1. I learned about how unchurched spirituality is becoming a bigger phenomenon as more and more people have moved away from the idea that religion must take place inside a place of worship, and how its importance has even dropped due to secularisation
2. I think the main area learned today was about the decline in the impact of religion, and evidence to suggest this is the idea of karl marx that people liked the idea of religion as a means of getting on through life as he stated god was a “man-made creation”
3. I wasn’t 100% of the idea of spirituality, and as a result I feel as if this is an area that I can research and develop further to gain a better understanding of what the importance of spirituality
4. I feel like my knowledge of the decrease in the overall impact of religion as time has went on has gotten better as I began to understand how the impact of secularisation has improved, but as stated above I will look further into spirituality as I feel as if it was an area that I did not understand as well as other parts
5. One thing I feel that I can take from this in how it impacts society and lifestyles, is that if someone choses to be religious, then we should respect their beliefs and views on that matter, but it is not compulsory to feel the need to be religious should we not want to be
6. I wish to develop my knowledge of spirituality and of the theorists more, so I will continue to research them further and gather a greater understanding of what they did and the impacts it has on society

• I leaned that “religion” is much more than just someone’s beliefs and how important its influences can be in many modern day aspects of life and society
• I feel like I learned a lot about how many different theorists interpret the ideas and beliefs that exist and how they differ so dramatically from each other. For example Durkheim believes that there is something real in religion whereas Malinowski believes that religion was an institution that fulfils people’s psychological needs.
• I was not sure about the question that we had to discuss within the tutorial groups, as I struggled to connect the theorists and the questions together whilst also providing relevant examples. I could improve upon this by reading over the theorists’ arguments and drawing connections to the questions being asked.
• My knowledge of how religion is viewed in many different ways was improved today from a sociological stance as seeing theorists views on the matter allowed me to open up my mind more. I feel as if I can still improve on making stronger connections between the theorists and the questions and can do this by researching the theories further so that I gain a better understanding of what is being asked of me.
• It allowed me to see how having different religious beliefs may differ depending on the environment in which they are influencing eg the work place and the holidays of certain religions and how that would affect work schedules. That even though some children have different religious beliefs from others it should not make them any different in the same opportunities that are available to them in society today.
• I would like to try and develop my understanding of the theories we spoke about and the impact that they bring upon the way in which we look at religion in society today. I will continue to read up on the theorists and try and relate their views in comparison to the beliefs and views I see in modern society.

• The impact that prejudice and discrimination have upon the way in which we view our society, and how even though they have similar meanings, they are not exactly the same thing all together.
• I understood to some extent, as people’s views and ideologies can be influenced based on what your environment is and the experiences you have growing up, as it can be influenced from generation to generation
• Agents of socialisation, as it was an area which had many different areas that I feel could be broken down further. In order to understand it better, I feel that I can research some of these areas further and get a better understanding of them as a collective and then put it all together
• I feel my knowledge in the differences between prejudice and discrimination has been improved as of today, as it was made clearer in the lecture. It was also made clearer than it can be considered a generational thing and also can depend on your environment.
• That it can be very easily influenced between your peers and family members, as well as through the media and how strong its impact can be in shaping what younger individuals learn. In the future I hope to be able to explain to pupils that everyone should be considered equal in their opportunities, no matter what their gender, races and beliefs are and should treat others in the same way.
• How to identify the different areas in the agents of socialisation, and how each one of them individually. By researching each of the areas more intensely until I get a better understanding of how they contribute to socialisation.

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Introduction

On the week beginning the 31^st of October, I had my week of placement in a local primary school and had the privilege of seeing first hand, the many different challenges that come about when it comes to being a teacher. 

At the start of the placement I felt very nervous, and was not quite sure what to expect as I was getting prepared for the week ahead. But as the days progressed, I began to feel more at ease and could observe the situations which were within the placement tasks that we had been asked to complete. The tasks were useful, as they allowed me to observe real situations within a classroom and gave me a greater understanding of the potential obstacles that I could face later in my career. 

One of the most important things that I learnt during my placement week, is that no matter how much you plan for something, you can never plan enough. This showed me that organisation and structure is a key asset when it comes to being a teacher.

Strength

I would say that one of my personal strengths that I discovered more during placement was my variation of pitch and tone when it came to communicating with individuals during the week. I learned that it is necessary to be able to distinguish between communicating with an individual one on one, in a smaller group or when talking to the class. The evidence that I can use to support this idea is that when I spoke to the teacher in private I spoke with a quiet tone and slightly fast pace, whereas when it came to speaking to the pupils in a smaller group I spoke with a much clearer and louder tone and spoke at a much slower pace; to make sure that they understood the activity which was being discussed at the time.

I feel that the way in which you communicate is very important as if you speak too fast for a pupil then they may not understand what is being said. Also, tone can affect the clarity of your speech and thus must be at the right level to help get across the point you are trying to make. 

Area for Improvement

Whilst on placement, I learnt that as an individual, my facial expressions are one of the areas that I feel I could work further upon. I noticed this especially when it came to working within smaller groups, during their activities. I felt personally that I was not using enough facial expressions when it came to getting across both positives and negatives, as they tend to help stress points further. I have never been one to portray my personal feelings using expressions well and tend to just say what I feel instead. 

Action Plan for Improvement

My personal plan is to try and use more facial expressions with other older individuals and gather their feedback. From there I could transfer the skills that I start to strengthen and put them into practice, with the younger individuals from my coaching back in Glasgow, as it will allow provide me a similar situation to teaching in a classroom (although it may not be quite as intense).

Conclusion

This placement was a real eye-opener into what the world of teaching is like and even though it was stressful at times, it gave me a proper feel of what I will be experiencing in my later career, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time. It allowed me to reflect upon my skills and what I need to further improve upon to advance myself as an academic. I feel that if we had more time than a week, then it would allow us to be able to make further observations and learn more about ourselves, however, I understand that it may be difficult to arrange for more than one week. Overall placement has me excited and ready to continue further into this course and the challenges that may come with it.

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