be completely different. As well as this, I find the Haylock maths textbook and workbook extremely useful to refer to after the lectures/workshops if I didn’t quite grasp a certain concept.

After completing my first French class I was left slightly overwhelmed, despite sitting it at Higher level in my 6th year at school. I knew I would struggle as I did at school so I went with my instinct to keep at 1.1 level. My reasoning behind this is because I want to start from scratch and perfect my basics, I hardly remember any from school! I feel I have made the right decision with this as I was not in my comfort zone in the class. I hope to improve in all aspects of French as I work through the module and I am determined to perfect my French.

Overall, I am ready to challenge myself and produce the best work I can while at university.

First Couple of Weeks at UWS

My first couple of weeks at UWS have been intriguing to say the least. From sitting in on lectures to being challenged to come out of my comfort zone in […]

My first couple of weeks at UWS have been intriguing to say the least. From sitting in on lectures to being challenged to come out of my comfort zone in workshops. I am becoming more confident each day in being able to organise and divide my workload, as well as taking care of a young family and working.

The workshops are allowing me to put the theory I am learning in lectures into practice. For example, in one of our SitComm workshops, being able to try out using different tones in our voices and using the different skills we learned about in that morning’s lecture to become more expressive and confident speakers. Placement is also something I am looking forward to and hopefully I am successful in putting what I have already learned at UWS into practice. Maths is also a module I am really enjoying, despite dreading it before I started university as it was always a subject I really struggled with throughout high school and college.

Gaining a place at UWS to study Education was one of the first steps in helping me start my journey to becoming a primary teacher. It hasn’t been an easy journey to get here, but I persevered and am now determined to reach my goal.

Chapter 5: Independent Task

Chapter 5 “ Finding Out About Others: the skill of questioning” The aim of this chapter is to explore the function and effects of various types of questions in different social settings, the kind of things mentioned throughout the chapter is how questions are used in different careers, for example, lawyers, teachers, and doctors. … Continue reading “Chapter 5: Independent Task”

Chapter 5 “ Finding Out About Others: the skill of questioning”

The aim of this chapter is to explore the function and effects of various types of questions in different social settings, the kind of things mentioned throughout the chapter is how questions are used in different careers, for example, lawyers, teachers, and doctors. One section of the chapter is titled “Purpose Of Questions” , in this section it states that Bolden ( 2009:122) pointed out: “ Questions and answers are among the most readily recognizable and pervasive ways through which participants achieve and negotiate their communicative goals”. We are told that questions have a variety of purposes but this will depend on the context of the interaction. Different situations that questions could be asked is; teachers to pupils to check their understanding during or after a lesson, doctors to make a diagnosis and salesmen/saleswomen to consumer to asses consumer’s needs and if these need are being satisfied. Also in the chapter, it discusses how in interview style situations questions can be asked to confuse and throw the person being interviewed off guard as they do not know what type of questions will be asked next.

Wilson (1990) states that there is also evidence out there to prove that when a long question is asked, a longer response is tended to be given instead of a short one. I found that I agreed with pretty much all the points being made in the chapter, the biggest difficulty I would say I had would be reading some of the more challenging words that I hadn’t seen before. To help myself out I used an online Education dictionary to help clarify the meanings to which I then wrote down in my notes for future reference.

Be Creative!

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 […]

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 :

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 … Continue reading My Urban Environment →

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

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 … 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]

Review on Chapter 5 “Finding out about others: the skill of questioning.”

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

My UWS Journey

I feel like the luckiest person to be part of the BA Honours Course at UWS. Becoming a primary school teacher has been my goal for as long as I can remember! The first few weeks have gone by in a flash but I have enjoyed every minute of it so far (I might not […]

I feel like the luckiest person to be part of the BA Honours Course at UWS. Becoming a primary school teacher has been my goal for as long as I can remember!

The first few weeks have gone by in a flash but I have enjoyed every minute of it so far (I might not be saying this when exam time creeps up). I have created this blog to document my journey at UWS, however since I have never blogged before I am a little hesitant of what I am meant to be doing, but I am sure over time this will become second nature to me.

I feel fortunate to have some classroom based experience. I have worked as a classroom assistant in a number of Ayrshire primary schools which gave me a greater appreciation of the rewards and the challenges primary teachers encounter on a daily basis.

I am not naturally ‘brainy’ and I have taken a scenic route to be here. Last academic year, I worked two jobs, studied an HNC in Social Sciences and did a night course in Higher English and achieved an A in both courses. This was not easy and it was as stressful as it sounds! However, I work hard at everything I set my mind to and when I have an end goal I will do everything possible to get to where I need to be.

As I have mentioned, academia does not come naturally to me but I feel the practical skills I have gained so far and the dedicated person I am will reduce some of the stresses I will face during my time at UWS.