Category Archives: My educational philosophy

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/

Learning from others

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Today, we were given links to some of our other peer’s ePortfolios to see what things that they have been writing. I have to say, it is really encouraging to see how they are engaging with blogging and what creative things they are posting. I really admire in them what I would describe as a ‘teacher frame-of-mind’ that is, they see something on the internet/on TV and immediately think about how it links to teaching and write a blog post about it. This is a quality which I really want to develop. One of the key aspects of becoming a teacher is reflecting on our practice and I feel like this is really something which my peers have grasped.

Here is a link to Lauren’s ePortfolio. I really admire her enthusiasm for teaching and her motivation to continually improve. She is great at keeping her blog readers up-to-date with what she is learning .https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/laurenseportfolio/

Here is a link to one of Claire Beattie’s posts. I really admire her creativity in having the idea to use ‘the Sims’ to design her classroom, this is another computer programme which could be useful in teaching to provide a visual aid like Claire has. Even more, I admire her extra reading and how she has incorporated this into her blog post. This is another quality I wish to develop. https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/cebeportfolio/2016/01/06/180/

Here is a link to Rachel’s ePortfolio. As I noted earlier, Rachel is great at linking tlaptop2Vhings that she has heard outside of University to her blog. You can see her care for children and for issues within teaching, as well as in the wider world.  https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/myunieportfoliorb/

Here are some links to some more blog posts;

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/myuniversityeportfoliolayla/2015/11/03/fear-of-feedback/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/uodbeckyroomuireportfolio/2015/11/10/my-tired/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/uodeportfoliommackie/2016/01/17/problematic-problems/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/rsjuodeportfolio/2015/11/25/longitudinal-coherence-and-the-concept-knot/

https://blogs.glowscotland.org.uk/glowblogs/seiuodeportfolio/2015/11/04/there-has-been-a-breakthrough/

From this experience today I have noted some things I could do to improve my ePortfolio work. I will try to include more pictures in my posts as they make them more eye catching and break up the post a bit. I want to post more about things that aren’t just to do with the TDT, I  will actively try to keep my eyes open to what is going on in the news/on media and reflect on how it links to teaching.

Beating the maths myths and anxiety

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Today, I had an introductory tutorial on mathematics; it’s importance in the curriculum, why we need to learn it and the different ways we can involve children in understanding mathematics.

Fortunately for me, mathematics is a subject which comes quite naturally to me and I believe that I am quite good at it. I would even say that I enjoy it! I hope that my enjoyment of mathematics reflects when I am teaching so that my class are motivated to learn it. However, one thing I am worried about is the whole process of having to take a subject which is second nature to me, and to put it into words so that children who are hearing it for the first time can understand. This is something I will have to continuously reflect on and plan effectively.

One thing which really stood out for me in the tutorial is the importance of the support of the teacher and discussion. It is a shame to hear that parents whose skills don’t lie in mathematics assume that it is a genetic thing and so they tell their kids that they won’t be any good at it either. Teachers have to work to beat these barriers, and to make sure every child has the equal opportunity to understand and to thrive in mathematics, regardless of what their family believes. It is important that teachers are flexible to explain a particular aspect of maths in different ways to suit different learner’s needs. I remember when I was doing my AS Level maths in high school, I struggled a lot at the start of the year because even though I enjoyed maths, it was quite a jump from just doing normal maths at GCSE to AS Level. It didn’t help as well that the rest of the class (bar one) had done additional mathematics at GCSE, and so they took to the AS Level maths like a duck to water. This made me feel quite inadequate and frustrated. However, my maths teacher made sure to always check that the other non-add-maths girl and I understood, she explained things over and over again, gave us extra work for practice and even held a class in one of our free periods to go over things. I don’t know if it was the way she explained things, or her enthusiasm and love for maths, or just her belief in us, but as the year went on I understood things a lot better and my maths grades started to improve. I am so proud to say that I went from getting E’s and D’s at the start of the year, to getting a B in my final AS result. I know I couldn’t have done it without the support of my teacher and for how she kept motivating us to keep going through the hard work.

Especially in primary school mathematics, I think that it is so important that teachers bring maths to life. This is done by fully involving children in their learning. Teachers could plan lessons which make the children imitate using maths in everyday life, for example, setting up an imaginary shop and getting the children to count their money. They should use different resources, such as aesthetically pleasing worksheets and practical counters. They could play different mathematical games with their class, so that they are learning but having fun at the same time.

I also noted the importance of discussion in mathematics. Reflecting on my experience through school, I don’t believe enough time was given to discussing mathematics. It is through this that children can describe their methods, and so develop a deeper understanding. They can also see how they went wrong and so learn from their mistakes. By talking to their partner, they can learn from each other. If they both are struggling with something I believe it makes them feel less isolated and so they are less likely to feel as mathematically incompetent if someone else also doesn’t understand. This also may give them the confidence to ask for help, as it can be quite intimidating sticking your hand up in front of a silent class. I have really taken this into account and so when I am a teacher, I want to give my class the time at the end of a maths lesson to discuss with each other what they understood about it and where they struggled. Then they can feedback this back to me, and so I can then decide if a topic needs gone over again or if it is okay to move on.

I conclusion, I believe that maths is a vital subject for our children to learn, and so it is up to us as teachers to beat the myths and anxiety surrounding it. I could not summarise it better than this quote from ‘Mathematics explained for Primary Teachers’ by Derek Haylock and Ralph Manning;

“Learning experiences for children in mathematics should ensure that children enjoy learning mathematics, by providing opportunities to: (a) experience the sense of pleasure that comes from solving a problem or a mathematical puzzle: (b) have their curiousity stimulated by formulating their own questions and investigating mathematical situations; (c) play small-group games that draw on mathematical skills and concepts; (d) experiment with pattern in numbers and shapes and discover relationships for themselves; and (e) have some beautiful moments in mathematics where they are surprised, delighted or intrigued.”

Find Me a Family

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I was recommended to watch ‘Find Me a Family’, a programme on BBC1 which followed seven children around Northern Ireland’s care system as they tried to find new families.

One of the girls, called Shannon, was 18 and so was coming out of the foster-care system. She was on a residence order which meant that when she turned 18, her residency with the people she was staying with was over and she had to move out. While being interviewed she commented that she felt like she didn’t belong to anyone. I immediately started questioning what must this poor girl’s self esteem be like? I believe that this would all potentially have a permanent damaging effect on her confidence and her self worth.

It also broke my heart to hear on the show that when a ten year old, William, went to meet his birth mother she sat on her phone for most of the time. I can’t even begin to comprehend what sort of person would treat their own child like that, but I am not here to judge others.

Reflecting on last week’s lectures on personality, self concept and self esteem, I started to think about the role of teachers the lives of children who have been through things like Shannon and William. In my teaching career there is a very high possibility that I will be working with kids like Shannon and William and so I believe it is therefore my duty to be a role model to them. I want to create an environment of trust and safety in my classroom so that all my pupils will be comfortable. I want to develop trusting relationships with all my pupils so that they know I am always there for them and they can tell me anything. I will listen to them, treat them with dignity and respect to try to promote the self-esteem of all my class. I will encourage my pupils to treat everyone equally and be kind to each other.

I am sure there are more things I could do to promote my pupils’ self esteem, if anyone has any suggestions please comment them below!

The link to ‘Find Me a Family’ is below (only the second episode is available on iPlayer on the date I write this post- 13/11/2015) :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b06kxp2w/find-me-a-family-episode-2

 

 

Professionalism in other Professions

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As part of the online unit I decided to watch ’24 Hours in Police Custody’  and I believe in a strange way it was a real learning experience for me. It has really shown me how important professionalism is across a range of different professions, not just primary teaching. I just felt that there was so much to write about, that so many aspects of a professional were shown in the programme that I should write a blog post about it.

The police officers showed many professional characteristics. For example, they remained calm throughout the arrest/interviewing process despite knowing what pressure was on them and how they had turned someone’s world upside down. They were very organised in their arrest and worked really well together as a team. They supported one another throughout the interview process, for example, when one policewoman admitted that she wasn’t as good at laying into the suspect, another policewoman offered to help her. This point really showed how they all brought their different strengths to the team and how they all respected the fact that they all have weaknesses. As you never really know what a suspect will respond, the police officers showed great flexibility in adapting their questions to respond to the suspect’s comments and also adapted them to suit when they were questioning a child. Two particular characteristics of the police officers which really stood out for me were how polite and respectful they were. They introduced themselves at the door before entering the house to make an arrest instead of just storming in. In the first house, they were considerate of the fact that a child was upstairs sleeping and so were careful to not wake them up. I even appreciated the fact that they simply wiped their feet on the doormat before entering the house. The way that the police officers spoke to suspects, their families etc was just very respectful, calm and collected. Even though the crimes that the suspects were accused of were just awful, they treated everyone as a person of dignity and did not talk down to anyone. They even simply offered the suspects a cup of tea/coffee and a blanket. In some ways, they went above and beyond what I personally would have expected them to do and so I have great respect for them because of this.

However, there were two points in the programme that I believe the professionals did not act professionally. At one point, in private to another policeman, a policewoman called the first suspect ‘an idiot’. I don’t believe that this was very professional as it showed a lack of respect for the suspect who hadn’t even been proven guilty yet. I agree that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and yes I agree that the man’s actions were awful, but I believe that the policewoman should have been more careful as to not call him an idiot on TV. Also, in the interview with the second suspect, one of the policewoman’s tone of voice and body language came across as a little judgemental and disgusted. However, I can completely understand why given the context, and it did not seem to stop the suspect from continuing on with answering the questions.

The police officers’ professional behaviour had an impact on the people they dealt with. Firstly, the professional respect and support they had for each other enabled them all to work cooperatively together. The respect and calmness they showed, I believe, meant that the family members and suspects were not angry or aggressive.

When out arresting people the policemen and women wore their police uniforms. I think that this is important as it reinforced their power and authority and probably boosted the confidence of those wearing the uniform. However, whilst back at the station, the policemen and women were dressed quite casually. I think that this is fine as long as they are dressed modestly.  This may help them to appear less intimidating during interviews, and so suspects may feel more comfortable and willing to answer questions.

If I was asked to develop a course for police officers I would have them attend lectures for probably around 50% of the time. I would have them do background reading for around 20% of the time. I would have them go to practical skills based training for the remaining 30% of the time. After this course, since it is such a practical, ‘hands on’ job, I would then send them on a probationary work based learning year.

After watching and reflecting on this programme, I have realised how important it is to treat everyone with respect. This is particularly important in teaching as I will come into contact with many other people, from the pupils to parents, other teachers, social workers and headmasters, to name a few. I will make a conscious effort to be respectful and polite in how I speak to everyone, and to treat everyone with dignity. This will also be important in motivating my pupils to learn and to help them to achieve their best. I felt on the show that at points the police officers went above and beyond what was expected of them. I want to be the best teacher that I can be and so I am going to try to go above and beyond what is expected. Although this is probably easier said than done.

Peer Review Reflection

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I believe that peer review/ feedback is an essential part of teaching, and so it is something that I should definitely get used to doing!

If I’m honest I don’t really feel like I have ever really gone through the process of giving/receiving genuine feedback. The few times I was involved in peer review in high school I think that everyone was too scared to criticise others, and so the feedback I received was filled with only compliments! Therefore, the lectures/tdts on the enquiring practitioner and peer review were very helpful as it enabled me to properly go through this process. It can be intimidating at first- no one really enjoys being criticised- however, it is good to remember that people are commenting to help you improve your work/practice, not to be mean. I appreciated the fact that everyone was honest with each other as this is definitely more helpful than continuous compliments! In my comment section I received some very helpful advice: someone pointed out that I had made some silly grammatical errors which I was able to then read over and fix.

The peer review process was a positive one because I received some advice which I will remember and apply when writing posts in the future. It developed my confidence to criticise constructively and enabled me to be more open minded to other people’s opinions. This is so vital in teaching, in particular as being an enquiring practitioner, as it is necessary for you to listen to other people’s advice to improve your practice. It is important that we constantly are updating and developing our practice, and so having other people review and criticise what we do is so helpful in order to make our lessons better and learn from our mistakes.

Reflection

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Reflection is an essential part of the primary teaching profession. It is through reflection that we grow and improve as teachers. So what is reflection?

I believe that true reflection involves standing back and seriously thinking about an event. It involves looking at the event from different perspectives. This also means being willing to criticise yourself and to accept constructive criticism from others. It includes drawing on previous knowledge from other events and apply this to present/ future events.

Most importantly, to be truly reflective it involves action. After considering the event and taking other people’s opinions into consideration, you should think of ways in which to improve. This could be applied when planning lessons, writing assignments or preparing presentations.

As I continue to go through my course I hope to engage in my learning and to get the most out of it. I will do this by being reflective on what I have been taught/ what I will teach and by always looking for ways to improve.

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

How did gender affect my time in school?

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As part of my Sociology module, I have been looking at the different factors which affect education, most recently gender. This has led me to reflect on how gender affected my time at school.

If I’m honest, I can’t think of a time in my childhood where I really felt I was being treated unfairly because I am a girl. Not playing football, being in separate races on sports day and having to wear skirts to school was just something I grew up with and didn’t question. However, I probably never felt personally discriminated against because I am quite a ‘girly girl’; I preferred playing with barbies over Pokémon and I enjoyed dressing up in skirts and dresses.

Upon reflection, there are some things now that I have picked up on which maybe didn’t hugely affect me but I see that they are examples of how my class were indirectly taught to follow our stereotypes. I remember every time the teacher needed something heavy carried somewhere they would say “Now I need some very strong boys to carry this for me”, immediately excluding us girls from even volunteering to help. I would also agree with the belief that girls get away with more than boys; there were countless times when boys were called out for being rough or distracting each other in class, however, there were also countless times that I would gossip quietly with my friends in class and it would go unnoticed. I remember growing up with the idea that the reason boys and girls were split up into different races on Sport’s Day was because boys are a lot stronger than girls, and so it is only fair to the girls to let them have a separate race, as there was no way that they could beat a boy.

Gender stereotypes has been something that I grown up with without even noticing the impact it has had in my life or how much it has been imposed on me. As a teacher in training, it is something that I will have to try to conquer, to not treat any of my class differently because they are a boy or a girl and to inspire my class to treat every one else the same regardless of their gender.

Why did I decide to do teaching?

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Probably like many other people, there are a number of reasons why I decided to do teaching. I remember wanting to become a teacher from a young age, although at this age it was mainly due to my admiration of my own primary teachers and the respect I had for them. As I got older, this aspiration grew.

When I was 14 I started to volunteer at the weekly children’s club at my Church (for children aged between Primary 1 and Primary 3). I really enjoyed volunteering there, I loved getting to know the kids and seeing their personalities develop from being shy little 4 year olds to energetic 7 year olds. I was amazed at the enthusiasm the children had and how eager they were to listen and to learn. Over time as my confidence developed I started to teach the children Bible stories up at the front and lead games, helping me gain some insights into what life would be like as a teacher.

It was because of my time at the children’s club at my Church that I decided to go to a local Primary school for my work experience when I was in Year 13 (I would have been 16 years old). I was only on the placement for three days, but by the end of these three days I was more determined than ever to become a teacher. From the first day I saw the respect the children had for their teacher, and the influence that she had over them. Every day I was amused by the random, yet funny stories the children would come in and tell me and I really felt like every day was different. I really liked getting to lead reading groups in the class and going round assisting those who needed extra help. One highlight from it was the sense of achievement I felt when one girl was struggling with alphabetical order. I told her to cover up the last part of the word with her hands and only look at the first letters, or second letters, and so on. She caught on to this technique really quickly and the next day when the class were doing alphabetical order tasks again, I saw the same girl and even some of her friends using the method that I had taught her to do the work. I was thrilled at the fact that I had been able to help a struggling pupil understand a topic that she didn’t before and so I knew that I wanted to choose a career where I had the privilege to teach children things that they will use for the rest of their life. I remember at the end of my work experience the teacher I was shadowing said to me, “I’ve been doing this for 30 years now and I still think it is the best job in the world.” And that comment has stayed with me ever since and inspired me even more to become a teacher.

Another reason why I wanted to do teaching was because in my final year of High School (Year 14), I had the absolute pleasure of being a ‘buddy’ to Year 8 pupils. I got to see a more pastoral side of teaching, as I went into their class every morning, got to chat and joke around with them, but also be there for them if they were having any problems. I really liked my time as a buddy, no day was ever the same and no moment was ever boring.

Reflecting on what I have just talked about, my next question is; what kind of teacher do I want to become?

I want to be a teacher who is a role model for her class. I want to be an enthusiastic teacher who loves her job, just like the teacher I shadowed on my work experience. I want to be well respected but also some one the kids know they can trust and tell their problems to. I want to be knowledgeable and patient, caring and kind, hard-working and focused. Most importantly though, I want to be a teacher that doesn’t just teach the class the curriculum subjects like geography etc., I want to help them develop positive characteristics that they will need in life like team work, open-mindedness, tolerance. I want to inspire my class to be the best that they can and to get the best out of them.

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at both Primary and Secondary school, and I want to make sure that the classes I teach in the future also have happy experiences at school.

I conclusion, I believe that education is such a privilege to have as it, as the saying goes, ‘opens doors’ for opportunities and jobs and so I am so eager to help the future generations get an education so that they can get the most out of their lives.