Monthly Archives: February 2016

Scientific Literacy TDT

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“Scientific literacy is the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity.”
While this is a definition of scientific literacy, once you begin to look into what it means to be scientifically literate, it is easy to see that it is a little shallow. Being literate in science is about being able to question so-called science based on our knowledge; evaluating scientific stories and discoveries made every day. It is the critical analysis of science that makes us scientifically literate, not the ability to blow things up in a lab. While the UK is above average in terms of literacy rates (OECD study), the curriculum in England is beginning to put more emphasis on scientific literacy, and teachers and pupils alike are beginning to notice the change. Based more in secondary than primary education, teachers notice that while it is trickier to teacher, they believe it is more worthwhile. In terms of primary schools, the teacher is essential in building up scientific literacy among children (Shulman 1987), and therefore as training teachers, it is our responsibility to ensure we educate ourselves in terms of science as much as possible.

Analysis of an example where a lack of scientific literacy has led to inaccurate media reporting
In 1998 Andrew Wakefield published a fraudulent report claiming that he combined measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) vaccine could be linked to causing colitis and autism amongst children. The media were quick to publish the story and vaccination rates fell rapidly putting children at severe risk. The public instantly believed the findings as Wakefield was seen as a figure to trust resulting in his publishing not being questioned. One flaw with his experiment was that he only used 12 children for the experiment and some of these children had previous underlying medical conditions which were not taken into account before the experiment (he also did not disclose this information to the general public). This is a good example of science illiteracy as members of the public did not evaluate the quality of the science. Many people did not question the findings or see the flaws within the experiments and as a result put their own children’s lives at risk. Perhaps if we were a more science literate nation controversies and scandals like the 1998 MMR vaccine be avoided.
It is important that when teaching science, children are taught about fair testing. Without having a sound knowledge of fair testing children would struggle to do anything else in science. Being scientifically literate means having the ability to use scientific knowledge, and so in order to learn how to use and apply your knowledge you must first understand fair testing. A lot of science work within the classroom is practical and involves experiments. Science experiments require fair testing in order for them to provide accurate results, and so if children are not taught the importance of fair testing then they will not be able to develop their knowledge and understanding of science.

References – (Explanation of the concept of scientific literacy)
http://www.literacynet.org/science/scientificliteracy.html
http://www.curriculumsupport.education.nsw.gov.au/investigate/
http://www.nier.go.jp/symposium/sympoH20/john.pdf
http://www.ejmste.com/v3n2/brv3n2_cakmakci.pdf

Behaviour Management TDT

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How do they help maintain the attention of the children?

In this short clip, the teachers use multiple ways to maintain the attention of the children in their class. The most common approach was the use of arm gestures. By gesturing their arms and nodding their heads, the teachers invite the class into the lesson and encourage them to share their ideas. Another common technique is that of pacing up and down the classroom, this allows the teacher to ensure that the distance between themselves and their class never becomes too great and reinforces the idea that they are there to be listened to. By varying the pitch of their voice the teacher can encourage children to stay engaged in their lesson

How do they show respect for the children?

One way the teachers respect the children is by encouraging them to share ideas. When the shared idea may be incorrect the teacher does not embarrass the pupil by immediately saying “no that is wrong”, instead he takes the wrong answer and manipulates it and presents it back to the class. They also tend not to raise their voice when they are annoyed with a situation, respecting the children by not shouting but simply changing the tone of the sentence.

How do the teachers show authority?

They show authority by freely moving around the classroom and mingling amongst the classroom. They do not allow the children to have this freedom as they are there to listen and learn. The teachers also show authority by only allowing children to share ideas when asked and not allowing them to shout out or speak over them.

How does the teacher gain and maintain authority through using and moving in their space?

When first coming into the classroom the children are persuaded to walk in single file by the teacher positioning herself carefully in the doorway. This settles the class down so that upon entering the classroom they are reading to learn. When using the whiteboard the teacher paces back and forth to maintain attention but this also ensures that every child can see the board. They do not stand behind their desk as this can seem like a protective barrier and can suggest the teacher is not confident.

How do the teachers manage the movement of the children?

One teacher encourages the children to enter her class in single file. This instantly calms them down. When tidying up after a lesson, the teacher assigns each pupil with a specific job and monitors this closely to ensure that children are following her instructions. By continually talking the pupils through the process the children remain aware that the teacher is still in command and in control. Upon ending her lesson the teacher asks each table a question and if they answer correctly they are allowed to stand ready to be dismissed. The teacher then conducts them to leave one table at a time, this again reinforces that she is maintaining control.

How do the teachers manage the behaviour of the children?

One teacher adopts a ‘thinking pose’ by touching her chin with her hand. This indicates to the children that she wants them to think about the question she has asked. When a pupil continues to talk over the teacher she signals that he should stop by placing her finger in front of her mouth signalling “shht”. Instead of raising her voice to the pupils the her intonation remains reasonably flat even when she seems angry or irritated. Instead, she maintains control by using signals collectively.

Personally I really like the idea of the teachers constantly grabbing their pupils’ attention through big hand gestures and whole body movements. I tend to have quite closed body language and know this is something I definitely need to work on in order to show my confidence and authority. Before this video I didn’t really understand the importance of gesturing things such as the ‘thinking pose’ to pupils however I feel that this is something I may try if my class are not engaging with my questions as it seemed to work extremely well for these teachers. Another technique I would like to try out when on placement is voice control. These teachers all remained calm and in control no matter how they were really feeling inside. Varying pitch allowed the teacher to maintain the pupils attention but also showed when she was impressed with answers or perhaps displeased with behaviour. I believe that every teacher will have a technique that works extremely well for them and others that do not work at all. I hope to try as many of these techniques as possible whilst out on placement in order to find out which suits me best but more importantly which stimulates pupils learning most successfully.