Category Archives: 1.4 Prof. Commitment

Reflection, reflection, reflection

From reading the blogposts that were produced from our year group it was clear that there was different levels of engagement with the eportfolio.

Throughout all the example posts a high level of knowledge was displayed to the topics covered and this was conveyed through the use of professional language and reflection. From writing these posts students will be adopting their professional role in society and beginning to adapt what characteristics a professional has into their work.

I believe that it is important for all students to read these posts to develop a deeper understanding for the eportfolio and the topics covered in the posts. For example, I believe Claire’s post on classroom grouping and behaviour management was beneficial to me, in particular. By coming onto the course straight from school I have not had much experience assisting the teachers in work experience when it comes to the likes of grouping the class. Approaching my first placement as a teacher has also created apprehension surrounding the area of behaviour management. From reading this post I was able to develop a deeper understanding into the reasons behind certain grouping techniques and how these can influence the ambience within the classroom.

I believe that the eportfolio can be a key resource in our learning pathways as aspiring student teachers. Not only can we learn more on topics covered in lectures by researching them before creating a blog post on them but we can also develop the professional attribute of criticality and reflection by looking at other’s posts and offering critical feedback which they can build upon to further their professional development.

One, 2, Three, 4, Five

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Throughout Secondary school I had varying experiences of Maths which I believe has been the major factor in influencing my opinions on the topic.

In my first year at Secondary I was given one of the stricter teachers who was firm in his belief of textbook work. I had always been good at maths yet, I began to struggle. I would ask for help and would be ignored or mocked of in front of the class for not understanding what to do from the brief explanation at the beginning.

I then moved into my next year and was assigned a new teacher who I remained with until the end of S5. What a difference. The teacher believed in a thorough note which was taken in a separate jotter at the beginning of each lesson on the chosen topic then progressing onto textbook work once a clear understanding had been established within the whole class.

In my personal experience, it was the teacher who made the difference to my outlook on maths. They may not have had the best understanding of the topics we were covering but I believe that was beneficial on both our parts. A clearer explanation was given at the start for the class’ understanding and the teacher’s clarity. The teacher also implemented fun into his lessons with the use of interactive white boards for class recaps and discussions.

When faced with the daughnting task on my first placement of teaching maths I will arrive at the situation with the confidence and enthusiasm that I saw in my teacher. Even though I may not have a clear understanding on the topics myself I hope this will not portray through my work and that every child has a clear and profound knowledge of the maths covered that day.

A Big Bang

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Biology and Chemistry were always made to be fun with lots of experiments throughout primary and secondary which is why I believe I enjoyed them so much more than physics which was mainly equations.

I believe that in primary schools there is a lack of science in the curriculum with maybe one lesson a week, if any. This has always been a concern of mine as there are so many different topics which can be made so much more enticing and enjoyable through the use of experiments relating to science.

At a local placement there was a day set aside to science once every year where the kids were encouraged in the weeks previous to research and come dressed as their favourite scientist with 3 facts about “themselves”. The children were also encouraged to bring into the class a short science experiment which I believed to be a great idea as it not only allowed the children to explore their creativity but also created room for class discussion on what was learned through the experiment.

Whilst on professional practice I will hopefully be able to introduce a vast range of science into the classroom from the knowledge that will be built up over the next few weeks through the science inputs.

Stranger Danger

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From the ever increasing number of headlines appearing these days surrounding internet safety I knew that it was an important matter to educate myself on as a teacher.

In our ICT lecture we were given the opportunity to explore a range of resources that we could engage with whilst on professional placement. I used the time set aside to exploring these resources to have a look at the video titled ‘Tom’s Story’

This was a short youtube clip that followed the story of Tom who went to meet up with a friend he had gained online at his house. Tom was greeted by what he thought was his friend’s big brother and was given alcohol after realising that his friend was made up, Tom attempted to leave the house. This angered the man who then abused Tom. The video clip ends with Tom reporting the man then his arrest.

I believe that this video clip could be a very interesting resource to use with an older class as it hits hard the dangers of meeting strangers from online without a trusted adult. I would only use this resource with children of an older age as the content is quite intense which could distress a younger class.

A resource that I would use with children of a younger age would be the adventures of Winston, Kara and the SMART crew. These are short video clips with a childlike nature to them whilst still conveying important messages regarding internet safety.

As part of the Internet Safety TDT I have also linked a short Prezi that I created on the topic which I believe could be used at the end of an Internet Safety lesson to round the topic off.

https://prezi.com/vq6qwfxrbf-q/internet-safety/

Developing Professional Skills and Abilities: Online Unit 3

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Words/phrases relating to professionalism:

Competent
Knowledgeable
Calm
Skilled
Respectable
Punctual
Motivating
Encouraging
Enthusiastic
Constructive criticism
Passionate
Collaborative working
Going above and beyond

I chose to watch One Born Every Minute and believe that the midwives displayed all the characteristics I associate with a professional. I believe that the midwives displayed a great deal of commitment and dedication which was seen when encouraging the ladies through their labour regardless of their situation. There were no situations within the programme that I thought the midwives acted unprofessionally, they done everything in their power to ensure the best start to life for every individual child.

This level of professionalism offered by the midwives made a lasting impression on all the families, I believe. For years to come the mothers especially will remember how motivating and encouraging the midwives were and without their help it would have been a very difficult situation.

I believe that it is important for the midwives to wear the uniform that they do as they all look the same and can easily be recognised. By wearing the uniform also the midwives also have a sense of authority. Also, the colour blue, that the midwives wear, is known to be calming which I think is important for the mothers to be in their situations.

If designing the midwifery degree I would arrange the following;

Attending lectures – 10%
Background reading about relevant subjects – 10%
Practical skills based training such as role play- 30%
Work based learning- 20%
Other (Placement0 – 30%
What have you learned from the programme that you can apply to your own professional development?

From watching One Born Every Minute I have learnt that within the professions of teaching and midwifery that no two day are the same. Our professions are dynamic and we must have the level of enthusiasm and commitment to the profession to be able to adapt to all the different situations we will find ourselves in.

From looking back at my UCAS Personal Statement my opinion on the personal values that we as student teachers must posses has not changed. I believe that it is fundamental for teachers to display professional values as we are the role models that children will observe and mimic. I believe that it is important to have the personal value of considering everyone as an individual and that everyone’s situations are different. I also believe that it is important to sympathise with children by showing a great deal of empathy and not to judge the children within our care. I chose teaching as throughout school I noticed the lack of passion displayed by the teachers, and wanted to change this for the better. Teaching to me is one of the most challenging, dynamic, yet rewarding professions. I am eager to get into the classroom and observing children flourish as individuals of the future.

To me, to commit to this course a professional commitment must be made. To support myself on the course, I have decided that I will spend more time in the library and make use of the resources available to me. I have also committed myself to engage in all the relevant reading to continue my self development.

Little Minds

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We know that everything we learn contributes to our memory. However what many are unaware of is the different types of memory. For example, there are many types of long term memory including;

Episodic – specific things – personal experience- where/when it happened
Semantic – all world knowledge
Procedural – knowing how to do something – riding a bike/driving a car
Mix of all these e.g- a trip to the market

Also, automaticity is a very important aspect in increasing efficiency of processing information. Automaticity is achieved through practice and reduces the ST memory capacity. A classroom example includes, reading – children will often not be able to tell you what they’re reading (without automaticity).

Other factors that influence the development of knowledge include;

Knowledge – increases as a function of age
Strategies – rehearsal – repetition in various forms, organisation allows information to be stored more easily, elaboration – making links to aid memory

There are many different aspects to our minds and especially the way in which we memorise things.

Metamemory development refers to the monitoring, regulations and awareness of the memory’s contents. There are two parts – Awareness of how memory works (what’s easier/harder to recall) and memory monitoring (what strategies to use).

Metacognition – refers to the knowledge and understanding of our own thinking process. It is the knowledge of what one knows and how one learns. As children grow up they become more aware of their own abilities and are better able to assess when a strategy will be effective.

False memory – Refers to they way children, usually young, reconstruct a memory falsely due to not tracking information as they encode it.

Phineas Gage became a key interest of psychologists’ work after his personality changed after his brain’s left frontal lobe was mainly destroyed after and accident at work in which a large iron rod pierced completely through his head.

This started a worldwide focus into the theory of mind. The theory of mind refers to the ability to take perspectives of others and understand their mental state i.e – beliefs and desires.

The theory of mind develops across the world at roughly the same age regardless of cultural influences. However, children below 4 years old are unable to reflect on the mental state of themselves and others and their beliefs – This can be seen in the Deceptive box test. The development of the theory of mind can provide children with new realm of information on which they can draw from.
It has been discovered that children develop this theory between the ages of 3&5 then at the ages of between 6 and 8 children develop the send stage in which the theory of mind allows other skills to develop including the understanding of jokes, sarcasm or bullying.

At what age a child develops this theory of mind depends on various environmental factors including;

The number of older siblings
The likelihood children are exposed to adult and peer interactions and communication on a daily basis.
Extended family

The failure to develop the theory of mind has been linked with the autistic spectrum disorder. The lack of theory of mind produces many impairments affecting many aspects of a child’s life including; social relationships, communications and a lack of imagination. However, autism is not a product of the failure to understand the mind.

What are they thinking?

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Everything that we do comes down to our brain and the way we think. It has been at the heart of psychologist’s fascinations for years.

Ivan Pavlov was the first psychologist to focus upon behaviourism through his ‘Classic Conditioning Test’ His conclusions were that we can change the natural reflex of human and animals. Furthering Pavlov’s findings, B.F.Skinner concluded that all behaviours are learnt through experiences, operant conditioning, through his experiments in the Skinner Box.

Behaviourism can be monitored through the use of reinforcement, especially in the classroom. We, as teachers can use a number of techniques to increase behaviour for example;

Presenting a positive stimulus (positive reinforcement) e.g- hugs,praise, rewards of some kind from homework
The removal of an aversive stimulus (negative reinforcement) e.g- buying a toddler a treat in the supermarket to stop their whining

Furthermore, there can also be techniques used to decrease behaviour which can be used as part of behaviour management in a classroom. Including;

An aversive stimulus is presented (Positive punishment) e.g – getting burned from touching a hot iron
Isolation fro a reinforcer (Time – out) e.g- asking a child to stand outside the classroom to cool down
The removal of a valued item (Response cost) e.g- TV/gaming/ ‘grounding’

However, there are many implications of these behavioural techniques. For example, If a child is isolated and sent out with the class, this can make the child feel like a ‘big man’ and they can repeat the actions for attention. These behaviour strategies also only dal with the behaviours and not the cores (doesn’t take into account of cognition)- why is it happening? is there any issues as to why the child is acting out? and also some children may start to manipulate the system and only behave until they receive a reward then act out.

However, Albert Bandura developed the Socio – Cognitive Theory and suggested that we learn from: environmental factors such as role models, instruction and feedback and also personal factors such as goals, sense of efficiency, attributes and process of self regulation.

In the 20th century, there was a very teacher led approach to education and children were seen as passive learners. Jean Piaget was a Swiss biologist who believed that children are not in fact mini adults but instead pass through 4 stages of development;

Sensorimotor (0-2 years) – interaction with environment
Pre-opertional ( 2-7 years) – representation of world symbolically
Concrete Operational (7-12 years) – learning of rules – observation
Formal Operational (12+ years) – focussing on the future – adolescent

Piaget also rejected any sense of authority and believed children develop more through peer interact. Of course, this proposed many implications within the classroom including; we must only teach children what they are ready to learn and treat every child individually and differently.

Within the 20th century, Lev Vygotsky also undertook experiments into the way a child mentally develops through thinking. Like Piaget, Vygotsky concluded that children acquire the tools of learning through social interactions. It is these interactions which build an ‘inner speech’ which then becomes thinking.

Neo-Piagetians explain Piaget’s stage theory in terms of information processing – so capacity and efficiency of processing. They have concluded that adults do have more capacity and efficiency and all that you sense you won’t necessarily perceive.

The importance of being an enquiring practitioner…

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As we learnt today, in Nikki’s input, being an enquiring practitioner is highly regarded within the teaching profession. This is something that I think we should acknowledge as new student teachers.

On the GTCS website it states that “Practitioner enquiry is an area of professional learning which was highlighted in Teaching Scotland’s Future (Donaldson, 2011) as a way forward to support teachers to become more engaged with research to support their own learning and ultimately pupil experiences.”

To enquire means to ask for information from someone, to investigate and look into a situation further. So, to be an enquiring practitioner, we must investigate. Whilst investigating, we must be able to explain or defend our actions by using a rationale approach. Practitioner enquiry is usually undertake within a practitioner’s own practice however, can be completed in collaboration with others. For practitioner enquiry it is fundamental that it is based on evaluative and reflective teaching. Also, for effective enquiry undertaken by practitioners in the future; it should become and integral aspect of the day to day practice. This I believe interlinks with ‘The Standards 1.4.2 – “I am committed to lifelong enquiry, learning, professional development and leadership as core aspects of professionalism and collaborative practice.”

Like most concepts of education, practitioner enquiry brings both benefits and challenges to the table. Advantages include;

Through using practitioner enquiry, teachers can become empowered and encouraged to transform and challenge education.
It provides a resource that teachers can use to monitor and develop their own practice.
It allows teachers to explore and investigate strategies and initiatives they can adapt in their classroom.
It can increase their knowledge of teaching and learning. This helps to build their self esteem as a professional and can aid them in making a professional&autonomous judgements which goes onto enhance their professional identity and self esteem further.

However, engaging in practitioner enquiry can also rise challenges for teachers;

Before engaging with practitioner enquiry, a teacher must consider that it can be somewhat overwhelming and needs to be carefully managed. With the model, it is very easy to take on too much.
Practitioner enquiry can also be a disengaging and a disempowering process if there is no planning, understanding, management or support offered at all levels. Also, if it is imposed it can lead to the disenfranchisement of those involved.
It can also be a very slow process, there is not always a specific end point or direction for teachers carrying out practitioner enquiry.
To transform professional learning there must be radical and rigorous change. This is difficult and individuals and schools need to be open to and ready for potential changes.

Therefore, I believe that we, as teachers, must be adaptive and open to change. We must also engage critically with our practice and always be questionable, never accept.

We must adopt a professional, critical and questionable approach to learning.

We, as student teachers, should grasp education with both hands and transform it for our students by following the ‘Model of career log professional learning’.

The GTCS website was used in support of this TDT.

Our importance in the Physical Child

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We have learnt that we, as teachers, mainly focus on cognitive development due to being conscious of role expectations. However, physical and cognitive functioning are closely linked. However, this factor is not always appreciated with young children. We, as teachers, need to consider all aspects of a child’s development as we look at the children in holistic terms: ‘the whole child’

Physical development in concerned with a child’s gross and fine motor skills, the way a child exercises their body in their surroundings. Physical development is an important aspect which is studied as growth determines the experiences a child has and also can affect the reactions of others.

Whilst, developing children are compared to ‘the norm’ this is the normal expectations of the child at their particular age. For example, by the age of 4 children should be piecing together sentences and be able to communicate with ease. The role of practitioners is to expose the children to environments which allow them to become aware of their senses and use appropriate language to help them make sense of these experiences.

Through doing this, children will be able to understand the key value, we have as teachers, that every individual is different and have different limits to what they can do, this will build empathy towards others that are not as fortunate as themselves.

To strengthen children’s physical development, we can engage them with activities that will exercise their fine and gross motor skills. For example, running and climbing will build a child’s gross motor skills whilst developing the pincer grip through painting will develop a child’s fine motor skills, all of which will be beneficial as the child progresses into/throughout school.

Teachers as Professionals videos

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What makes a teacher who makes a difference?

From watching this video I was able to identify several key aspects that are vital to teaching with a difference. These include;

Teachers must be aware that, like other professionals, they are involved with life and death situations. For example, a bad education will not produce a professional. A bad education is an abuse of human rights as it will not progress society. Therefore, teachers must be reachable by their pupils, parents, colleagues and community. This involves educating as a community for example, keeping parents up to date with their child’s education, enjoying watching children progressing and taking initiative and making contributions that will make a real difference.

To be a professional teachers must also: realise that their degree is not enough they must strive towards self development, constantly. This can be done by reading educational magazines and being aware of what is happening as education is ever changing and dynamic; not only educating themselves in new teaching methods but also develop the skills of other teachers by passing on information and sharing on new concepts and ideas. Teachers should never be content in sitting around and must overcome the odds to progress children to the best they can be.

Teachers must also: be available 24/7, dedicated 100% to their profession by sacrificing and discipline, committed and have a passion to create miracles. All professional teachers, to me, love their job and this can be seen through professional accountability – there is always a guaranteed quality. Also, professional teachers take responsibility for their actions if something goes wrong and always go the extra mile by being approachable, passionate and professionally up to date.

Do you agree with what these teachers call professionalism?

I agree with Miss.Long that there is more benchmarking and that teachers are being ranked on how well their student’s are doing. I believe that this puts more pressure on teachers to adapt all of the learning approaches to education so that each and every individual child has the same opportunity to do well.

Mrs.Chimmi also stated that a teacher’s professionalism can initially affect the children within the classroom as they grow up into adults. This is why both Mrs.Chimmi and I believe that it is important in the way a teacher portrays themselves in the way they speak, the way they act and their appropriate attitudes. We as teachers are role models and our behaviour will hopefully one day be adopted by the children that we teach so they become good, responsible citizens.

“Professionalism is a big part of being a teacher” I agree with what Mrs.Smith said. I also agree with her viewpoints that professionalism in teaching is vital to relate with other teachers and it also allows you to be an effective communicator when trying to resolve problems with both parents and pupils alike.

Finally, Miss. Long encouraged that teachers as professionals should continually develop professionally by researching trends in teaching and learning standards in order to be cater for every individual child, with which I agree with.

What is the message here?

I believe that Chris Christie places teachers very high up in the professional hierarchy. However, his viewpoint, to me, did not seem to suggest that he had a great deal of knowledge of the education system. He seems to think that teachers can be satisfied within their jobs with a pay rise. “they care about our kids and they’re doing a great job.” This again, to me, shows his lack of knowledge. He’s made no attempt to back this statement up with any evidence or experience of the teaching profession. I think that Chris Christie should maybe subject himself to difficult teaching in a disadvantaged area to portray that teaching isn’t always easy and sometimes no matter how hard the teacher tries; the job is left done partially or not to the expected standards.

Also, I believe that Karen Lewis makes teaching out to be a chore. She believes that teachers are in fact educational “workers” and that “workers” are those who simply punch a clock. This makes teachers out to not care for the needs of each individual pupil, which we all know isn’t true of a professional.

To me, Chris Christie’s view is more favourable of teachers and the one of the two that I agree with more. I believe that the teaching profession should be placed amongst the likes of doctors in the professional hierarchy as without a healthy education the professionals such as doctors, dentists and veterinary surgeons would not be in the jobs they are in today.

Everything is down to a great education which can only be delivered and enhanced by a teaching professional.