Category Archives: Contemporary issues

Creating a bilingual pre-school classroom

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I thought that this was a very interesting interview with a bilingual teacher in Finland about trying to integrate a different language (Swedish) into her monolingual class; http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/09500782.2015.1009092

I agree with the teacher that you could use songs and dances to initially settle them into the new language, but then the foreign language should be integrated more into everyday class life. For example, on my placement class, the lunch register was asked and answered in French. I know a teacher who greets and asks her class how they are every day in Spanish. Teachers could start off like this, by slowly integrating it into the classroom, seeing how pupils are responding, and then building upon that. This also highlights the fact that it can be done through dialogue; children don’t always need to be handed a worksheet to translate as this can get very monotone.

It is important that teachers don’t force the language upon their class, the teacher in the research said she would accept a response in either Swedish or Finnish. This gives the children the option, and would hopefully prevent them from resisting/ getting bored or annoyed at learning the language.

The teacher set realistic, achievable goals; to familiarise the class with Swedish, taking the pressure off the children to perform well in a test. When she felt she had achieved this goal with them, she built upon that. In a primary class, you could agree on set goals with them so that the pupils feel responsible for their learning and have a clear view of what they are working towards.

 

Upstart Scotland

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Last night I went to the Dundee Launch of the Upstart Scotland campaign. I went in not really knowing what I had signed up for, but I thought if nothing else I would come out more knowledgeable about what is going on in the world of education,. I decided to give it a go and I was pleasantly surprised and challenged by what I had heard.

Upstart Scotland is a campaign to introduce a kindergarten stage for children aged 3 to 7.  This is already what is happening in countries such as Finland, Switzerland and Estonia. These three countries came out in the top ten of OECD’s 2012 overall rankings in maths and science. The UK didn’t even place in the top 12. In the 2007 UNICEF summary of the wellbeing of children in rich countries, the UK came last. Again, countries such as Finland and Switzerland were in the top ten.

So what are we doing wrong in the UK? The speaker, Suzanne, pointed out that we are putting an increasing pressure on our children to achieve. Schools are competing with each other to gain a good reputation and they feel that the main way they can do this is by achieving academically. Therefore, they are testing children more, and at a younger age.
The importance of play was spoken about. Through play, children develop resilience, creativity, problem-solving skills, social and communication skills, self regulation and a love of learning.file0002086188344 All of these are admirable qualities in the workplace. However, instead of giving our children time to play and to develop these qualities, we are creating this pressure on them to learn to talk and read as soon as possible. Childhood is not a race and we are not giving them time to develop the qualities they will need in adult life. Even though we now have a longer life expectancy we are shortening the time of childhood; there has been an emergence of the ‘tween’, a person who is aged between 9 and 12. No wonder there has been an increase in the number of child and adolescent mental health problems.
By starting our children at school earlier, they are ‘burning out’ earlier. Children are now hitting about age 14 and loosing interest in school. If children are already being tested and so are finding school boring at age 5, it sets the expectation that it will be boring throughout. This is what is decreasing the levels of academic achievement.
A health visitor also noted the influence that technology has had on children today. She said that she has been into homes were the children could swipe away on iPads and iPhones but they didn’t know how to turn a page in a book or even tell what was on the page. An article in the Guardian states that one in three under 15 year-olds have a tablet . Now I think technology is great and all, but there is a worry that it is taking over our lives. I say this having felt the hold technology, in particular social media has on our lives; I spend hours upon hours on my phone and it is one of my goals to drag myself away from this. There is a danger that children are switching outdoor, enriching experiences for gadgets.
What do I think? Well, there is a great amount of evidence and reasons to support the campaign. However, I completely understand that the views I have heard will have been biased and so I should investigate the other side of the argument. I plan to do this sometime soon, although with upcoming placement very soon it may have to wait until the Easter holidays.
For more information, here is a link to the Upstart Scotland website http://www.upstart.scot/

Social Media in the classroom

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Even in my short lifetime, the use of social media seems to have exploded over the past few years, bringing with it many benefits but also many dangers.

In my lecture today, I realised how teachers are so vulnerable to scrutiny, in particular from the press and media. Instead of focusing on what positive things education does, if a teacher makes one small mistake it will be front page news. Therefore it is so important that the GTCS have set out guidance so that I can maintain a standard of professionalism and understand how to address certain issues should they appear.  This is particularly relevant with regards to the growing world of social media. I personally have many different accounts on sites like Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest (to name a few), however I am going to keep these private, but still at a high professional standard in order to follow the professional guidelines set out by the GTCS.

I find it hard to believe that primary school kids nowadays are using social media. However, after a story from my lecturer about his daughter’s own troubling experience on the internet, I now see how important it is to be aware of the engagement of pupils on social media as we cannot just ignore the impact is has on our class. Teachers should use social media to enhance their lessons, as the GTCS puts it, ” introducing their pupils to new tools and delivering the curriculum in innovative and engaging ways.” (GTCS Professional Guidance on the Use of Electronic Communication and Social Media) This is a positive way in which the class can be engaged with the world around them, so that the methods of teaching don’t seem outdated.

Whilst using social media and the internet in the classroom, it is crucial to teach the pupils about the dangers of communicating online. I remember internet safety was introduced to me when I was in the second half of my time at primary school through a series of cartoon videos. These were simple but effective videos and from then on I have always remembered to never add people I don’t know on social media sites, arrange to meet up with people I don’t know, and so on. When I become a teacher I want to make sure that my class are aware of the tips I received about communicating online, so that hopefully they themselves will agree and will stay safe. I will recommend to them that they don’t join any social media sites until they reach the minimum age requirement, however I am aware that there are ways around the minimum age requirement for younger children. Therefore, it is essential to teach children about using the internet properly and how to protect themselves online.

I conclusion, I don’t want my class to be afraid of the internet, just to understand the ways to stay safe. I want them to see that social media and the internet can be used for good, and for them to adopt this positive interaction. I will do everything I can to set an example for them, and to raise any concerns I may have about their use of the internet.

Also, I have decided to include some links below to helpful websites for anyone wanting to find out more about what kind of social media sites there are, the ways to stay safe on the internet and what to do about any online issues they may have.

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/online-safety/

http://www.net-aware.org.uk/

http://www.nspcc.org.uk/preventing-abuse/keeping-children-safe/share-aware/

https://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/

http://ceop.police.uk/

http://www.saferinternet.org.uk/

http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/myexperiencesandoutcomes/technologies/index.asp