Category Archives: 1 Prof. Values & Personal Commitment

Educational Studies – Culture

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What do you believe to be the important elements in Scottish culture?

The Scottish language
The Scottish people
Kilts and tartan
Scottish symbols and emblems

How do you think they impact on children and education?

Learning about Scottish culture enables children and young people to build a sense of pride in their own identity and understanding of Scotland’s place in an increasing world.
It develops knowledge and understanding of the world and Scotland’s place in it and become better informed and prepared for the challenges and opportunities presented by the world in the 21st century.
By building a sense of their own identity they will become secure in their own beliefs and values and more able to appreciate and respect those with different beliefs and cultures.

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Picking up your children from school in your pyjamas? Excuse me?

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I recently read an article online with the headline “Headteacher asks parents to stop doing school run in their pyjamas” which really caught my eye. The article was all about a school in Darlington where parents were picking up and dropping off children in their pyjamas and on some occasions, their slippers! The headteacher of the school has written a letter to the parents making a complaint about the growing number of parents doing the school run in their pyjamas. I was extremely fascinated that parents would do this. I have worked in a primary school for over two years and I have never come across this before. I then went on other websites to look into this more and came across some twitter posts that people were posting about what the letter the headteacher sent out to the parents. Most of the posts that I saw completely agreed with the Headteacher, explaining that it doesn’t take much effort to get changed into daytime clothes to pick up your children. I completely agree with this and think that if the parents are coming into the school then they should, at least, get dressed. Most twitter feeds had the same reaction, that it’s just laziness. However, one I found stated that the Headteacher “obvio doesn’t have enough to be doing at work. Who does she think she is? She needs to get a grip and shut up.” This post was one that stuck out the most for me. Headteachers have a huge workload but I can completely understand why they have been asked to dress appropriately to pick their children up from school. The point that the headteacher is trying to get across is that the parents should be setting an example to, not only their own children, but others who attend the school. The headteacher feels that some parents will continue to wear their pyjamas to school to make a point but hopefully this will not be the case.

It was stated that “there were some parents turned up in pyjamas to see their children in the Christmas performances and even for parents evening.” I believe that is extremely important that parents are role models for the children and they should not attend events like this in their nightwear. There was a lot of positive feedback from parents expressing that they are happy that the headteacher has noticed and addressed this matter. Unfortunately, there has also been a lot of negative feedback about this issue. Mostly from the parents who wear their pyjamas to pick up their children. Headteachers across 11 schools requested that mums and dads show decency and respect when attending school premises.

On this issue, I completely agree with the headteacher. Parents should be setting an example for their children and other children attending the school by wearing appropriate clothes when picking up and dropping off their children. It is important that parents should set a good example about what is appropriate and acceptable in all aspects of life. The headteacher is not asking them to make a huge effort by putting on makeup and straightening hair etc, but only to dress appropriately. I hope that the letter that was sent to all parents will make an impact and people will start dressing appropriately to do their school run.

ePortfolio Reflection

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At first I did not see the point in doing an eportfolio. As a result of this I didn’t post regularly and when I did it was only my TDTs that I was posting about. The class were encouraged to read and reflect on other student’s posts. Looking at my fellow student’s posts was an eye opener for me and it made me see how little I was posting. This gave me the kick I was needing. I want to start posting more on my blog about things that I have read, watched and heard about education. Once I read all of the posts made by my fellow students it has really encouraged me to want to post, comment and reflect more on my professional practice. The other students have gone into so much depth and detail about certain things that it has made me want to go on and read more about these subjects. In their posts they have used images and videos which made me more interested in what it was they were writing about. Putting these into their posts made them more eye catching and more likely to read.

Most of the posts that other students have posted are not all TDTs, but were topics in education which they found interesting and has made me go online to gain further knowledge about these topics. They provide a lot of useful information and even topics that I did not know much about myself. They have inspired me to post more and make my blog more interesting by adding visuals and hyperlinks in my posts so that others can look at my blog. I hope that by posting more on my blog about topics that interest me, it will inspire my fellow students to do the same. I also hope that by reading my posts that they will want to research further into the issues that I raised. If other students do this then I hope that they will post comments on my blog which will encourage me to research further.

Drama

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Drama

After watching the drama video about structuring a drama lesson. It is clear how the lesson is structured:

A Drama contract is created
Warm up
Focus
Development
Visualisation
Soundscaping
Bodyscaping
Thought tracking
Evaluation

The drama contract is created with the class to set clear rules that they must follow in the lesson. This is a great way to make sure that all of the children understand what is expected of them. In the video the contract is placed on the wall so that they can has a visual of what they must do. The use the 3 C’s – Communication, cooperation and concentration. This is also a guide for the teacher to see if there are any problems in the class and where the children may have gone wrong and why.

The warm up is a great way in order for the class to prepare themselves for the lesson that they are about to undertake. The warm up gets the mind and the body active and engaged ready for their next task. The teacher can prepare a vocal, concentration or active warm up which is a great way in preparing the children for the drama lesson. It will also make them feel at ease as they will all be undertaking the same tasks and make them feel more confident is participating in drama.

The teachers then created a focus for the class in which they were given a stimulus. In the video the focus was a photograph but it could also be a piece of music, a story or a video. This can be linked to the topic that they are working on in class, for example WW2 or the amazon. This will give the class a better understanding of their topic whilst learning in a fun way. It will also give them a focus as they will generate ideas for the lesson.

They then go on to develop their ideas on the stimulus given, in the video the focus was some photographs which they discussed what they saw and what they thought was happening in each photo and why. This engages discussion amoungst the class, developing ideas and knowledge.

Visualisation is where the teacher will set a scene for the children to visualize giving them more knowledge on the topic that they are looking at. Once all focused, the teacher taps them on the shoulder asking them what they see, hear, smell and feel in this situation created. This also will show the teacher how creative the child is and how engaged they are with the topic.

The next thing the video looks at is the soundscape. They ask all of the children about all of the things that they would hear in the scene that is set for them then going on the create the sounds with the voice or hands. They will ask the children to make suggestions and think about how they would make these sounds.

Bodyscaping which is similar to soundscaping where they ask the children to create something with their body that is in the scene given. This gives them a visual of what they think that the setting would look like and how they would create this scene. The teaching is trying to make the children think creatively but only using their bodies to create the scene.

Once they have done this, the children will put the sounds and the movements all together creating a performance. Then the teacher uses a technique called thought tracking. As the children are creating their scene, the teacher will tap each individual on the shoulder and the child will have to vocalize what their character is feeling. This is a great way to engage the children with the topic that they are covering, giving them more insight in the topic.

Finally, the last thing that they do in this structured lesson is an evaluation. This is where the children can talk about what they have learnt from this drama lesson and what they want to achieve in the next lesson.

This is a great way to structure a drama lesson. If the children are doing a drama lesson on the topic they are learning about in class, it will give them a more creative way in learning about this topic. It is also a great way to get the children to communicate with one another and using their bodies in different ways.

Why teach maths?

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Why teach maths? That is the question. Before the first maths input, I was terrified of maths. I wasn’t good at it at school because I had to work hard to achieve and others around me seemed to be able to do it without any issues. My mum used to always tell me “I wasn’t good at maths, so that’s why you aren’t good at maths either!” I thought that this was true and that I would never be good at maths because my mum wasn’t either. I wanted to prove everyone wrong and when I worked hard in classes and stayed focused, I managed to achieve and gained much more knowledge and understanding of the subject.

There are so many myths about maths which always made fear the subject:

Men are better at maths than women
Maths is not creative
It’s always important to get the right answer
It’s bad to count on your fingers
Some people have a “maths mind” some people don’t
Mathematicians solve problems quickly in their heads
If your parents aren’t good at maths, neither are you

None of these are true. When I was younger, I believed all of these to be true but I now understand that this is not the case:

Researched failed to show any difference between men and women in mathematical ability. Men are reluctant to admit they have problems so they express difficulty with math by saying, “I could do it if I tried.” Women are often too ready to admit inadequacy and say, “I just can’t do maths.”
There are so many ways in which maths can be creative. Making patterns with pictures etc. Maths requires imagination, intellect, intuition, and aesthetic about the rightness of things.
The ability to obtain approximate answer is often more important than getting exact answers. Feeling about the importance of the answer often are a reversion to early school years when arithmetic was taught as a feeling that you were “good” when you got the right answer and “bad” when you did not.
It is not bad at all to count on your fingers. Actually it indicates an understanding of arithmetic, more understanding than if everything were memorized.
People who believe this myth often lack self-confidence in maths.But it is self-confidence that is one of the most important determining factors in mathematical performance.
Solving new problems or learning new material is always difficult and time consuming. The only problems mathematicians do quickly are those they have solved before. Speed is not a measure of ability. It is the result of experience and practice.
This myth is again to do with self-confidence. If your parents tell you that you are not good at maths because they weren’t, then you probably will believe this. However, this will not boost your confidence in maths and will event in you not believing yourself and not engaging with the subject to the best of your ability.

After the first input on maths, I have completely changed my views about teaching maths and how I feel about the subject as a whole. Before the input, I didn’t really see the importance of maths and why we need to engage with it. I now see understand that being able to do maths is extremely important in life and that we use it everyday without even knowing. I set an alarm every morning to get up to go to university and if I wasn’t able to tell the time, I wouldn’t be able to this. Being able to do maths is extremely important in life and is exactly why is should be taught to children.

I was nervous about going into my first placement and having to teach maths but I now can see that maths can be fun and enjoyable. The input has put my mind at ease about maths and has made me feel more confident is teaching this subject to children. When I go out on my placement, I want to find creative and fun ways to do maths to make the subject one that the children actually want to learn.]

Reflection on the Process of Feedback

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I was really nervous about getting feedback from my peers because I am not extremely confident in my writing yet. When we were given this task to do I wasn’t feeling great about it at all because the thought of other people in my class judging my writing made me feel sick to my stomach. I didn’t really like the idea of people judging me for what I am blogging about. I do enjoy to post things on my blog as I feel that I can get my views across to my peers. For some reason I saw this TDT differently than just posting a blog, I think it’s probably because I knew that people were going to be reading it and making comments on how I need to improve my work. It put into my mind, “why is it not perfect already? What’s wrong with my writing?” Overall, I was extremely nervous about it.

I then recently received my feedback which surprised me a lot. The comments that were made to me were all extremely positive and everyone seemed to like what I had posted. This made me feel great! I was happy to know that I could post a piece of writing on my blog and that people in my class were understanding what I was trying to get across to them. They understood my views on things and had a lot of nice things to say about what I had posted.

However, I then thought about this more. My initial reception to the TDT had changed. At first I really wanted to receive the positive feedback because I was so worried about being judged. I didn’t want to be judged as a person by what I am posting on my blog for university. I then thought about this more and as happy as I was about getting positive feedback, I think I really wanted to points to improve on. There wasn’t really anything that my peers said that I could have improved on which I feel would have benefited me a little more than all of the positive feedback had. I know it is nice to hear that my work is good and that I am doing the right thing, I want to know as well the areas that are maybe not so good.

I think that overall because I don’t really know the people commenting on my blog and they don’t really know me, that giving constructive criticism is a hard thing to achieve. You don’t really want to hurt anyone’s feelings because people take criticism personally when really all it is you are trying to do

What does it mean to be an Enquiring Practitioner?

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What does it mean to be an enquiring practitioner?

Being an enquiring practitioner is important when becoming and being a teacher. It means that we have to be able to work collaboratively and being able to fully commit to working with others. You have to be able to open to new suggestions from your peers and be willing to make changes to teaching and learning styles in which you already have. Making sure that you include all of your pupils within the class and to ensure that all children are able to learn with the teaching style that you have chosen to use. You have to be able to reflect on what you have done in lessons and be open to make changes to things that possibly haven’t worked previously. Being able to be open to suggestion a criticism is key in being an enquiring practitioner as you may have ideas and lessons planned that may not work for some children. Teachers must also make sure that they are sticking to the Curriculum for Excellence.

Being an enquiring practitioner is also important when being a student. In placements we will see so many different teaching styles in which we can adopt if they work or make changes to if you feel that they do not. This will allow us to learn about what kind of teacher that we want to become and will help us to work with our peers in order to succeed.

I think that being an enquring practitioner means that we have to be open to new things and ideas within the classroom, working with our peers in order to achieve and learning new and different teaching styles.